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06-04-2009, 05:35 AM
[A couple of notes before I throw this up. Lok'rosh is my orc character. In the magical world of RP and 'months' of studying books and such, Lok had learned Common, at least enough to get by.
The following took place around the time of the most wonderful zombie invasion. Of course, it is all in good fun and meant to be a B-rated Horror movie.
Hilarity ensues!
I am by no means a writer. So, pardon any and all grammatical errors.
Let me know what you think.]
Reports had been flooding in through various means that something dark and sinister had been going on throughout Azeroth in the past day. Most were hard to believe, some were right out. A plague was spreading, infecting thousands, and the numbers growing every second. The first wave of reports had come in from Booty Bay and from there, it spread like wildfire. There had even been sightings of sickly people as far as Winterspring.
Hours after the first reports began, sightings of ‘zombies’ began to flood the lines of communication. Those infected fell ill quickly. Those who did not seek help soon fell, but arose in a new fashion. Their bodies reanimated by some force, seeking blood and gore from anything and everything around them, even their own comrades.
The Argent Dawn had moved out setting up outposts throughout the cities that would allow them in, curing the infected, spreading hope and light amongst the people of both the Horde and Alliance.
But, it almost seemed to be for naught. Further and further the news of infected people and ‘zombies’ spread. Lok’rosh had been listening quietly through the enchanted stone that each soldier of the Horde and even Alliance was given. Outposts calling for help and reinforcements before falling silent hours later. It made his stomach turn and his mind race with what could possibly be causing all of this.
The first place to check out was Booty Bay, the first reports had come from there, so what better place to start than the source?
Lok’rosh nodded to himself, “Vee, we need to head down there. Something is wrong and we need to try and see if there is any way we can help.”
The small mechanical squirrel chattered and beeped on the table that Lok’rosh was leaning upon the stone that had been spilling reports of everything sitting in the middle of the two of them.
“Well, yeah, of course it will be dangerous. But there are a lot of people who will be in danger if nothing is done, you know?”
The squirrel let out a low tone, almost growling as it scurried across the table to sit infront of Lok’rosh, tiny mechanical arms crossing over it’s chest.
“Aw, come on. What could possibly go wrong?” With a grin, Lok’rosh pushed himself up from the table, moving over to one of the lockers he had that lined the walls, reaching in to grab bits of his armor, sliding it on one at a time. He wore his mail, enchanted with Shamanistic spells and guards. Latching one piece on at a time, he readied himself, grabbing his shield, sword and Gorehowl, just incase.
“Come on Vee. We have some exploring to do…” Lok’rosh dramatically held Gorehowl in one hand, slung over his shoulder as the mechanical squirrel leapt from the table and crawled up the Orc’s body, coming to stand on his shoulder.
----
The ride upon one of the bats towards Booty Bay was rather dull. Vee described the landscape to Lok’rosh as the neared the southern lands of the Eastern Kingdoms. Fewer and fewer bodies of living people could be found, some of the shapes had seemed to move along slowly, others attacked other shapes.
The bat screeched as it near the border of Stranglethorn, turning around sharply, nearly throwing Lok’rosh and Vee from the saddle upon it’s back.
“Calm down! Just let me off here! Damn…” Lok’rosh yelled at the bat, calming it if only for a minute while tugging on the reigns. The bat dove towards the earth, quickly throwing the orc off of it’s back and darting off towards the north frantically. The two of them rolled off the road and into a tree.
Lok’rosh groaned and sat up, shaking his head, “What crawled up his ass…”
Vee climbed back up and made perch upon the top of the orc’s head as he gathered himself up, strapping the weapons tighter on his back before heading southward, through the pass that lead from Duskwood into Stranglethorn.
As Lok’rosh marched across the bridge, the sounds of the birds and animals of the jungle did not seem to exist. All he could hear was the whistle of the winds through the thick trees. This was a cause for worry, he thought as his brow furrowed deeply. He rolled his shoulders and continued down the path.
The jungle was eerily quiet. The animals that would usually jump out here and there seemed to stay hidden, where ever they were. Usually, the barbaric trolls of the area could be heard chatting amongst themselves, holding rituals or just finding some poor unsuspecting soul to slaughter for their own gain.
Nothing was heard. The usual patter of commoners, traders and warriors marching up and down the path that lead to Booty Bay was empty. The brush rustled quietly with the blow of the wind. Lok’rosh dropped one hand down by his side, pulling up one of the four totems that lined his belt. His thumb brushed over the markings as he muttered quietly to himself, reaching out to the spirits of the wind.
”North. North…..north…..”
Lok’rosh shook his head, setting the totem back where he had grabbed it, frowning. “This is not good. Even the spirits don’t seem to want to be around whatever is here. Very odd…”
Vee chattered from Lok’rosh’s shoulder as the creation looked around the area.
The walk southward continued slowly as the air seemed to grow more…well, dead. The sounds of the area had died away, all Lok’rosh could hear was his own footsteps, the whirring of the gizmos inside of Vee and his own heartbeat in his ears.
The sun had begun to slowly set in the west, the air growing cooler.
Without warning, something lunged out from the brush at the side, screeching loudly and it had very nearly made Lok’rosh drop a load in his pants. But Vee let out an alarm and Lok’rosh pulled Gorehowl from his back, wildly swinging it at whatever it was. The thick metal made contact with something soft, then a loud crunch before a thud hit the earth.
Lok’rosh breathed loudly as his heart raced, letting out a slight snort as whispered to Vee, “What the HELL was that thing?” Vee looked over the disfigured body that lay in a bleeding heap at the orc’s feet. A body, around five feet, possibly more. Wounds covered the body, slashes here and there. As for what it was, Vee could not say, but it wasn’t living now…and there was no way it could have been before. Lok’rosh dropped to one knee, leaning down to place a hand upon the body before something else caught his attention.
“Help me!” came a small voice screaming at the top of their lungs in Common. The sound of feet hitting the earth came soon after, the rush of footsteps growing louder, approaching Lok’rosh. “Oh my gosh, get them away from meeeeEEEEE!”
A gnome leap from the bushes on the other side of the pathway, letting out blood curdling shrills as he crossed the road and continued through the brush on the other side. Seconds later, five bodies emerged from the bushes, obviously chasing after the gnome. They groaned and growled and gurgled as they gave chase.
Vee instantly let out a small report for Lok’rosh, noting that they were, infact, reanimated dead beings. No life signs were visible, no pulse, nothing. But there they were, chasing a gnome. And Lok’rosh sat there, in a stunned silence as the zombies crossed the road and disappeared into the brush, just as the gnome did.
“Well…um…that was weird…” Lok’rosh continued to stand there for a few more moments, mulling this over in his head. So, zombies had risen from the dead, it would seem. Scourge. That is a simple answer. But as far as he knew, the Scourge had no sort of forces in the southern lands. Or at least nothing that was of any threat. Yet, plain as day they were here. Or at least some. But then why would the reports say that people were getting infected if it was just Scourge? It couldn’t be the reports had gotten—
His train of thought was derailed as the gnome from before had leapt and tackled the orc to the ground, more by surprise more than the gnome’s strength. “HELP ME!” he screamed in Common as he grabbed the orc by the collar, looking into his face with a look of fear. The tiny gnome trembled as he stood on the orc’s chest, attempting to shaking some sense into the green skin.
“Okay!” Lok’rosh yelled back in Common, growling. “Get off of me and I will take care of them, gnome!” Lok’rosh pushed the gnome off and quickly got to his feet. He strapped Gorehowl back over his back and grabbed his shield, holding it in his left hand as he left his right empty. He held the shield up, licking his lips as he left his right arm limp at his side, his fingers wiggling slightly as sparks of lightening jumped from his fingertips, curling around his hand and palm slowly.
