The Fallen
In a world that has been forsaken by whoever runs the universe, a fox and a rabbit will attempt to survive against the hordes of monsters, and the anthros that have betrayed their own kind. Will these unlikely friends make it through?
Hello everyone... And welcome to 'The Fallen'!
In this story, Avery and Niall haven't met yet. This is a different AU then the regular anthro one. Their pasts are the same, except they meet in THIS story, because this, my friends is... a zombie AU.
*cue the fans trampling me* But seriously, I wanted to try this out, so, it'll be a multi-chapter story, hopefully about 15-20 chapters.
So... Without another word, let's dive into 'The Fallen!'
THE FALLEN
CHAPTER ONE: The Lone Fox
A decayed, withered rabbit shuffled slowly towards a destroyed building, letting out a quiet growl as it's bloody paw reached for the doorknob. Pushing the door open, the leporid-zombie's grayish-white eyes glanced around at the empty living room, filled with rubble, and an old-fashioned TV with a mess of static on the screen, emitting a soft static noise. The creature dragged itself up the stairs, towards the bedroom. The entire building showed absolutely no signs of life, or ever having any inhabitants, aside from these zombified creatures that now roamed this world. A world that was once vibrant with life, nature. Now, it was just a world, forsaken by whoever ran the universe, and the regular cities like Perth, Sydney, and New York, were all a distant memory. This included London.
Unknown to the leporid, a dark-red fox was watching the creature gaze mindlessly out of the bedroom window. The fox was standing on the ledge of an apartment in the building next to it, his finger on the trigger of a rifle. The creature didn't notice him, with the gun pointed straight at him, his sights locked onto the creature's head. The fox breathed in, the only sound heard being the crackle of fire and the noises of broken technology. His grip on the trigger tightened a little more. His dark-green eyes narrowed slightly as the creature turned, staggering away from the window. But he didn't get any further.
The fox pulled the trigger, hearing both the click and the silence after it for a split second. Then, the bang of the rifle as the bullet ripped through the creature's skull, causing it to sway on the spot for a few seconds, before crashing to the floor of the bedroom. The fox sighed heavily, brushing some of the locks of his hair away from his face. He pulled back the bolt on the rifle once, and then relaxed.
The fox's name was Avery Nichols. A fox who had lost almost everything he held dear after this godforsaken apocalypse struck. Grabbing what little he had, he'd left Denmark, and escaped to London, only to discover that it too had been overwhelmed by the creatures. You couldn't even buy a box of teabags anymore, let alone boil a kettleful of clean, safe water.
The creatures had appeared out of nowhere, and Avery didn't know how it happened. He suspected a virus was more likely the cause, because the thought of monsters rising from the grave was so fictitious, and only existed in the very movie that started the idea: Night of the Living Dead, by George A. Romero.
Avery glanced down at the corpse of the dead creature once more, smirking slightly, thinking, That was one of my best kills since... His smirk disappeared as he remembered the time he'd had to kill the first one. A rabbit very much like this one, yellow in color, wearing tattered clothing, it's eyes grayish-white like this one. Like all of them.
Fumbling with the safety catches of a gun that he'd found lying on the floor, he'd shakily raised the weapon, as the creature sprang, realizing it was going to be killed. It's gesture did no good, because the bullet through it's chest, and Avery remembered the sound the creature made after that. It was that eerie screech of suffering and torment and pain.
Avery remembered how he scampered out of the way, raised the gun again, and did the creature some good this time, sending a bullet straight through the creature's head. It was his first kill, and a necessary one, because he wasn't about to get bitten and turn into an evil, bloodsucking demon from hell. Or whatever the bites caused.
Retreating from the ledge, he went inside, dragging the rifle behind him. Leaning it against a corner of the wall, he collapsed on the frayed, dirty couch, glancing around at the apartment. It wasn't much at all, but it was somewhat safe. If one of the creatures broke in while he was sleeping, he was done for. That's why he attached alarm bells to it, so in the case of an intruder, he could be woken up, and ready to defend himself. He'd also attached deadlocks as well, so he could lock himself in, just as a safety precaution.
He rolled his eyes as he heard his stomach growling softly. Food... he thought vaguely. The fox dragged himself upright, running a gloved hand through his hair, realizing his stock of food was almost out, and he needed to get some water too, bottled specifically, because you couldn't trust tap water anymore. He didn't want to try his luck at tasting possibly contaminated water. He walked over to a chest which he kept his weapons in. Taking out a butterfly knife and flicking it closed, he concealed it in the pocket of his jacket. He knew these types of knives were illegal, but what use were laws when their were cannibalistic monsters roaming the world? Would you really care about getting some jail time when the alternative to not defending yourself with any weapon, illegal or not, was to get killed?
Avery also grabbed the last of his food, a protein bar or two, and took a magnum, which was one of the most powerful guns he had in his collection. Shoving the rest of his things in his pockets, he grabbed his backpack, which he planned to fill fully with every necessity he could think of, and maybe a few non-necessities as well... Nevertheless, he set off for the store, which thankfully hadn't been raided the last time he saw it. Hopefully, the store's contents were still there.
He tread carefully as he walked the streets, glancing behind him every now and then, to make sure he wasn't being tailed by any hunters or looters. In this world, you couldn't rely on everyone. You had not only the undead monsters to worry about, but also people who would either simply beat you up and take everything you owned, or tail you from your residence, kill you, and go back and strip the place of your belongings. Avery hadn't had the misfortune to meet any of these people, but he had a feeling he'd be meeting them very soon. This was England, after all, and you couldn't buy a single box of teabags during this kind of apocalypse.
