It was late; Morena couldn’t tell what tell what time it was since the power was out. Neither her nor Sam owned wristwatches. She glanced over at her friend. Sam sat staring at the wall; he hadn’t said anything for a long time. “Are you ok?” She asked quietly. Over the course of the past hour, he had begun to develop a bad cough and a runny nose.

“My arm burns like hell, I feel like the last shit I took, and we’re trapped in our own apartment with some psycho-zombie-monsters prowling around outside. Other than that, I’m just doing great.” After he finished speaking, he sneezed three times.

Something then shuffled in the ceiling. The thing that had made the noise shifted to made some scratching sounds right above the television set; some dust began to sift down over the top surface of the TV.

Clutching Sam, she dragged him into a standing position and ushered him behind the couch. “What the hell is that?” Morena whispered.

Adrenaline waking him up from his sleepy state, Sam whispered back, “I think it’s one of those monsters…”

The orange flames from the candles projected ominous shadows on the living room wall that danced back and fourth with the flames. The scene became even more eerie when the scratching stopped. A last puff of dirt fell from the ceiling.

Making sure not to make the slightest sound, Morena slowly made her way to each of the candles and quietly blew them out, leaving one last candle lit. The room was now so dark that Sam could hardly see; the feeble orange light that shined from the solitary candle was nearly useless.

Silently, Sam left the living room and entered the pitch-black kitchen. Feeling his way to the countertop, his hand wrapped itself around a cold, cylindrical object on the cool marble counter. Tugging on it, the six-cell Mag-Lite that could serve as a bludgeoning tool easily slid from its resting place. The long, heavy flashlight felt like a large block of lead in his hand. Unfortunately, the batteries contained inside had long since run out of power.

Cautiously, he proceeded back to the living room where he saw Morena prying off the wood that they had nailed to the door with a hammer, obviously trying to make as little noise as she could. A loud snap emanated from the wooden plank as Morena unintentionally broke it in half with the prying end of the of the tool; rapid scratches from something scampering around in the building became louder and louder as the unidentified creature drew closer and closer.

“Shit.” Morena cursed as she ripped the door off its hinges. Making noise now wouldn’t matter. She exited the apartment with haste as Sam trailed behind her, clutching the flashlight in his hand. The dark hallway ahead seemed like a black tunnel, trailing on forever into a swirling, black void. Behind them, they heard the ceiling in their apartment cave in, and the heavy crash of the malicious object that fell through. Two more crashes then came from the apartment.

In the darkness, the two friends ran down the unlit hall, holding on to each other so they wouldn’t get separated. Sam and Morena rounded a corner, and made their way to the stairwell, clumsily stumbling in the darkness. In the hall around the corner the duo had just rounded, three glistening shapes tore down the passageway in pursuit.

Slamming the double-doors to the stairwell open, Morena twisted around after Sam had entered safely and slammed the door shut. She then threw herself against the door to prevent the monsters from getting through. “Go! Run!” She screamed.

Advancing towards the stairs, Sam cried, “What about you?”

“I’ll be fine, just go, dammit! I can’t hold them forever!”

Three bodies slammed against the other side of the thick wooden doors. If the Flygon hadn’t been supporting it, they would have torn the doors open with ease. “Go!” Morena screamed again.

Hesitantly, Sam began to descend the square-shaped stairwell that circled around and around in a twisting spiral until it reached the ground floor. There was a clear space in the center of the descending staircase in which an individual could see down to the bottom. Now running, Sam heard the loud slamming of the doors as the monsters’ bodies impacted it. He nearly tripped because it was so dark; fear now took hold of his body as he frantically ran down the stairs towards Terra Firma.

Up above, the three creatures rammed against the doors simultaneously, and unfortunately Morena couldn’t hold them back this time. The doors flew open as the Flygon fell forwards and landed on her face; the three monsters quickly advanced upon her.

The creatures looked like a twisted human-frog hybrid and appeared to be about three-feet from head to buttocks. The body retained the same basic human shape, but they crouched on their wrongly proportioned and muscle-packed back legs; they appeared to use their lanky front arms for balance. Aside from that, they resembled the other creatures the duo had seen, as they had mouths full of sharp teeth and long claws that extended from their fingers. Their white eyes seemed to glow with malice.