The gnome stood behind the Shaman, trembling, peeking out from behind his leg towards where the zombies would be coming from. Within moments, the gnome screeched out, “Here they come!” One stubby little arm reached out, pointing towards the five attackers.
The five zombies leapt from the bushes, launching their attack onto who they thought was the gnome, but realized within seconds that there was an orc. But, it didn’t stop them and their hunger for brains. Green skin or tiny pinky, either one had brains and it was enough to please them. But Lok’rosh wouldn’t let that happen, to him OR the gnome.
He thrusted his right arm forward letting out a grunt as his entire arm light up the area for a brief moment. Threads of lightening swirled up and down the mail of his armor on his arm before launching from his hands into the on coming undead, the lightening jump from one, to another and one last one before dying down. Three of the bodies crumpled over, charred and burnt, the smell of cooked flesh thick in the air. The other two zombies continued without hesitation, jumping over the bodies, one of the leaping directly towards Lok’rosh.
Vee let out another alarm, similar to earlier. Lok’rosh rose his shield up, growling loudly as the large body of the zombie slammed into the metal. Lok’rosh swung his upper body around, his left arm following with the zombie still upon shield, and slamming it into the ground to his left. Bones cracked as the edge of the shield drove into the body of the undead. The orc brought his right arm around and grunted, a burst of flame erupting from his hand, igniting the corpse beside him.
The gnome screamed in terror as he scurried back to hide within a nook of a tree, watching the orc take down the zombies quickly.
But, with Lok’rosh’s movements, he had left his right side completely exposed. The fifth and last zombie had charged into the side of the orc, causing him to topple over, just barely avoiding the flames from the corpse. The talons of the undead had pierced through his armor at his side, lightly pircking at his skin, but just enough to do the job.
He let out a roar as the tiny little prick at his flesh began to instantly burn and itch. With his right elbow, he hit the zombie square in the jaw, the sound of bone cracking echoed loudly as the zombie toppled to the side. Lok’rosh rolled over onto his knees, bringing his left arm around, bashing in the skull of the zombie on the ground repeatedly until nothing was left besides a pile of gore from the neck up.
The little gnome cheered loudly and jumped out from the tree, giggling and clapping, “Good job, greenskin. Good job indeed. You have them the old one two, you did. Yep! You showed them who is boss, huh? Good job too. I don’t think I could have done it, nope, not me. But you did. Maybe you guys aren’t all too bad, you know? I mean—“
“Shut it!” Lok’rosh roared as he grabbed at his side, feeling the burning and pain growing as he clenched tightly. “Nn…” A flash of green light spread from the hand on his side over his ribs before fading. The pain was not subsiding. Posion? He growled and breathed loudly as he gripped his side tightly, throwing the shield down.
He tried something else. A faint white light spread from his hand over his ribs before the burning and itching finally died away. Finally, he laid back and took a deep breath, relaxing as he managed to stop whatever it was that was doing it.
“Hey, you okay greeny?”
“Lok’rosh…”
“Lok’rosh? What? No, I was asking if you are okay, greeny.”
“No, the name is Lok’rosh. And I am fine…” He pushed himself up, glancing towards the gnome. Vee looked at the little guy curiously.
“Oh! Torkin! Pleased to mee—HEY! You speak Common?”
“No…”
“Well, then, how are you—“
“Yes I speak Common! I was taught by a good friend…now what is going on?” Lok’rosh sighed, shaking his head slowly.
“Oh! You mean the…ZOMBIES!” he gnome jumped slightly at his own words before calming, shaking his head slowly. “Terrible terrible things. I am not sure how it happened, all I know is people came from Booty Bay looking sick. Very sick, yep. Couple complained about stomach pains. I don’t know. I actually WATCHED one of them go all zombie on me, you know? He just fell over, dead…and within minutes he was back up! And chasing me!”
“Okay, okay. I get it. So it is just gnomes? Or…”
“Nope! Everyone! I saw greenskins do it too. Go all dead.”
Lok’rosh sighed and stood up, picking his shield up. “Lovely…”
“So, whatcha gonna do now, huh?!” Torkin came to stand next to Lok’rosh, bouncing on his heels slightly, looking a little too excited about the whole ordeal.
“Get closer. I need to figure out WHAT is going on exactly…to at least report, you know?” The sun had set below the horizon and the darkness had settled firmly upon the jungle. The area around them was lit up, though just barely, by the slowly dying fire upon the corpse.
“Closer?! You gotta be mad! Only a greenskin would get close, yep. Dumb dumb dumb dumb—“
“Go home, Torkin…”
“What?! No! I am going to help ya, I am, yep. I don’t got much I can do but I can do something!”
Lok’rosh shook his head, “Fine, but don’t complain if you get killed.”
“What?! Killed? Nah. I will be fine, I think. You will protect me, right?”
“Yeah, sure. Now come on…no point in sitting around, waiting to get attacked, right?” Lok’rosh placed the shield back upon his back. “This is going to be a loooong night.”
---
The orc, the gnome and the squirrel continued their journey southward towards the goblin port, Booty Bay. Night had fallen, the jungle was silent, the wind was dead and Torkin would not shut the hell up.
“…So my grandmamma once told me before that when you eat it, your head will explode! Isn’t that just the silliest thing in the world? I mean really. Right, Lok’rosh?” Torkin kept close to Lok’rosh’s side, looking around into the areas surrounding the path to Booty Bay.
Idly, Lok’rosh nodded and muttered, “Uh huh. Yeah…” Vee had leapt down from Lok’rosh’s shoulder and hopped along side the both of them, the glowing green eyes shining brightly in the darkness, scanning the area for any sort of movement. Thunder began to roll off in the distance, the dark clouds blocking out the twinkle of the stars and the little light the moons gave off.
Rustling came from above, and within mere seconds, two massive gorillas leapt down, growling and hissing as they slammed into the ground. Parts of their flesh had been peeled away, fur was falling out in hefty patches and their eyes craved sustenance. Torkin let out a squeak then yelled and ran in the opposite direction of the massive beasts while Lok’rosh took a step back, growling to meet the anger the gorillas held.
One of them began to beat on it’s own chest, bellowing loudly as the other charged head on towards the orc. Lok’rosh wasted no time and pulled Gorehowl from his back as the beast launched himself. Vee shrilled loudly as the beast neared Lok’rosh and he quickly swung the axe over head, arching it down into the ground.
The sharpened metal had met flesh, bone, tendons and organs throughout the swing. Blood and gore flew in every direction as the beast was literally cut in two, the forward momentum of the gorilla having not stopped, the two halves of the beast flying by Lok’roshigan on both sides. He couldn’t help but cringer slightly as he felt pieces of the organs and the splatter of the blood upon him, but the inner fire of the thrill of battle burned brightly in his chest.
During the commotion of the first gorilla being slaughter, the other charged quickly. Lok’rosh growled and attempted to lift his axe up high over his head to do another slice at the second one, but the blade had cut into the stone in the pathway, below the dirt. Jammed!
He jerked it by the handle left and right as he growled and as the beat launched itself at Lok’rosh in a similar fashion as the last.
“Come. On. Get. Loose!” he grunted and roared down at the axe as he pulled at it. Vee let out shrills and alarms as the zombie gorilla got closer and closer. “Shi—“
BOOM. BANG. THUD.
