Night 52: Main Street

[zack-fair.livejournal.com]

[From here.]

Now that they had found the right place, Zack had to remember where exactly the bar was. Had Tifa been there before, or has she only heard about it from other people? Either way, the soldier was fairly certain that he knew where to go from here, and that was to the left.

There was just one problem, though: they weren't alone. While the zombies didn't seem to have noticed them yet, they were still shambling around on the main road, heads tilting to the side or hands outstretched as they searched for food.

For them.

"Looks like we might have to make a run for it," he said with a sigh as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Unless we want to try the materia out now." It was tempting, but that might also classify as suicidal, hence why he wanted Tifa's opinion.

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[36-24-35.livejournal.com]

Tifa's joy from finding the right road was aborted with Zack's observation. There were indeed a pack of them sleuthing slowly down the street. While they were a potential threat, it did not send the same chill up her spine the way the monsters in the institute did. Those things were anything but human. At least here they were just average, deranged citizens. True they were undead, but a skull fracture was a skull fracture.

"Hmmm..." She murmured quietly. "Well, we could try a thunder clap. Maybe it'll distract them." Though knowing how mediocre their strength was in this place, who knew how powerful or controllable the materia was. She had been able to freeze a door lock, but that had been mere inches away. For all she knew it could accidentally hit them by accident. "There's always the back up plan of running for it if it doesn't work..."

[zack-fair.livejournal.com]

When Tifa gave her opinion, Zack found himself grinning. It was good to know that he could rely on the girl to go along with his stupid plans. Whether they were overly confident or assured in their ability to run fast, it seemed like it had been decided; he was finally going to be able to test out his materia.

The soldier pulled it out of his pocket and held it in his hand again, staring down at it as he tried to feel for any sort of power. But the small marble-shaped object would really only come to life if he used it, and so he focused on the crowd of zombies and took a deep breath.

"Here goes," he said to his companion. "Get ready to run." And with that, he concentrated, a small ring of energy gathering around him as the spell was prepared. Then he released it, but instead of there being a huge burst of lightning that took down a few of their enemies, there was just a lone bolt that hit only one of the undead. It fell to the ground, but there was no way of knowing if it was down for good or not.

Either way, they were about to get a whiff of sizzled zombie flesh, but that was all in a day's work, wasn't it? And the bright flash of light had been enough to attract the other zombies' attention; all of them were slowly turning to face them.

"Well," Zack said with a sigh, "that could have gone better."

[36-24-35.livejournal.com]

It was foolish, but with Zack's constant exuberance rubbing off on her, Tifa allowed a trickle of hope cloud her skepticism when her friend volunteered his materia for summoning a clap of thunder. She stood silently beside him, keeping her focus on the crowd of undead instead of the thunderous beat of her heart that grew with her own anticipation. Her hands gradually came together, squeezing her flashlight until her knuckles turned white.

Finally, the hairs on the back of her neck rose, signalling the beginning of thunder. She saw the strike and her heart fell before the boom hit her ears seconds later. It had only been one clap of lightning and had only fried one zombie.

Crap.

"Yeah," Tifa agreed quietly, walking back slowly from the suddenly interested gaggle of zombies looking their way. Tapping Zack on the shoulder, she broke out into a sprint the only path available to them. Hopefully the bar was on this side of the street.

She knew better, but the brunette couldn't help but look back just to make sure Zack was right behind her. "Well--"She screamed between panted breaths. "--now we know!" It wasn't the best joke, but if you can't laugh at a hoard of zombies trying very hard to eat you, what can you laugh at?

[zack-fair.livejournal.com]

While that had been a complete failure (and more than that, he didn't know if it would work a second time, nor did they have the chance to try right now), Zack figured they at least knew what the materia was capable of now. Maybe in another situation it would have been helpful, but at this point? It seemed like Tifa had the right idea.

Tightening his hold on the pry bar as he put the materia back into his pocket, Zack took off after Tifa, hyper-aware of where the zombies were and when he'd have to try and take one down with a well-timed swing.