The first one leaped through the air at her, but Morena was quick enough to deflect it with her muscular tail, which send it flying into a wall. There was a loud crack as the mutant’s head impacted the concrete wall. It fell limply onto the ground with half of its featureless face caved in; black blood trickled in a steady stream from a large gash on its forehead that descended to its exposed brain.

The second and third attacked her at the same time. Morena caught the first one under her foot as the thing’s skull pancaked, sending warm, gray brain matter and thick blood exploding across the floor. She wasn’t quick enough to catch the last one.

It jumped with all of its strength, and hit Morena square in the chest. She stumbled backwards with the mutant in her grasp, and felt the cold steel of the railing hit her back as she went plummeting over the side. She heard Sam scream.

With a cold, hard marble floor rapidly advancing in her field of vision, the Flygon unfolded her wings, achieving flight, and with all her might threw the struggling creature downwards. The mutant hit the ground with a loud splatter as Morena landed on the ground seconds afterwards, miraculously unscathed.

Sam arrived on the ground floor half a minute after his friend landed. Frantic, he sputtered, “Oh my god, are you alright? Tell me you're not hurt!”

Placing both of her hands on his shoulders, she looked him in the eyes and calmly said, “I’m fine. Settle down, before you attract more of those things… And thanks for caring.”

This seemed to soothe her frightened friend, as he began to take slower breaths. Choked up, he croaked, “I thought you were gonna die.” Hard sobs began to rake his body.

Slowly, she took Sam and pushed his head into her chest. “It’s okay.” She cooed as her friend continued to cry.


---


After Sam had settled down, the two friends exited the staircase and entered the main apartment lobby when Sam though he heard a faint wailing.

His face still tear-stained, he quietly asked Morena, “What is that?”

She paused, and listened hard. Sure enough, there was the sound of despaired cries that came from a hall labeled “Apartment Block C”; the sign on the door was barely legible because of the intense darkness that enveloped the room. The sound intensified the eeriness of the already scary-as-hell environment they were in.

A sudden revelation hit Sam. He turned to Morena. “…Doesn’t Ava live in Apartment Block C?”

“Yeah, she does.” whispered Morena, audibly gulping.

Since living in the building, the two friends had gotten to know the Garchomp relatively well. She was very kind, and often sold flowers on Sundays with old Mrs. Prescott and her three grandchildren whom she lived with. The thought of her being in trouble brought a sense of urgency upon the pair.

The two looked at each other and nodded. They carefully proceeded to open the labeled door and entered the dark hallway. A dim yellow light shone from underneath a door that read “C-15”. Cries emanated from the room; it was a female voice, shrill and filled with pain. Morena cast a glance at Sam, who shook his head slightly; she could tell that he was disturbed by the cries, as was she. Slowly, she went to open the door.

The sight inside made her gasp in horror; as soon as Sam caught sight of the apartment’s interior, he whirled around and vomited on the floor, clutching his flashlight with his good hand. Inside, the broken Garchomp named Ava nursed four dead figures that she piled up against herself with their backs laying against her. She rocked back and forth in a fetal position with a dead little girl clutched in her arms. The top half of the girl’s head had been blown apart; dark red chunks clung to the side of the girl’s face and the Garchomp’s arms. Two small boys and the elderly Mrs. Prescott lay dead around Ava; all had obviously been shot.

Sam closed the door, sealing himself in the hallway with Morena still standing horrified in Ava’s apartment. He was disgusted beyond belief that somebody could commit such a heinous act.

Inside the room, the Garchomp looked up at Morena- her eyes spilled tears and she constantly whimpered about the number 134. Then, she began to speak. “You know what they did, right?” Her voice was unstable and raspy.

Kneeling down, Morena brought a hand up to Ava’s cheek. She locked eyes with her and gently asked, “Who? What did they do?”