The orc jumped slightly at the sudden sound of an explosion and the thud of what was the gorilla rolling off to the side, crumpling over in a heap of death. Lok’rosh looked completely confused, looking around curiously. “…Torkin? Was that you?”
“Silly little move there, big guy. Sure, you took out one of them,” a soft, yet firm feminine voice called out from Lok’rosh’s right, clearly having a Thalassian accent, “But you left yourself wide open. Now, what would you have done about that, hm?”
Lok’rosh opened his mouth to speak but was cut off before he could mutter anything.
“That is exactly what I thought. Selia. Farstrider. I was sent down here to figure out what was going on…before you ask.” She stepped out from the shadows, holding a shotgun over one shoulder, the barrel smoking, her other hand pressed against her hip as she rested her weight onto one leg, watching the orc a moment.
“Yes, well, that is what I am here doing, Selia. And I would have been fine. I can handle myself,” he paused a moment then looked around. “Where is Torkin?”
“Torkin?” she questioned, looking around a moment.
“Yeah. A gnome. He was with me…”
She busted out in laughter as she looked back to Lok’rosh. “You and a gnome were traveling? You ARE an orc, right? A member of the Horde…right?” Selia doubled over in laughter as she couldn’t control it.
Lok’rosh grumbled and shook his head.
“OVER HERE! I’M COMING!” called out Torkin from behind the both of them. The tiny man came back, holding a large pack over his shoulder, grinning widely. “I forgot my pack when those guys were chasing me. So I went to get it, you are okay, right Lok’rosh? You can handle yourself. You did with those five before, right? Yep yep!”
Lok’rosh opened his mouth to answer but was cut off quickly by the elf.
“Oh, yeah. Big tough orc, this one.” She rolled her eyes and watched the gnome a moment, speaking in common. The gnome nearly leapt out of his skin, having been watching Lok’rosh and not even noticed the elf beside him. His jaw dropped as he looked at her.
“WHY ARE YOU ALMOST NAKED?!” Torkin yelled, his face burning a bright read.
Lok’rosh blinked and glanced over towards Selia, arching a brow curiously at this.
Selia groaned and shook her head slowly as she shifted her weight from one leg to another. “My armor was tainted by whatever is causing this. It was making me sick. I took it off. The Farstriders will replace it for me when I get back, so I am not worried about it. And I am NOT naked. Not even close, gnome.”
She stood around five foot five inches in height, lithe yet built for speed and accuracy; as most elves were. Her cloth trousers she wore had been torn along the sides, holes gaping from it here and there, flesh visible beneath. The shirt she wore had been cut high, her stomach exposed, her chest…well, her chest was rather there. Blood splattered her from head to toe, her burning red hair pulled back into a ponytail, out of her face.
Torkin stood there, gaping and ogling her in a stunned silence, nodding and almost drooling just at the mere sight of her. The gnome was dressed in robes, deep violet with golden trim and various markings. A pair of goggles rested upon the top of his head, beneath it a messy tuft of black hair, sticking out in every direction. Gadgets and gizmos lined the belt around his waist, some flashing idly, some glowing dimly.
“Speak, gnome, and quite staring!” She brought her leg around, kicking Torking upside his head, causing him to topple over with his sack of supplies upon the top of him. “Why are YOU here?”
Torkin spit out the dirt and coughed loudly as he squirmed out from beneath the bag of supplies, “Same as you two! Who would want to be here, huh? I mean, really, yep! I don’t want to be here but I am, yanno?”
“Riiiight,” Selia said as she looked away.
“WAIT! You speak common too, blood elf?! Why does everyone know how to speak common?!” Torkin exclaimed.
“I was once a part of the Alliance, you twit. My allegiance lies with Quel’Thalas and Silvermoon. Always has. Always will. Now, if we can continue…”
“About time,” Lok’rosh sighed. “Come on. We need to figure this out. And quick. The longer we stay out here, the more trouble we will be in. So get your things and—“ Lok’rosh yanked the axe from the stone finally, having silently been trying to the entire time, hoisting it over one shoulder, “—Let’s get going.”
---
The trip south through the jungles of Stranglethorn became anything BUT fun. The trio [and Vee] continued down the road, only to come across random zombiefied beasts of the jungle or one of the various races of Azeroth, searching for brains, as they so kindly put it.
Selia kindly put one shell after another into the zombies that emerged from the bushes or dropped from the trees. A couple had received a kind boot to the face, knocking them over onto their back and laying the end of the barrel of the shotgun she carried to their forehead. A pleased grin would spread across her face as she spoke softly to the walking corpses.
“Pleasant dreams,” she whispered before letting her thin finger pull the trigger. The cranium of the beast or humanoid would burst beneath the explosion and impact of the shell, flesh, bone and gore flying every direction from beneath, splattering the ground in a crimson display of death.
Torkin was a little more frantic with his gift of death to the already dead beings. If he wasn’t throwing bolts of arcane, fire or ice towards the zombies…from behind either Lok’rosh or Selia, he was lunging bombs and grenades towards the masses of zombies, screeching some gnomish warcry each and every time the bombs that successfully exploded. A couple led to a rather dull fizzle or just sat there flashing beneath the feet of the marching zombies.
The little gnome made sure to have as much fun with it as possible, freezing enemies then making them explodes, shattering into a hundred pieces, raining down upon the earth. He ignited fires within the bodies of the marching dead, causing moments of chaos within their ranks before everything resumed, and the zombies continued forward.
Lok’rosh was the one who charged straight into the fray of the battles, Gorehowl in hand, cleaving the front ranks in half. Bodies doubled over, blood splattered everywhere. The zombies ripped and tore at the mail Lok’rosh wore and in return, they met either the blade of his axe or a blast of lightening to the chest, resulting in the rotten, yet ripe scent of charred flesh amongst the coppery scent of the blood.
The bodies down the path to Booty Bay became more and more littered with corpses the further they moved. And the closer they got, the more they would recognize various races; orcs, trolls, tauren, humans, dwarves and even draenei. And each one that approached the trio fell swiftly to either the axe, the gun or the explosives.
After about an hour of non-stop traveling, slaughtering and pure carnage, they seemed to have a lull in their battle. Lok’rosh dropped down near a tree, leaning back, breathing deeply. The half dress elf doubled over, placing her hands upon her knees as sweat dripped from her body onto the soil. The gnome stood behind the elf, slowly tilting his head to one side as he watched Selia…closely….intently. She knew exactly what he was doing, and in a blink of an eye, she swirled around on her heels, brought one leg up and kicked Torkin square in the head, causing him to roll off to the side, screaming in pain.
Lok’rosh sighed and shook his head slowly, “Where are we?”
Selia looked around, “I think we are around the arena now. Yeah, I can see it just off the path. We are getting closer.”
“Which is why we seem to be running into more and more…” Lok’rosh tilted his head back, closed his eyes and yawned.
Torkin whimpered and held the side of his head as he curled up in a fetal position. “Ow ow ow ow!”
Vee climbed up the tree behind Lok’rosh, chittering and beeping as he came to rest upon a branch, scanning the area. Torkin looked up towards the creation of the orc and blinked, “Hey! You do that kinda stuff too, yep? We should talk! I used to work in Gnomeregan before it went all stinky, yanno? Still dumb, I think. They pulled the plug too early, yep. Speaking of which, did I ever tell you about the time my grandmamma—“
“Shush!” Selia held up a hand, putting the other over her mouth in a gesture to get them to be quiet. Foot steps, a single pair, could be heard faintly walking up the path from Booty Bay. Within moments, a figure, tall and slender came into view, breathing loudly, one hand holding his chest, the other by his side holding what looked like…a board with a nail in it. The man nearly jumped out of his skin once he noticed the trio, yelling out in another language.