They were going in the right direction for the bar, but they were going to have to cross the street once they got far enough down it, which was easier said than done. He didn't know if Tifa knew the way, but he could always pull forward if need be, once they got that far.

"You've got that right!" he yelled back to Tifa as he pulled up next to the girl. He even managed a laugh to accompany hers, because the situation was pretty ridiculous if he thought about it for too long. Besides, it was kind of fun in an exhilarating, life-threatening way.

Eventually they came up to a zombie and he swung out with the pry bar, aiming right for its head. If there was a telltale place to attack something, especially a humanoid creature, it was there.

[36-24-35.livejournal.com]

Even if one went down, there was always another to take its place. With Zack occupied, Tifa took up position behind him in his blind spot so he wouldn't get overwhelmed. It didn't take long before another lumbered up close to them.

Putting up her guard--and favoring her left since her right was still a bit sore--, the young fighter judged the distance between it, her, and the length of her foot to its head. She stepped in and twisted around in a complete circle, bringing her foot up into an arc and slamming the heel of her sneaker into the zombie's brittle head. It worked well. A bit too well, actually, as its head literally broke and spun back behind it. The sight alone made Tifa shiver in revulsion. Even with its lack of senses, the undead man kept moving closer.

Tifa slowly backed up until she was almost heel to heel with Zack. "Okay, so where was that bar exactly?" Not that she was nervous or anything! This was nothing unusual for her, but most of the time, when she kicked something, it usually didn't come back for seconds. "I don't know how well we can barricade it--don't touch me!" Her last words were ragged with annoyance, having to deal with a feisty handed zombie that kept inching for her neck and head.

It took an uppercut to the stomach and a well-placed fist to the temple before the zombie was leveled to the pavement. Its hands were still clawing at the asphalt in search of her. Whether reflexive or stubborn, this proved to be an ill-conceived strategy. "Can we make it to the door?"

[zack-fair.livejournal.com]

They made it a little further before one came after Tifa, and Zack spun around right in time to see her take it out with her bare hands (and feet). It was a pretty impressive sight, enough that he actually paused for a moment just to watch. She'd clearly come a long way, and while that should have been obvious by now, Zack kept being struck by the time difference between him and his friends in all sorts of ways.

"We're just about there," he told her as he kept an eye on the dispersed horde, wanting the mindless creatures to know that he wasn't going to be taken by surprise so easily. A little further down the street, on the other side, he could see the double doors that led into the bar. Zack was hoping that the bar itself wasn't crowded with these things, though they seemed to prefer the outside for whatever reason.

Or maybe he was just telling himself that.

Moving further away from the downed (yet still clawing) zombie, he nodded toward those doors. "It's there," he said, "across the street. We're just going to have to run as fast as we can... barrel through them." And hope that their claws didn't scratch and their jaws didn't bite -- not too much, anyway.

He bent his knees slightly, preparing to run again. "All right. One... two... three!" And then he took off across the street, expecting Tifa to follow. His pry bar was held in front of him as he got ready for one of those things to get in his way. And if they did? He'd smacked them down.

[36-24-35.livejournal.com]

Zack took the lead and that was just fine with her. He made a better bulldozer anyhow, and his weapon could keep the zombies at bay the way her fists couldn't. Hunching her shoulders inward to make herself less of a target, Tifa followed right behind the former SOLDIER's path. A few hands grabbed her, and every time the brunette stopped breathing, hoping against hope this wouldn't end in cuts of bites. The last thing she needed was to get injured again. Her track record was lousy enough.

The doors into the bar were in sight, and Tifa hoped they were unlocked as well. In front of the entrance, she turned around to the growing crowd of undead. Her back pressed up against Zack's to encourage motion into the bar while an idea struck her outside. Neither of their materia were going to help thwart the zombies, but she figured she could attempt to obstruct them. Summoning a spell of ice, she coated the concrete before the door with a thick skin of black ice. It may be a waste, but that was no excuse not to try. At least it'd be amusing to watch them slip. Maybe a few of them would skull themselves right into a coma.