In a sudden explosive rage, Ava screamed at the top of her lungs. “The government! The fucking god-damn government!” She screamed again, hysteria rising in her voice. “They’re killing everyone! Your sons, your daughters, your mothers, your fathers, they’re all fucking dead!!!”

Morena breathed in deeply to gain composure. “Ava, you have to settle dow-“

Spittle flew from her lips. “Don’t you tell me to settle down, you fucking bitch! You think I can just settle down?” She gestured towards the dead bodies. “You think I can settle down after seeing my family murdered by a smart-talking, evil, mother-fucking bastard that came into my home and killed my family? Do you?!”

Shaken to the point that she felt as if her heart would burst, Morena asked in a humbled voice, “Who did this to you?”

The Garchomp seemed to go from hysterical to deathly calm in an instant; the poor creature must have gone insane. She still clung on to the dead girl. Her breathing slowing, Ava quietly said, “After the Sinnoh government quarantined-“

“Quarantined?” Morena interrupted.

“Yes, quarantined. After they quarantined the city, they must have sent in a bunch of soldiers to clean up after they found out that EvolutionX caused the outbreak of these… monsters.”

Astonished, the Flygon gasped. “EvolutionX caused this?!”

If Ava wasn’t caught up in such a deep depression, she would have sounded surprised. “You didn’t know? Something that had to do with what ingredients they used for it caused some Pokemon to mutate after it was used on them.” She began to go hysterical again. “And the government sends in their good little soldiers to fucking kill every last person in the city!”

Morena didn’t know what to say- she couldn’t say anything that would comfort the Garchomp. She glanced again at the dead bodies that surrounded Ava and looked away.

Ava began to speak again, and what disturbed Morena was that she spoke in a light, happy tone. A twinkle appeared in the mad Garchomp’s eye. “Get to the PRO building. That’s your best chance. They have guns, ammo, food- the whole deal. I want you do escape the city for me.”

“Why don’t you just come with us?” asked Morena. She didn’t like where this was going.

“Because there’s one more thing I want you to do for me. Just one thing. Look under the top left corner of the bed- there should be a black case.”

Doing as she was told, Morena reached under the bed, and sure enough, she felt a small, heavy case. She pulled it out from under the bed and placed it on the floor in front of Ava.

The Garchomp had a twisted grin pasted on her face. “Open it.”

Morena slowly unlatched the latches on the case and slowly cracked it open. There was a pistol and two clips of ammunition inside. Terrified, the Flygon asked, “What do you want me to do?”

Ava began to shake back and forth wildly while laughing giddily. “I would of done this a long time ago if I could have.” She motioned towards her arms with her head. “But I don’t have any hands!!!” Ava threw her head up and laughed insanely.

“…I can’t…” Morena whispered, horrified.

The demented Garchomp went through yet another abrupt change in behavior, changing from hysterical giddiness to deathly seriousness. “Do it.” She commanded.

Her hand trembling, Morena removed the sleek black gun from the case and slid one of clips in. Not believing what she was doing, she pulled the slide back and released it. The slide slid forward with a metallic chink. The Flygon closed her eyes and lifted the gun so that it touched the yellow mark in the center of Ava’s head. She pulled the trigger. Nothing.

Ava, whose eyes were closed, opened them and flatly said, “You forgot to turn off the safety.”

“Where is that?” Her voice trembled.

“Above the left grip.”

Pulling the tiny lever down, Morena once again brought it up to the Garchomp’s head.

“And Morena?”

Tears spilled out of her eyes. “Yeah?”

“You’re my new best friend.” She chuckled. Ava’s eyes were now closed and her face was relaxed; she genuinely looked to be at peace.


---


Outside, in the dim hallway, Sam heard what sounded like a small explosion coming the room that Ava and Morena were in; he had heard a lot of shouting, but couldn’t make out what was being said. Before he got up to investigate, Morena opened the door and closed it quietly. She had a pistol in her hand. Instantly, he knew what had transpired in his absence.

In a haunted voice, Morena muttered, “Ava says that we should get to the PRO building: they have guns, food, and water there. If we could make it there, me might have a chance to make it out of the city.”

Staring at the floor, Sam asked, “What was she screaming about?”