“Hey hey! Calm down!” Selia said as she held up her hands, speaking in Common, then Thalassian.
“YOU ARE INFECTED!” the figure said, lifting the arm up with the board. The accent he had was obviously elven.
Torkin looked up from his curled position, arching a brow, “Night elf, what?”
“We are not infected, elf!” Lok’rosh called out from his position beneath the tree.
“Lies! Everyone is infected! By fiber of this board, be purged!” the night elf took a step towards Selia and swung the board with full force. She causally side stepped and the elf fell over on his face, the board sliding out from his grasp. Now that he was closer, they could definitely see the features of him. Loose cloth clothing covered his body, soaked in blood, the long ears, the purple flesh, the Mohawk…wait.
Selia and Torkin watched the Night Elf gather himself up, scrambling to grab his board before jumping back up into a defensive stance with the piece of wood. “Then what are you doing here?! Huh? You bitches gotta be crazy if you are heading down there. Booty Bay. That place is a dead zone. No more, ya hear me?”
“Yes, we hear you. But we are trying to find out what happened, what is causing this,” Lok’rosh said calmly.
“What caused it? It was those damn crates, I tell you what. Don’t know what it was, but the second people starting unloading them, hell broke loose, you hear me? Hell! Except minus the fire and brimstone and more with the walking dead and all that shit, yanno?”
Selia groaned and shook her head slowly, “Okay, fine. We get it. I am Selia. The gnome is Torkin and the orc over there is Lok’rosh. We just need to see for ourselves what is going on.”
“GREENSKIN?! Those bitches probably started this whole thing,” the night elf started before finally calming down. “I’m Nikot. I saw them. My friends, eating each other. Man, if you saw the shit I did, your skin would be blue! It ain’t right, I tell ya.”
“We know…just come with us Nikot. You will be safe, all right?” Lok’rosh said as he stood up, dusting himself off.
“Yeah. …Yeah. That’s a good idea. Go with you. Don’t wanna be dying, yanno?”
---
The rain came sweeping in quickly, the clouds looming lowly in the night sky, blotting out the moonlight. The winds picked up, the trees swayed and the thunder began to roll. Flashes of light illuminated the entire jungle, offering brief glimpses of the surroundings. Sheets of rain slammed through Stranglethorn, the paths leading to Booty Bay becoming slippery patches of mud.
The small group had managed their way close enough to get a glimpse of the goblin port town. They had climbed their way up one of the nearby ridges that surrounding the town, looking down over it. With each flash of lightening that streaked across the sky, the bay was lit up as bright as day. Through the sheets of rain, the true sight could be seen.
Crates with strange markings upon that were found littered all along the docks, some toppled over, some pushed and floating around in the water. Screams and panicked yells came from the buildings. Movement was seen everywhere, though slow and lethargic. The entire town was crawling with the plague. Clouds of greenish gas covered ever available space and it was leaking into the surrounding areas.
“I…cannot believe this,” whispered Selia.
Vee chattered and scanned Booty Bay from the safety of Lok’rosh’s shoulder. Deep frown lines etched their way into the orc’s face as the scene was described in detail to him via the mechanical creation.
“Man! This is whack!” groaned Nikot as he looked over the ransacked town.
“Well, what do we do?” muttered Torkin as he looked up to Lok’rosh, Selia and Nikot.
“I really don’t think we would stand a chance down there. We would be risking too much, I think,” replied Lok’rosh. Selia nodded as she stood up fully, the rain soaking her clothing and the brief flashes of light showing just how thin her clothing was.
“We head back,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “No point sitting around here much longer, right?”
They all muttered in agreement and stood to leave the infected area, but as they turned, they were met with a growing army, marching and crawling their way up the ledge that over looked the bay.
“Well, shit,” sighed Nikot, running his fingers over the board he held close. “Only one way down! LET’S CHARGE THROUGH THESE BICHES! WAAAOOOO!” Without much more warning, the Night Elf charged down the hill towards the on coming army of the dead, swinging his board high above his head. “You bitches gonna die!”
“Nikot! WAIT!” Lok’rosh, Selia and Torkin screamed as the scrambled after him.
But it was too late. Nikot had charged straight into the fray, slamming the board against the heads of the oncoming zombies, yelling a Darnassian battle cry as he literally tore into the zombies with everything he had. “You bitches ain’t gonna get me!” he screamed as one of the zombies lunged through the air, tackling him down onto the ground. Many more followed, piling onto the Night elf.
The trio stopped in their tracks, horrified and shocked at what was going on. Crunching and sloppy, wet sounds came from within the mass of zombies, but from beneath, between the legs, Nikot could be see crawling away, weakly. His face was bloodied, his eyes hallow and from the waist down, he had no legs.
“Tell…my girlfriend, I love…her,” he coughed loudly, still holding onto the board tightly in one hand. “Kill these bitches,” he muttered, “…Kill these bitches…….dead.”
With that, one of the zombies grabbed him by the head and pulled him back into the pile, a loud crunch and snap echoed through the thunder and sound of the rain falling.
“Ahhhh!” Torkin screamed ran ahead of Lok’rosh and Selia, pulling all sorts of things from his bag, hurling them towards the zombies. As the metal devices came into contact with something solid, they erupted into flames, exploding outward, shrapnel flying in every direction. As the explosions grew towards him, Trokin threw his arms up in the air, chanting something quickly and a bright barrier formed between them and the explosion.
“What do we do?!” Selia said loudly, to speak over the symphony of sounds ranging from the pitter patter of rain to the death throws of the zombies.
“We get the hell out of here. By any means possible…” Lok’rosh said. “If you have your hearthstone, use it now, Selia…me and Torkin will take care of this.”
Nodding, she obeyed, quickly pulling her stone from her pouch, muttering into it and awaiting the spell to take affect. During this period, one of the zombies had sprinted around the barrier and bee lined straight for the blood elf. She screeched out as the zombie tackled her to the ground, the spell having just finished and the both of them vanishing in a flash of green light to god knows where.
“Damnit,” Lok’rosh groaned as the elf and the zombie vanished. The army moved forward, groaning and moaning lowly as they neared the barrier Torkin held in place, lunging explosives over the top of it towards the ranks of the undead. Explosions rocked the area, knocking out zombies, pieces and parts flying in every possible direction, gore raining down upon the muddy and now blood soaked ground.
“Vee, start my transporter. Left pouch,” he said as he stepped up behind Torkin. “Time to get out of here.”
The gnome nodded, letting the barrier fall, but he quickly threw a hand up, ice rising up around the feet of the zombies, halting their advance, if even for a short moment. The transporter in the pouch crackled loudly, the area surrounding Lok’rosh and the gnome sparked with life, threads of light escaping from the cloth of the pouch.
CRACK BAM!
The transporter jumped in the pouch a moment before falling limp, all sounds from within stopping. “Uh…that’s not good,” Lok’rosh muttered as he quickly grabbed the device, shaking it wildly in his hand. “Come on you stupid thing. WORK!” He slammed his fist into the device over and over.
The ice gave way and the zombies sprinted forward, growling and moaning with hunger.
“Uh, hurry it up will ya?!” said Torkin as he panicked, grabbing onto Lok’rosh’s leg.
“I…am…TRYING!” growled Lok’rosh before slamming his fist one last time. The zombies were a few feet away when the transporter buzzed back to life. In the blink of an eye, the gnome, the orc and the squirrel vanished in a fiery explosion, burning and charring the earth, trees and zombies around them, leaving the jungle of Stranglethorn to fend for itself, for the time being.
