Apocalypse Grumps

Monster Reunion

"Lizzy?" I exclaimed.

She ran up in front of the Reapers and protected them, "Please, don't hurt them."

"But you're the one that told us these things were evil!" Arin argued. "You don't understand," the blue one lowered its' face for Lizzy to pet. "they're my friends."

We all looked at each other, confused. Lizzy was the one to tell us that these things were the enemy. So why would she be protecting some? Were they like her slaves or something? Wait, she said they were her friends? Then... are they...?

"What do you mean 'your friends'?" Jack asked. Lizzy sighed, "You guys have time for a story?"

We gathered into a circle on the floor with the Reapers behind Lizzy. The Reapers sat as well, well besides the serpent one. River planted herself between Mark's legs and he wrapped his arms around her, still skeptical about the creatures' alignments.

"So," Lizzy began. "it all began back in Wal-Mart. You guys had just left and I was all by myself. I was kinda zoning out until I heard something eating. I look over and there's a Reaper, still alive and eating Madison's... corpse. I then shoot it in the head and kill it. But just as I was about to leave, I hear something moving. I look, and I see that Madison has become a Reaper. I go to shoot her, and she just... freezes. She doesn't attack me, she doesn't growl, nothing. It turns out, the Reaper virus doesn't infect the brain through a bite. So on the outside the person is a Reaper, but they're still them on the inside. So, Madison bit Sam and Lexi, and we became a team again. So, I'd like to introduce you to everybody," She then gets up, and starts with the purple cat. "This is Lexi," It groaned a hello. "this is Sam," The blue one screeched and waved its' claw. "and this is Madison." The serpent clicked.

"So you're like a Pokémon trainer?" Ross piped up. "Y'know, with the monsters that look like something out of a fairy tale and you being the human that can understand them and control them."

"I wouldn't say control, more like they do whatever they want and I kinda suggest them to do things. They either do 'em, or they don't."

"How did you get here all the way from Illinois?" asked Barry.

Lizzy shuffled nervously, "We kinda... followed you..."

"Excuse me?" Arin said, startled.

"Well, you told us what you were doing and we thought that you might want some giant monsters on your side. That's like an instant win."

Everyone looked at each other, silently debating if we should take them with us. "Well, it'd be pretty hard to get you guys to camp without being spotted." I said.

"How do you think we got here undetected? You guys just lead us. We'll follow." Lizzy winked. So with that, everyone stood up and went for the exit. We walked back the way we came to the camp, but as we did, I would check behind me every so often. If three monsters could follow us to D.C. without any of us knowing, then maybe we've been followed this whole time. Maybe Felix even knows we're here. Or worse, our exact location.

We got back to camp, once we did, a few minutes passed before the girls showed up. Lizzy was riding on the back of Lexi while Sam and Madison were next to them. "How come you only ride her?" I asked when she got onto the ground. "Because riding the other two would be difficult as all hell. Plus, she's a war cat." Lexi then growled something with a smile, and Lizzy laughed. "Yes Lexi, you're a Warrior."

"You can... understand them?" I asked, amazed.

"Yeah. You have no idea how long that took. Especially Sam." Sam glared... I think.

---

When it got late into the night, we all relaxed around the camp fire. Lizzy had a couple glow sticks in her bag, so she was playing with River while Danny and I relaxed. I sat on one of the logs listening to Arin telling a story, when I felt Danny's head start to lean on my shoulder. At first I thought he was just leaning his head on my shoulder, but then I heard his breathing calm down. I couldn't help but smile.

"Mark," River called. She was getting better at pronouncing everyone's names. She still called Danny 'Dinny' though, but it never bothered him in the first place, so he doesn't care.

I turned to where River was and I could see that the girls were asleep, "They're not move." "They're probably sleeping, sweetie." I said. "Then why do they have small arrows?" 'Small arrows'? I asked Barry to kindly check what she was talking about, since I didn't want to disturb Danny. Then, I heard a thump, "Bear! Wake up!" River started to shout.

"They're--!" Suzy then fell limp and onto the ground. "Tranquilizer darts!" Arin shouted. But before I could react, I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, then my entire body felt numb. The last thing I remember is falling backwards onto the ground.