Keeping his head down, the fox reached into his coat, and held onto the handle of the gun, in case he needed to draw it quickly. Like he always said, you never know when you'll need it. Better safe then sorry.
It was annoying to hear that quote all the time, but it was true. Better safe then sorry. Better alive then dead. After getting trapped in a horde of those monsters, he barely made it out alive, all because he didn't trust that quote. But he'd learned now. He knew now that it was best to keep weapons with you at all times.
Getting to the store was the toughest thing to do now, especially when there was danger lurking in all directions, but today was a lot smoother then times before. He made it to the store, which had paint peeling off it. He'd broken a window the first time he'd ever seen the place, so he could get in easily. Silently slipping through the window, his eyes prowled the selection of foods and beverages. This was like heaven during an apocalypse, because there was all the small things you couldn't get anymore. Chocolates, cola, and, if you were lucky, a store-made cake. He hadn't been lucky enough to find one of them, which kind of sucked. He missed the things he could normally get easily. Hell, he'd make his own cake if there were still the facilities to do so. But it was impossible to get a working oven now, let alone the ingredients to make the cake. Flour, eggs, milk, sugar, and all the things you needed. It just wasn't possible anymore, unless you somehow managed to own a still-functioning oven, and have all the stuff on hand.
He trotted slowly through the first aisle, which was drinks and other beverages. Grabbing two bottles of clean drinking water, and a bottle of breakfast juice, he racked his brain for more things he'd need. He definitely needed something nourishing to eat. He walked over to a still spinning rack which had only one bag of already cooked chicken. He quickly touched the bag, which still felt warm to the touch, and quickly looked at the expiration date. It read: 24/9/16. The fox's eyes glowed, and he licked his lips at the thought of a chicken dinner, something really rare nowadays. Stuffing the bag into his backpack, Avery continued to fill it with everything he could possibly need, starting to get hungry as the thought of nourishing, warm, tasty chicken filled his mind. After grabbing everything, he realized it could do with some other things, so he ended up taking a bag of dried apricots, which the packet's expiration date claimed, would last until the end of 2018.
Avery's sweet tooth interfered with the job slightly, so to shut it up, he bought a couple of different chocolates and a can of mints. There, he thought, Are you happy now?
You bet I am! would've been the sweet tooth's response if it was a real person, but because it wasn't, there was no reply.
Well, better get moving, Avery thought, walking into aisle 9. He wanted to see if there was anything else he could get, but this thought disappeared immediately as he bumped into somebody.
He was incapable of thinking any coherent thoughts at that moment, but he had a feeling it was either one of the creatures, or a looter or hunter. He whipped out the gun, pointing it at the figure's head, before it screamed, "Don't!"
Avery's eyes were closed at the time, but now they were open, confusion in them. His dark-green eyes were currently gazing into the dark blue eyes of a light-grey rabbit, who was holding up two gloved hands in a gesture of surrender. The rabbit was currently wearing a white dress shirt with a black bow-tie on it. The normality of the rabbit and how he'd surrendered so easily immediately made Avery feel stupid, the gun still pointed at the rabbit's head. The fox blinked, and lowered the gun slowly, putting it back in his pocket. The rabbit's gaze fell a little, and he muttered, "You're going to kill me now, aren't you?"
The fox sighed tiredly, and replied, "No." The rabbit looked up, grinning slightly. "Thanks," He murmured, shoving his hands in his pockets, "So, who are you?"
"Who are you?" Avery asked, deflecting the question back onto the rabbit, who hesitated, looking slightly nervous. "You don't... work with anyone, do you?"
The fox laughed softly. "If you mean any groups associated with known looters and hunters, no. I'm not associated with anybody."
"Well, then... Niall Glais," The rabbit answered, extending a paw. The fox shook it, and replied, "Avery Nichols. So, what are you doing here?"
"What do you think? Trying to find food to survive," The grey rabbit answered, glancing around at the aisle, "It's amazing how it's still got all it's content."
"Yeah, it is amazing. I'm here to do the same. I really needed stuff, so I came here... So, do you live anywhere?" The fox asked, adding, "I'm not associated with anyone," when the rabbit flinched slightly.
"N-no. Not really. I'm kind of nomadic. I drift from place to place to escape those monsters and the people dishonest enough to try and betray their own kind," Niall replied, shrugging. The fox knew this very well. Even in a time of need, anthros would still betray their own kind, just to make themselves a bit richer. Even if it meant beating someone to death and stealing the little cash they had on them. It was truly evil how these people were so conceited that they just took advantage of this apocalypse just to steal, now that police and military were overcome by the hordes.
"I know how you feel..." Avery said, feeling empathic, "Hey, why not come home with me? You can live with me if you want."
Niall seemed to think for a few minutes, before nodding, and replying, "Sure. Just try not eat all my food."
"Sure," The fox chuckled, "Come on, let's go."
The rabbit followed the fox as he led him towards the broken window which was now their exit.
So, guys, what'd you think? Hopefully it was good, because I'm thinking about continuing this story. So, tell me what ya'll think.
EDIT: I decided to leave this as a stand-alone, because I lacked a lot of other ideas for the rest of it, but let's all remember this was one of my best works yet! :D