The following took place around the time of the most wonderful zombie invasion. Of course, it is all in good fun and meant to be a B-rated Horror movie.
Hilarity ensues!
I am by no means a writer. So, pardon any and all grammatical errors.
Let me know what you think.]
Reports had been flooding in through various means that something dark and sinister had been going on throughout Azeroth in the past day. Most were hard to believe, some were right out. A plague was spreading, infecting thousands, and the numbers growing every second. The first wave of reports had come in from Booty Bay and from there, it spread like wildfire. There had even been sightings of sickly people as far as Winterspring.
Hours after the first reports began, sightings of ‘zombies’ began to flood the lines of communication. Those infected fell ill quickly. Those who did not seek help soon fell, but arose in a new fashion. Their bodies reanimated by some force, seeking blood and gore from anything and everything around them, even their own comrades.
The Argent Dawn had moved out setting up outposts throughout the cities that would allow them in, curing the infected, spreading hope and light amongst the people of both the Horde and Alliance.
But, it almost seemed to be for naught. Further and further the news of infected people and ‘zombies’ spread. Lok’rosh had been listening quietly through the enchanted stone that each soldier of the Horde and even Alliance was given. Outposts calling for help and reinforcements before falling silent hours later. It made his stomach turn and his mind race with what could possibly be causing all of this.
The first place to check out was Booty Bay, the first reports had come from there, so what better place to start than the source?
Lok’rosh nodded to himself, “Vee, we need to head down there. Something is wrong and we need to try and see if there is any way we can help.”
The small mechanical squirrel chattered and beeped on the table that Lok’rosh was leaning upon the stone that had been spilling reports of everything sitting in the middle of the two of them.
“Well, yeah, of course it will be dangerous. But there are a lot of people who will be in danger if nothing is done, you know?”
The squirrel let out a low tone, almost growling as it scurried across the table to sit infront of Lok’rosh, tiny mechanical arms crossing over it’s chest.
“Aw, come on. What could possibly go wrong?” With a grin, Lok’rosh pushed himself up from the table, moving over to one of the lockers he had that lined the walls, reaching in to grab bits of his armor, sliding it on one at a time. He wore his mail, enchanted with Shamanistic spells and guards. Latching one piece on at a time, he readied himself, grabbing his shield, sword and Gorehowl, just incase.
“Come on Vee. We have some exploring to do…” Lok’rosh dramatically held Gorehowl in one hand, slung over his shoulder as the mechanical squirrel leapt from the table and crawled up the Orc’s body, coming to stand on his shoulder.
----
The ride upon one of the bats towards Booty Bay was rather dull. Vee described the landscape to Lok’rosh as the neared the southern lands of the Eastern Kingdoms. Fewer and fewer bodies of living people could be found, some of the shapes had seemed to move along slowly, others attacked other shapes.
The bat screeched as it near the border of Stranglethorn, turning around sharply, nearly throwing Lok’rosh and Vee from the saddle upon it’s back.
“Calm down! Just let me off here! Damn…” Lok’rosh yelled at the bat, calming it if only for a minute while tugging on the reigns. The bat dove towards the earth, quickly throwing the orc off of it’s back and darting off towards the north frantically. The two of them rolled off the road and into a tree.
Lok’rosh groaned and sat up, shaking his head, “What crawled up his ass…”
Vee climbed back up and made perch upon the top of the orc’s head as he gathered himself up, strapping the weapons tighter on his back before heading southward, through the pass that lead from Duskwood into Stranglethorn.
As Lok’rosh marched across the bridge, the sounds of the birds and animals of the jungle did not seem to exist. All he could hear was the whistle of the winds through the thick trees. This was a cause for worry, he thought as his brow furrowed deeply. He rolled his shoulders and continued down the path.
The jungle was eerily quiet. The animals that would usually jump out here and there seemed to stay hidden, where ever they were. Usually, the barbaric trolls of the area could be heard chatting amongst themselves, holding rituals or just finding some poor unsuspecting soul to slaughter for their own gain.
Nothing was heard. The usual patter of commoners, traders and warriors marching up and down the path that lead to Booty Bay was empty. The brush rustled quietly with the blow of the wind. Lok’rosh dropped one hand down by his side, pulling up one of the four totems that lined his belt. His thumb brushed over the markings as he muttered quietly to himself, reaching out to the spirits of the wind.
”North. North…..north…..”
Lok’rosh shook his head, setting the totem back where he had grabbed it, frowning. “This is not good. Even the spirits don’t seem to want to be around whatever is here. Very odd…”
Vee chattered from Lok’rosh’s shoulder as the creation looked around the area.
The walk southward continued slowly as the air seemed to grow more…well, dead. The sounds of the area had died away, all Lok’rosh could hear was his own footsteps, the whirring of the gizmos inside of Vee and his own heartbeat in his ears.
The sun had begun to slowly set in the west, the air growing cooler.
Without warning, something lunged out from the brush at the side, screeching loudly and it had very nearly made Lok’rosh drop a load in his pants. But Vee let out an alarm and Lok’rosh pulled Gorehowl from his back, wildly swinging it at whatever it was. The thick metal made contact with something soft, then a loud crunch before a thud hit the earth.
Lok’rosh breathed loudly as his heart raced, letting out a slight snort as whispered to Vee, “What the HELL was that thing?” Vee looked over the disfigured body that lay in a bleeding heap at the orc’s feet. A body, around five feet, possibly more. Wounds covered the body, slashes here and there. As for what it was, Vee could not say, but it wasn’t living now…and there was no way it could have been before. Lok’rosh dropped to one knee, leaning down to place a hand upon the body before something else caught his attention.
“Help me!” came a small voice screaming at the top of their lungs in Common. The sound of feet hitting the earth came soon after, the rush of footsteps growing louder, approaching Lok’rosh. “Oh my gosh, get them away from meeeeEEEEE!”
A gnome leap from the bushes on the other side of the pathway, letting out blood curdling shrills as he crossed the road and continued through the brush on the other side. Seconds later, five bodies emerged from the bushes, obviously chasing after the gnome. They groaned and growled and gurgled as they gave chase.
Vee instantly let out a small report for Lok’rosh, noting that they were, infact, reanimated dead beings. No life signs were visible, no pulse, nothing. But there they were, chasing a gnome. And Lok’rosh sat there, in a stunned silence as the zombies crossed the road and disappeared into the brush, just as the gnome did.
“Well…um…that was weird…” Lok’rosh continued to stand there for a few more moments, mulling this over in his head. So, zombies had risen from the dead, it would seem. Scourge. That is a simple answer. But as far as he knew, the Scourge had no sort of forces in the southern lands. Or at least nothing that was of any threat. Yet, plain as day they were here. Or at least some. But then why would the reports say that people were getting infected if it was just Scourge? It couldn’t be the reports had gotten—
His train of thought was derailed as the gnome from before had leapt and tackled the orc to the ground, more by surprise more than the gnome’s strength. “HELP ME!” he screamed in Common as he grabbed the orc by the collar, looking into his face with a look of fear. The tiny gnome trembled as he stood on the orc’s chest, attempting to shaking some sense into the green skin.
“Okay!” Lok’rosh yelled back in Common, growling. “Get off of me and I will take care of them, gnome!” Lok’rosh pushed the gnome off and quickly got to his feet. He strapped Gorehowl back over his back and grabbed his shield, holding it in his left hand as he left his right empty. He held the shield up, licking his lips as he left his right arm limp at his side, his fingers wiggling slightly as sparks of lightening jumped from his fingertips, curling around his hand and palm slowly.
