Avalanche ~JackBunny AU

Chapter 1

A screech tore through the shopping centre as the Jeep caught on the edge of the smashed window. Bunny, a black haired boy with a foul attitude and ego problems, swore loudly and twisted at the steering wheel. The tyres of the jeep scraped along the floor, one side lifting into the air as he rounded the corner, throwing the other passengers into the windows. Before they had chance to curse at Bunny, he floored the pedal and the jeep shot across the linoleum. 

The girl in the passenger seat, wielding a stained baseball bat, whooped obnoxiously as she smashed the bat over the heads of the Nightmares as they passed. Each Nightmare let out their ear-splitting squeals, shifting into the shadows to recover. Her eyes were wild, blue-green hair knotted into messy braids under her tattered baseball cap flapping around her neck as they sped. At one point, they shifted enough to expose a messy stick-n-poke tattoo on her neck that elegantly read "bullshit".

She swung herself back into the car as they approached the escalator, pulling at the legs of the boy stood through the sunroof with his water gun. He ducked into the car with a grin, gripping the roof as the Jeep juddered up the escalator to the second floor. The ride made his blonde curls bounce on his forehead, incredibly well maintained despite the apocalypse. 

"Get your ass out of my face, dickwad!" yelled a muffled voice over the roar of the engine and the tinny guitar of Bunny's Spotify mix. The voice was heavy with a Russian accent, accompanied by two vast hands that grabbed onto the waist of the turret-boy and pulled him into the backseat. North glared at the blonde boy, who stuck his tongue out in response, until the jeep skidded to a halt and the company were thrown forwards. 

"Go! Go! Go!" Yelled Bunny, grabbing a crowbar from the footwell and throwing his door open. Tooth laughed and kicked the door open, swinging the baseball bat over her shoulder. Armed with his water gun full of holy water, Sandy clambered onto the roof to cover them, stomping to signal to North that his side was okay (one of the windows had to be replaced with cardboard after Tooth got particularly excited in a fight). North climbed out with a yell, wielding two long knives and a nasty grimace. 

"Thirteen total," Sandy smiled. A light fight no doubt. They readied themselves to attack, but Bunny held up his hand. The shopping centre fell silent, the charging Nightmares stopped in their paths. North shifted from one foot to the other, before he dropped his hands to his side. 

"Shostakovich, Bun--" he began, but Bunny held up his hand again. The first few bars of Mr Brightside rang out over the linoleum and Bunny grinned. He was about to yell out when he saw the others looking at him.

"What?" he said, lowering his crowbar slightly. Tooth shrugged her shoulders in that condescending way people sometimes do when they hear your music taste. 

"Really? This is what we're fighting to?" North laughed. The Nightmares around them looked at each other, a tinge awkwardly.

"It's a good song! Right, Sandy?" Bunny frowned, turning to the boy on the car. Sandy nodded slowly, a slightly pitying grin on his face. Bunny swore again, mumbling something as he stomped petulantly over to the car. The Nightmare closest to Tooth began fiddling with its grainy fingers. 

The room was still whilst Bunny skipped through his playlist.

'-It's not unusual to be lo'

'-just a small town girl-'

'-X gon give it to ya-'

'shawty had them apple botto-'

"Bunny!" yelled Tooth through bared teeth, "Go back one!"

"Sorry Tooth, no can do," came Bunny's voice from inside the car, "Deadpool already did it."

"Enough!" North roared, hauling Bunny out of the door as 'Fergalicious' began to blast from the speakers. They both glared at each other for a moment, before shrugging and turning to the nightmares.

Sandy swung his gun into his hand, aiming at the Nightmare closes to North and shooting. The water hit the shadowy figure, plumes of steam coming from the writhing mass as it screeched. He spun around, dropping to one knee as he aimed for the Nightmares behind the fake marble pillars with ease. The other Nightmares began to charge forward, garbled voices increasing in volume. Not enough to cover Bunny's, singing loudly to the song as he swung his crowbar.

Each impact with shuddered up his arm, the iron burning the flesh of the Nightmares as though it was on fire. Their carcasses dropped to the floor with ungraceful 'thunks', spurting black, gooey plasma across the floor. He smacked the crowbar across the head of one, using his momentum to swing round and drive the crowbar straight through the top of another's skull. He scanned the hall, seeing a multi-purpose store to their right, the lights of the sign long since disused. He wolf-whistled, jerking his head towards it, and began forging a bloody path to the store. 

He made it to the entrance, bringing his crowbar down on the padlock with a satisfying click and pushing the stiff door open with his shoulder. There were no Nightmares inside, so he turned back to the door to keep watch.

Tooth swivelled her silver-tipped baseball bat in her hand, skipping forwards slightly. She gripped onto the bat with both hands, forcing it upwards into the chin of the closest Nightmare. Its teeth slammed together with a staggering force, shattering in their places. Its bottom jaw continues to move upwards, driving its blackened teeth into its upper gums. Bone and plasma shot out of its mouth as it staggered backwards, smacking into another nightmare and forcing it into the ground where North stabbed it through the eye with practiced relish. 

Tooth swung the bat around her head, taking out two Nightmare with sickening thuds and grimacing at the burn in her arms. The bodies of the Nightmares flew outwards, skidding across the linoleum and cracking with every landing. Tooth felt the odd velvety sensation of a Nightmare's arms wrapped around her neck and launched herself backwards, into one of the pillars. The Nightmare, squealing in place, writhed against her back as she pulled a small pocket knife from her pocket. With a grunt, she drove it back into the Nightmares side, feeling the rush of plasma from the wound as she pulled her hand away. 

She made a run for the store, dodging a few Nightmares along the way and always accompanied by the reassuring coldness of the Holy Water gun. She pushed her way through the door and jumped up onto a counter to watch the others fight. 

North backed into the Jeep, pulling himself up and kicking his legs out at the three Nightmares crowding him. They slunk backwards, away from his flailing legs, growling all the while. With a heavy grunt, he threw his knives into the air, catching them with the blades facing downwards. He lifted his hand, swinging the Knife in his right hand in a horizontal arc and smiling as it skewered all three Nightmares in a row. He pulled his sword from their skulls, their body's momentum throwing them into the side of the jeep, before sprinting to the shop's doorway with his hands above his head. 

Sandy slid down the windscreen of the Jeep shooting in a semicircle from the plasma-covered bonnet. He hopped down, backing towards the store as he scanned the area for any remaining Nightmares. He saw one charging at him from the left and easily angled his shot towards it, before spinning round to take out one he heard from behind him. He pushed his way through the door and dropped onto the counter with an exhausted sigh. Tooth slid him an old bottle of water, which he gladly took. 

"Remember why we're here," Bunny said, pulling out a shopping list from his back pocket, "we need pasta, beans and tinned tomatoes, okay? If any of you find compost or gro-bags they will also be useful. Just the usual system, let's split up but always be in ear-shot."

The others nodded, disbanding and making their way to opposite ends of the store. Everything was silent for a few moments, aside from the distant beat of the Jeep, and Bunny was inspecting some plant pots. 

"Hey, Bunny?  Can you come over here one sec?" North called, a slight edge to his voice. Bunny pivoted, rushing over to him in panic, before skidding to a halt in his tracks. 

There, crouching behind a broken shelving unit with a pair of kitchen scissors and a wooden spoon, was a boy with the whitest hair Bunny had ever seen. His hands were trembling and, as Bunny watched, he raised his wooden spoon with shaking hands.