The Flygon took a deep breath. “She said that the government sent in all of their troops to wipe out everything, including civilians. That’s how her family was killed.”

The rapid tapping noises that he and Morena had heard earlier from downstairs came to mind. “Oh my god…”

“If we’re going to get to the PRO station, you’re going to have to run through the streets; I can protect you from up in the air, unless you want me to run with you.” She said quietly.

Sam shook his head no. “Personally, it would probably be better if we followed your first idea.”

“Alright, then take this.” She handed him the pistol and extra magazine. She knew that Sam didn’t know how to operate a gun, so she slowly explained it to him. “Understand?”

Uncomfortable that he was holding the same weapon that had killed Ava, he shook his head. “Yeah.” He discarded his useless flashlight on the floor.

Morena took another deep breath. “Are you ready?”

“I guess I’m ready as I’ll ever be.”


---


At the end of Apartment Block C, there was an exit that lead to a dark, dank alleyway connected to the main street. The two friends peered out the doorway for ten minutes. During the duration of time, the duo saw a sizably large number of mutants scramble about the street. They were probably looking for something to eat…

Morena was concerned. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Sam wrinkled his nose. “What other choice do we have? Let’s go.”

“Wait.” She grabbed her friend and embraced him in a tight bear hug that lasted several seconds. “Now we can go. Don’t die on me, okay?”

Blushing furiously, he agreed. “You can count on me… let’s just get this over with.”

With a whoosh of her wings, Morena flew into the air and let out a blue jet of flame that all but incinerated a monster that was prowling the roof of an adjoining building.

In the same instant, Sam sprinted from the door with the pistol firmly clutched in his hand. As soon as he emerged from the alley, his heart sank. The streets were flooded with monsters that gave off a fetid odor that he hadn’t noticed before; there must have been at least a hundred in sight. Gathering his courage, he sprinted as fast as he could down the street. Many of the mutants detected his presence immediately.

Doing an overhead sweep, Morena released a large, yellow jet of flame that engulfed ten creatures that were running towards Sam from up the street. They all opened their mouths wide and let out piercing shrieks of agony as they fell to the ground, muscles blackened and charred. The sweet smell of burning meat began to replace the terrible reeking odor that emanated from the monsters.

With some mutants gaining on him from behind, Sam put on an extra burst of speed, but it was no use. Two of the creatures trailed directly behind him, and were literally snapping at his heels. Noticing this, Morena dived from the sky and used a Steel Wing attack.

At breakneck speed, she swept through the two monsters, literally. Both of the mutants’ decapitated heads rolled off their shoulders, in a large spray of blood as they nearly reached Sam; their headless bodies fell to the ground and skidded to a halt with blood still erupting from their severed neck stumps.

Sam was swiftly running out of energy by the time that the PRO station was in seeing range. Driven by the sight, he forced his now leaden legs to keep running. He found that he was breathing in a very strained fashion. It was only a matter of time now before he would to fall to the ground in exhaustion.

Morena continued to bathe any pursuing mutants down the street in flame as they screeched while burning. She saw that Sam was now within a hundred feet of the building. She shouted down to him. “Keep going, you’re going to make it!” She saw him look up, and while his face first lit with triumph, it immediately turned into horror.

“Morena, look out!”

Alarmed, she turned to her right side and saw a blurred figure shoot through the air. The Flygon attempted to dodge, but wasn’t quick enough. The flying creature slammed into her side and she plummeted to the ground, smashing into the concrete from a height of twenty feet.

Sam couldn’t believe what was happening. “Morena!” He screamed. His feet stopped moving, and he turned around and sprinted in his friend’s direction.

Morena was desperately struggling against the rabid creature that kept trying to get at her neck with its needle-sharp teeth. Just as she nearly peeled the creature off of her, another attacked. And another. Soon the small crowd of mutants that had followed them up the street nearly covered Morena’s body. She felt their teeth ripping into her flesh, and each bite felt as if someone had branded her skin with a white-hot iron. She desperately tried to hold on to life, but felt her energy quickly fading. Through her blurred vision, she saw Sam running up the street towards her. Channeling her last remaining energy she screamed, “No, run! Get out of-“

She was cut off as a monster ripped her throat out. Crimson blood spattered the ground around her as the creature shook its head violently with the slab of flesh still in its mouth. More mutants tore into her body, ripping and tearing at the mutilated Flygon’s skin and internal organs; droplets of blood flew through the air as the creatures continued to gorge themselves.