The gnome stood behind the Shaman, trembling, peeking out from behind his leg towards where the zombies would be coming from. Within moments, the gnome screeched out, “Here they come!” One stubby little arm reached out, pointing towards the five attackers.
The five zombies leapt from the bushes, launching their attack onto who they thought was the gnome, but realized within seconds that there was an orc. But, it didn’t stop them and their hunger for brains. Green skin or tiny pinky, either one had brains and it was enough to please them. But Lok’rosh wouldn’t let that happen, to him OR the gnome.
He thrusted his right arm forward letting out a grunt as his entire arm light up the area for a brief moment. Threads of lightening swirled up and down the mail of his armor on his arm before launching from his hands into the on coming undead, the lightening jump from one, to another and one last one before dying down. Three of the bodies crumpled over, charred and burnt, the smell of cooked flesh thick in the air. The other two zombies continued without hesitation, jumping over the bodies, one of the leaping directly towards Lok’rosh.
Vee let out another alarm, similar to earlier. Lok’rosh rose his shield up, growling loudly as the large body of the zombie slammed into the metal. Lok’rosh swung his upper body around, his left arm following with the zombie still upon shield, and slamming it into the ground to his left. Bones cracked as the edge of the shield drove into the body of the undead. The orc brought his right arm around and grunted, a burst of flame erupting from his hand, igniting the corpse beside him.
The gnome screamed in terror as he scurried back to hide within a nook of a tree, watching the orc take down the zombies quickly.
But, with Lok’rosh’s movements, he had left his right side completely exposed. The fifth and last zombie had charged into the side of the orc, causing him to topple over, just barely avoiding the flames from the corpse. The talons of the undead had pierced through his armor at his side, lightly pircking at his skin, but just enough to do the job.
He let out a roar as the tiny little prick at his flesh began to instantly burn and itch. With his right elbow, he hit the zombie square in the jaw, the sound of bone cracking echoed loudly as the zombie toppled to the side. Lok’rosh rolled over onto his knees, bringing his left arm around, bashing in the skull of the zombie on the ground repeatedly until nothing was left besides a pile of gore from the neck up.
The little gnome cheered loudly and jumped out from the tree, giggling and clapping, “Good job, greenskin. Good job indeed. You have them the old one two, you did. Yep! You showed them who is boss, huh? Good job too. I don’t think I could have done it, nope, not me. But you did. Maybe you guys aren’t all too bad, you know? I mean—“
“Shut it!” Lok’rosh roared as he grabbed at his side, feeling the burning and pain growing as he clenched tightly. “Nn…” A flash of green light spread from the hand on his side over his ribs before fading. The pain was not subsiding. Posion? He growled and breathed loudly as he gripped his side tightly, throwing the shield down.
He tried something else. A faint white light spread from his hand over his ribs before the burning and itching finally died away. Finally, he laid back and took a deep breath, relaxing as he managed to stop whatever it was that was doing it.
“Hey, you okay greeny?”
“Lok’rosh…”
“Lok’rosh? What? No, I was asking if you are okay, greeny.”
“No, the name is Lok’rosh. And I am fine…” He pushed himself up, glancing towards the gnome. Vee looked at the little guy curiously.
“Oh! Torkin! Pleased to mee—HEY! You speak Common?”
“No…”
“Well, then, how are you—“
“Yes I speak Common! I was taught by a good friend…now what is going on?” Lok’rosh sighed, shaking his head slowly.
“Oh! You mean the…ZOMBIES!” he gnome jumped slightly at his own words before calming, shaking his head slowly. “Terrible terrible things. I am not sure how it happened, all I know is people came from Booty Bay looking sick. Very sick, yep. Couple complained about stomach pains. I don’t know. I actually WATCHED one of them go all zombie on me, you know? He just fell over, dead…and within minutes he was back up! And chasing me!”
“Okay, okay. I get it. So it is just gnomes? Or…”
“Nope! Everyone! I saw greenskins do it too. Go all dead.”
Lok’rosh sighed and stood up, picking his shield up. “Lovely…”
“So, whatcha gonna do now, huh?!” Torkin came to stand next to Lok’rosh, bouncing on his heels slightly, looking a little too excited about the whole ordeal.
“Get closer. I need to figure out WHAT is going on exactly…to at least report, you know?” The sun had set below the horizon and the darkness had settled firmly upon the jungle. The area around them was lit up, though just barely, by the slowly dying fire upon the corpse.
“Closer?! You gotta be mad! Only a greenskin would get close, yep. Dumb dumb dumb dumb—“
“Go home, Torkin…”
“What?! No! I am going to help ya, I am, yep. I don’t got much I can do but I can do something!”
Lok’rosh shook his head, “Fine, but don’t complain if you get killed.”
“What?! Killed? Nah. I will be fine, I think. You will protect me, right?”
“Yeah, sure. Now come on…no point in sitting around, waiting to get attacked, right?” Lok’rosh placed the shield back upon his back. “This is going to be a loooong night.”
---
The orc, the gnome and the squirrel continued their journey southward towards the goblin port, Booty Bay. Night had fallen, the jungle was silent, the wind was dead and Torkin would not shut the hell up.
“…So my grandmamma once told me before that when you eat it, your head will explode! Isn’t that just the silliest thing in the world? I mean really. Right, Lok’rosh?” Torkin kept close to Lok’rosh’s side, looking around into the areas surrounding the path to Booty Bay.
Idly, Lok’rosh nodded and muttered, “Uh huh. Yeah…” Vee had leapt down from Lok’rosh’s shoulder and hopped along side the both of them, the glowing green eyes shining brightly in the darkness, scanning the area for any sort of movement. Thunder began to roll off in the distance, the dark clouds blocking out the twinkle of the stars and the little light the moons gave off.
Rustling came from above, and within mere seconds, two massive gorillas leapt down, growling and hissing as they slammed into the ground. Parts of their flesh had been peeled away, fur was falling out in hefty patches and their eyes craved sustenance. Torkin let out a squeak then yelled and ran in the opposite direction of the massive beasts while Lok’rosh took a step back, growling to meet the anger the gorillas held.
One of them began to beat on it’s own chest, bellowing loudly as the other charged head on towards the orc. Lok’rosh wasted no time and pulled Gorehowl from his back as the beast launched himself. Vee shrilled loudly as the beast neared Lok’rosh and he quickly swung the axe over head, arching it down into the ground.
The sharpened metal had met flesh, bone, tendons and organs throughout the swing. Blood and gore flew in every direction as the beast was literally cut in two, the forward momentum of the gorilla having not stopped, the two halves of the beast flying by Lok’roshigan on both sides. He couldn’t help but cringer slightly as he felt pieces of the organs and the splatter of the blood upon him, but the inner fire of the thrill of battle burned brightly in his chest.
During the commotion of the first gorilla being slaughter, the other charged quickly. Lok’rosh growled and attempted to lift his axe up high over his head to do another slice at the second one, but the blade had cut into the stone in the pathway, below the dirt. Jammed!
He jerked it by the handle left and right as he growled and as the beat launched itself at Lok’rosh in a similar fashion as the last.
“Come. On. Get. Loose!” he grunted and roared down at the axe as he pulled at it. Vee let out shrills and alarms as the zombie gorilla got closer and closer. “Shi—“
BOOM. BANG. THUD.
The orc jumped slightly at the sudden sound of an explosion and the thud of what was the gorilla rolling off to the side, crumpling over in a heap of death. Lok’rosh looked completely confused, looking around curiously. “…Torkin? Was that you?”
