Zombies Vs Aliens: Respawn

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

My reflexes were not at maximum efficiency. Between the stun sticks and the weird blank outs, I was off my game. I felt fuzzy at the edges. At Princess's scream, I looked up, and stood there, blinking as doom sailed toward us in a blaze of red chrome.

Someone slammed into my back, shoving me down as the truck sailed over head, crashing into the side of the alien ship with the now familiar massive gong before rolling off harmlessly to the side.

"My bad!" I heard Fred's shout from across the torn up street. The wreckage of several vehicles littered the area, some little more than twisted shreds of metal which the aliens must have shot out of the air. No wonder Bullet Face was ready to beat a swift retreat, even if it left his allies at the Fort in the lurch. I had a feeling my alien frenemy was the cut throat survivor type.

The ship wobbled into the air before taking off with a muted whoosh. That thing had some stealth when it wanted to. Now that it was gone I could hear the yelling.

"-nearly hit us with the truck, you walking dildo!" A great deal of slapping punctuated Princess's words.

"What, you managed to tuck and roll, suck it up." I missed Fred. The slapping got louder.

"Are you okay?" Kit murmured above me. He was the one who shoved me out of the way. The sun back lit his hair, burnishing it with shots of gold, and added copper highlights to his eyes. Caged between his arms, I lost my train of thought before the urgency of the moment came rushing back to me.

"Fort Braydon!"

Kit jumped off me, as Fred skidded to a stop beside me, yanking me into a hug.

"You freaking idiot, learn to duck!"

I patted him on the back. "Next to look before you throw half ton pick ups."

Fred pulled back to give me that goofy nightmare grin of his. Kit sucked in a breath.

"Boy, I'm going to have a fun time explaining you lot to my superiors." He glanced around, his face crumpling at an overturned slightly crumpled SUV. "You had to go and throw my car?"

Fred stared between the man and his vehicle. "Uh, my bad bro, let me fix that for you?" He glanced at me. A breather? He mouthed.

"Go, I'll explain on the way." I waved him off, looking for the rest of our little group.

"Yo, Gingy! Could use some muscle here."

Ginger trotted on by, bouncing as she went. Kit watched her go, his jaw hanging slack.

"Okay, what the hell is she?"

"That's a question for the ages." I caught sight of J.D. discreetly ruffling Wolf Girl's hair as they walked toward the group. Princess helpfully perched on top of the truck Fred and Ginger worked to flip back on its wheels, heckling them along. Despite the destruction all around, everyone seemed in one piece, including Bert and Ernie who shared a quiet reunion apart from everyone else.

"Why don't you go introduce yourself, make sure they don't finish wrecking your car," I said. Kit followed my line of sight and left with a nod. I approached my Muppets.

What the hell do I say to them? They were my first companions on this crazy messed up ride, but they weren't simply lovable oozy corpses anymore. Bert had wrapped his good arm around Ernie's neck, resting his forehead against hers. I always wondered why they two traveled together as a couple of mindless bodies. Maybe they weren't so mindless. I wanted to, I don't know, set them free? Upgrade their member status? Figure out what the hell brought on the rapid fire change so I could help it along?