Sam couldn’t do a single thing except for watch in a profound sense of horror; the word ‘no’ caught in his throat. Not a single monster went to attack him, but instead went for the bloodied mess that used to be his best friend. His horror quickly transformed into a burning hatred for the creatures. “Get away from her!” he hollered.

Aiming the gun, he fired at random targets in the frenzy. The sound of wet splatters was heard as the hot lead projectiles ripped through flesh and bone, sending some monsters flying backwards. A particular mutant caught his eye: the flying creature. The same bastard that had just delivered his best friend to her death.

Aiming the sights on the pistol, he fired three shots from the gun. The first impacted the monster’s small winged arm, completely severing it. A spray of blood erupted from the stump as the bastard hissed in agony. His second shot missed, but the third shot impacted the mutant in the head. The large-caliber bullet struck the thing’s lower jaw, flattened out upon impact, and continued to pass through the lower head region. In an explosive mist of scarlet gore, the flying monster’s head seemed to slowly peel back, tendons and connective tissue ripping apart as its skull flew off of its trembling body.


---


Sam was in a deranged state, firing the last of his second clip into the crowd of swarming monsters. After the gun wouldn’t fire anymore, he threw it the ground, screaming. Tears ran down his cheeks in an uncontrollable flood. He turned and ran to the PRO headquarters.

He stumbled through the doors and into the lavishly decorated main hall. None of this caught Sam’s attention, however. He collapsed into a corner and broke into a violent fit of crying and coughing. Mucus spilled from his nose and eyes; he suddenly got the feeling that his head was going to explode. Sam clutched his head with his right arm and screamed in agony. For what seemed to be an eternity, he sat there in pain until the feeling slowly faded away. Slowly, he brought his hand down from his head.

Removing his left arm from his cast, he violently tore off the piece of Morena’s sweater that covered the wound, regardless of the pain it caused him. Looking at it, he saw that the flesh around the wound had torn away, revealing the redness of muscle underneath. After his observation, Sam quickly realized how the disease had spread throughout the city so fast; once somebody came in contact or was bitten by a creature, it must have transmitted a certain mutagen or disease into the wound. Eventually everyone who had been bitten must have turned into one of those monsters… He laughed out loud at his revelation; he never stood a chance in the first place.

Sam then let out another harsher burst of laughter. His felt as if his mind was rapidly getting ground away by a sheet of rough sandpaper, madness spreading like the disease that coursed through is veins. Sam reached up and touched his forehead. From the feel of it, he was running an extremely high fever. His arm slowly slipped back to his side. Sweat dripped from his brow despite the frigid temperature inside of the PRO station.

It wasn’t fair. He didn’t want to die alone. Instinctively, he reached towards his side where he expected Morena’s warm hand to be- when his hand touched the cold marble floor, a fresh wave of tears exploded from his eyes as he realized he would never feel her comforting grip again.

Shifting his attention to the ceiling, Sam saw a peculiar light that shone through a small glass window. It seemed to slowly descend towards him. Blinking his eyes, he looked up once again; the light disappeared. Sam’s head suddenly fell forward while he felt the small amount of energy still left in him burn away.

As he sat there dying and alone, Sam closed his eyes and thought of Morena and the fun times that they shared together over their lifetimes. He reflected back on the previous summer, in which he and Morena went to the Hoenn Region- Sam remembered how they had laughed when Morena had eaten so much spicy food in the Mauville Cafe that she belched fire. Sam smiled inwardly at the thought. They had also gone hiking in the Petalburg Woods, and he thought of how she smiled and laughed when he told her jokes as they walked. That same image of her smiling face stayed in Sam’s head as he released his weak hold on life, hearing the faint echo of Morena’s clean, beautiful laugh.