“Silly little move there, big guy. Sure, you took out one of them,” a soft, yet firm feminine voice called out from Lok’rosh’s right, clearly having a Thalassian accent, “But you left yourself wide open. Now, what would you have done about that, hm?”
Lok’rosh opened his mouth to speak but was cut off before he could mutter anything.
“That is exactly what I thought. Selia. Farstrider. I was sent down here to figure out what was going on…before you ask.” She stepped out from the shadows, holding a shotgun over one shoulder, the barrel smoking, her other hand pressed against her hip as she rested her weight onto one leg, watching the orc a moment.
“Yes, well, that is what I am here doing, Selia. And I would have been fine. I can handle myself,” he paused a moment then looked around. “Where is Torkin?”
“Torkin?” she questioned, looking around a moment.
“Yeah. A gnome. He was with me…”
She busted out in laughter as she looked back to Lok’rosh. “You and a gnome were traveling? You ARE an orc, right? A member of the Horde…right?” Selia doubled over in laughter as she couldn’t control it.
Lok’rosh grumbled and shook his head.
“OVER HERE! I’M COMING!” called out Torkin from behind the both of them. The tiny man came back, holding a large pack over his shoulder, grinning widely. “I forgot my pack when those guys were chasing me. So I went to get it, you are okay, right Lok’rosh? You can handle yourself. You did with those five before, right? Yep yep!”
Lok’rosh opened his mouth to answer but was cut off quickly by the elf.
“Oh, yeah. Big tough orc, this one.” She rolled her eyes and watched the gnome a moment, speaking in common. The gnome nearly leapt out of his skin, having been watching Lok’rosh and not even noticed the elf beside him. His jaw dropped as he looked at her.
“WHY ARE YOU ALMOST NAKED?!” Torkin yelled, his face burning a bright read.
Lok’rosh blinked and glanced over towards Selia, arching a brow curiously at this.
Selia groaned and shook her head slowly as she shifted her weight from one leg to another. “My armor was tainted by whatever is causing this. It was making me sick. I took it off. The Farstriders will replace it for me when I get back, so I am not worried about it. And I am NOT naked. Not even close, gnome.”
She stood around five foot five inches in height, lithe yet built for speed and accuracy; as most elves were. Her cloth trousers she wore had been torn along the sides, holes gaping from it here and there, flesh visible beneath. The shirt she wore had been cut high, her stomach exposed, her chest…well, her chest was rather there. Blood splattered her from head to toe, her burning red hair pulled back into a ponytail, out of her face.
Torkin stood there, gaping and ogling her in a stunned silence, nodding and almost drooling just at the mere sight of her. The gnome was dressed in robes, deep violet with golden trim and various markings. A pair of goggles rested upon the top of his head, beneath it a messy tuft of black hair, sticking out in every direction. Gadgets and gizmos lined the belt around his waist, some flashing idly, some glowing dimly.
“Speak, gnome, and quite staring!” She brought her leg around, kicking Torking upside his head, causing him to topple over with his sack of supplies upon the top of him. “Why are YOU here?”
Torkin spit out the dirt and coughed loudly as he squirmed out from beneath the bag of supplies, “Same as you two! Who would want to be here, huh? I mean, really, yep! I don’t want to be here but I am, yanno?”
“Riiiight,” Selia said as she looked away.
“WAIT! You speak common too, blood elf?! Why does everyone know how to speak common?!” Torkin exclaimed.
“I was once a part of the Alliance, you twit. My allegiance lies with Quel’Thalas and Silvermoon. Always has. Always will. Now, if we can continue…”
“About time,” Lok’rosh sighed. “Come on. We need to figure this out. And quick. The longer we stay out here, the more trouble we will be in. So get your things and—“ Lok’rosh yanked the axe from the stone finally, having silently been trying to the entire time, hoisting it over one shoulder, “—Let’s get going.”
---
The trip south through the jungles of Stranglethorn became anything BUT fun. The trio [and Vee] continued down the road, only to come across random zombiefied beasts of the jungle or one of the various races of Azeroth, searching for brains, as they so kindly put it.
Selia kindly put one shell after another into the zombies that emerged from the bushes or dropped from the trees. A couple had received a kind boot to the face, knocking them over onto their back and laying the end of the barrel of the shotgun she carried to their forehead. A pleased grin would spread across her face as she spoke softly to the walking corpses.
“Pleasant dreams,” she whispered before letting her thin finger pull the trigger. The cranium of the beast or humanoid would burst beneath the explosion and impact of the shell, flesh, bone and gore flying every direction from beneath, splattering the ground in a crimson display of death.
Torkin was a little more frantic with his gift of death to the already dead beings. If he wasn’t throwing bolts of arcane, fire or ice towards the zombies…from behind either Lok’rosh or Selia, he was lunging bombs and grenades towards the masses of zombies, screeching some gnomish warcry each and every time the bombs that successfully exploded. A couple led to a rather dull fizzle or just sat there flashing beneath the feet of the marching zombies.
The little gnome made sure to have as much fun with it as possible, freezing enemies then making them explodes, shattering into a hundred pieces, raining down upon the earth. He ignited fires within the bodies of the marching dead, causing moments of chaos within their ranks before everything resumed, and the zombies continued forward.
Lok’rosh was the one who charged straight into the fray of the battles, Gorehowl in hand, cleaving the front ranks in half. Bodies doubled over, blood splattered everywhere. The zombies ripped and tore at the mail Lok’rosh wore and in return, they met either the blade of his axe or a blast of lightening to the chest, resulting in the rotten, yet ripe scent of charred flesh amongst the coppery scent of the blood.
The bodies down the path to Booty Bay became more and more littered with corpses the further they moved. And the closer they got, the more they would recognize various races; orcs, trolls, tauren, humans, dwarves and even draenei. And each one that approached the trio fell swiftly to either the axe, the gun or the explosives.
After about an hour of non-stop traveling, slaughtering and pure carnage, they seemed to have a lull in their battle. Lok’rosh dropped down near a tree, leaning back, breathing deeply. The half dress elf doubled over, placing her hands upon her knees as sweat dripped from her body onto the soil. The gnome stood behind the elf, slowly tilting his head to one side as he watched Selia…closely….intently. She knew exactly what he was doing, and in a blink of an eye, she swirled around on her heels, brought one leg up and kicked Torkin square in the head, causing him to roll off to the side, screaming in pain.
Lok’rosh sighed and shook his head slowly, “Where are we?”
Selia looked around, “I think we are around the arena now. Yeah, I can see it just off the path. We are getting closer.”
“Which is why we seem to be running into more and more…” Lok’rosh tilted his head back, closed his eyes and yawned.
Torkin whimpered and held the side of his head as he curled up in a fetal position. “Ow ow ow ow!”
Vee climbed up the tree behind Lok’rosh, chittering and beeping as he came to rest upon a branch, scanning the area. Torkin looked up towards the creation of the orc and blinked, “Hey! You do that kinda stuff too, yep? We should talk! I used to work in Gnomeregan before it went all stinky, yanno? Still dumb, I think. They pulled the plug too early, yep. Speaking of which, did I ever tell you about the time my grandmamma—“
“Shush!” Selia held up a hand, putting the other over her mouth in a gesture to get them to be quiet. Foot steps, a single pair, could be heard faintly walking up the path from Booty Bay. Within moments, a figure, tall and slender came into view, breathing loudly, one hand holding his chest, the other by his side holding what looked like…a board with a nail in it. The man nearly jumped out of his skin once he noticed the trio, yelling out in another language.
“Hey hey! Calm down!” Selia said as she held up her hands, speaking in Common, then Thalassian.
“YOU ARE INFECTED!” the figure said, lifting the arm up with the board. The accent he had was obviously elven.
Torkin looked up from his curled position, arching a brow, “Night elf, what?”
“We are not infected, elf!” Lok’rosh called out from his position beneath the tree.
“Lies! Everyone is infected! By fiber of this board, be purged!” the night elf took a step towards Selia and swung the board with full force. She causally side stepped and the elf fell over on his face, the board sliding out from his grasp. Now that he was closer, they could definitely see the features of him. Loose cloth clothing covered his body, soaked in blood, the long ears, the purple flesh, the Mohawk…wait.
Selia and Torkin watched the Night Elf gather himself up, scrambling to grab his board before jumping back up into a defensive stance with the piece of wood. “Then what are you doing here?! Huh? You bitches gotta be crazy if you are heading down there. Booty Bay. That place is a dead zone. No more, ya hear me?”
“Yes, we hear you. But we are trying to find out what happened, what is causing this,” Lok’rosh said calmly.
“What caused it? It was those damn crates, I tell you what. Don’t know what it was, but the second people starting unloading them, hell broke loose, you hear me? Hell! Except minus the fire and brimstone and more with the walking dead and all that shit, yanno?”
Selia groaned and shook her head slowly, “Okay, fine. We get it. I am Selia. The gnome is Torkin and the orc over there is Lok’rosh. We just need to see for ourselves what is going on.”
“GREENSKIN?! Those bitches probably started this whole thing,” the night elf started before finally calming down. “I’m Nikot. I saw them. My friends, eating each other. Man, if you saw the shit I did, your skin would be blue! It ain’t right, I tell ya.”
“We know…just come with us Nikot. You will be safe, all right?” Lok’rosh said as he stood up, dusting himself off.
“Yeah. …Yeah. That’s a good idea. Go with you. Don’t wanna be dying, yanno?”
---
The rain came sweeping in quickly, the clouds looming lowly in the night sky, blotting out the moonlight. The winds picked up, the trees swayed and the thunder began to roll. Flashes of light illuminated the entire jungle, offering brief glimpses of the surroundings. Sheets of rain slammed through Stranglethorn, the paths leading to Booty Bay becoming slippery patches of mud.
The small group had managed their way close enough to get a glimpse of the goblin port town. They had climbed their way up one of the nearby ridges that surrounding the town, looking down over it. With each flash of lightening that streaked across the sky, the bay was lit up as bright as day. Through the sheets of rain, the true sight could be seen.
Crates with strange markings upon that were found littered all along the docks, some toppled over, some pushed and floating around in the water. Screams and panicked yells came from the buildings. Movement was seen everywhere, though slow and lethargic. The entire town was crawling with the plague. Clouds of greenish gas covered ever available space and it was leaking into the surrounding areas.
“I…cannot believe this,” whispered Selia.
Vee chattered and scanned Booty Bay from the safety of Lok’rosh’s shoulder. Deep frown lines etched their way into the orc’s face as the scene was described in detail to him via the mechanical creation.
“Man! This is whack!” groaned Nikot as he looked over the ransacked town.
“Well, what do we do?” muttered Torkin as he looked up to Lok’rosh, Selia and Nikot.
“I really don’t think we would stand a chance down there. We would be risking too much, I think,” replied Lok’rosh. Selia nodded as she stood up fully, the rain soaking her clothing and the brief flashes of light showing just how thin her clothing was.
“We head back,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “No point sitting around here much longer, right?”
They all muttered in agreement and stood to leave the infected area, but as they turned, they were met with a growing army, marching and crawling their way up the ledge that over looked the bay.
“Well, shit,” sighed Nikot, running his fingers over the board he held close. “Only one way down! LET’S CHARGE THROUGH THESE BICHES! WAAAOOOO!” Without much more warning, the Night Elf charged down the hill towards the on coming army of the dead, swinging his board high above his head. “You bitches gonna die!”
“Nikot! WAIT!” Lok’rosh, Selia and Torkin screamed as the scrambled after him.
But it was too late. Nikot had charged straight into the fray, slamming the board against the heads of the oncoming zombies, yelling a Darnassian battle cry as he literally tore into the zombies with everything he had. “You bitches ain’t gonna get me!” he screamed as one of the zombies lunged through the air, tackling him down onto the ground. Many more followed, piling onto the Night elf.
The trio stopped in their tracks, horrified and shocked at what was going on. Crunching and sloppy, wet sounds came from within the mass of zombies, but from beneath, between the legs, Nikot could be see crawling away, weakly. His face was bloodied, his eyes hallow and from the waist down, he had no legs.
“Tell…my girlfriend, I love…her,” he coughed loudly, still holding onto the board tightly in one hand. “Kill these bitches,” he muttered, “…Kill these bitches…….dead.”
With that, one of the zombies grabbed him by the head and pulled him back into the pile, a loud crunch and snap echoed through the thunder and sound of the rain falling.
“Ahhhh!” Torkin screamed ran ahead of Lok’rosh and Selia, pulling all sorts of things from his bag, hurling them towards the zombies. As the metal devices came into contact with something solid, they erupted into flames, exploding outward, shrapnel flying in every direction. As the explosions grew towards him, Trokin threw his arms up in the air, chanting something quickly and a bright barrier formed between them and the explosion.
“What do we do?!” Selia said loudly, to speak over the symphony of sounds ranging from the pitter patter of rain to the death throws of the zombies.
“We get the hell out of here. By any means possible…” Lok’rosh said. “If you have your hearthstone, use it now, Selia…me and Torkin will take care of this.”
Nodding, she obeyed, quickly pulling her stone from her pouch, muttering into it and awaiting the spell to take affect. During this period, one of the zombies had sprinted around the barrier and bee lined straight for the blood elf. She screeched out as the zombie tackled her to the ground, the spell having just finished and the both of them vanishing in a flash of green light to god knows where.
“Damnit,” Lok’rosh groaned as the elf and the zombie vanished. The army moved forward, groaning and moaning lowly as they neared the barrier Torkin held in place, lunging explosives over the top of it towards the ranks of the undead. Explosions rocked the area, knocking out zombies, pieces and parts flying in every possible direction, gore raining down upon the muddy and now blood soaked ground.
“Vee, start my transporter. Left pouch,” he said as he stepped up behind Torkin. “Time to get out of here.”
The gnome nodded, letting the barrier fall, but he quickly threw a hand up, ice rising up around the feet of the zombies, halting their advance, if even for a short moment. The transporter in the pouch crackled loudly, the area surrounding Lok’rosh and the gnome sparked with life, threads of light escaping from the cloth of the pouch.
CRACK BAM!
The transporter jumped in the pouch a moment before falling limp, all sounds from within stopping. “Uh…that’s not good,” Lok’rosh muttered as he quickly grabbed the device, shaking it wildly in his hand. “Come on you stupid thing. WORK!” He slammed his fist into the device over and over.
The ice gave way and the zombies sprinted forward, growling and moaning with hunger.
“Uh, hurry it up will ya?!” said Torkin as he panicked, grabbing onto Lok’rosh’s leg.
“I…am…TRYING!” growled Lok’rosh before slamming his fist one last time. The zombies were a few feet away when the transporter buzzed back to life. In the blink of an eye, the gnome, the orc and the squirrel vanished in a fiery explosion, burning and charring the earth, trees and zombies around them, leaving the jungle of Stranglethorn to fend for itself, for the time being.