Platinum District, Fortune City. 62 Hours until the Military Arrives

Frank, Chuck, and Rainbow Dash put together a pretty decent group of survivors. They found Stuart Holmes and Brittany Beck in Americana Casino trying to steal money (Dash convinced them it was wrong before Chuck could demonstrate with his fist) and Kristin Harris drunk in the security room of the same place (she vomited all over Frank's shoes which caused Dash to go into a laughing riot). Now they were heading outside to check out the reports of a guy on a green motorcycle out in the Park. Frank was carrying Kristin on his back (due to her drunken state), Dash was holding an electric prod while backing up Stuart and Brittany, while Chuck was examining the bike on the pedestal.

"I wish I kept my keys for these things." Chuck groaned. He motioned to the survivors to move to the stairs since most of the zombies were already dead.

"I didn't know you rode bikes." Dash said.

"What do you think he was doing in Terror is Reality?" Frank joked. As soon as the group took to the stairs, Chuck overheard the sound of a motorcycle running. He leaped off the platform, scanning for the motorcycle. Hearing the sound approach closer, Chuck ducked before having his head taken off by a chainsaw. Chuck stood up and saw a man in a green jumpsuit sitting on a green motorcycle with mounted chainsaws jutting out of the front.

Leon Bell.... Chuck thought. I was wondering if that guy made it out.

"Aw, well lookie here." Leon said, with a teasing tone. "If it ain't widdle Chuckie Greene." Chuck got to his feet and walked towards Leon. "Didn't get enough of me yet? You come back for my autograph?" Leon then proceeded to make a humping motion on the bike. "Oh, I bet you just get rock hard at night thinking about me, don't you, Chuckie?" On the side, Frank was holding Dash by her shirt collar to keep her from beating Leon to a pulp.

"He can't insult Chuck like that!" She shouted. "Let me at 'em!"

"Don't bother." Frank said. "I recognize his type from my experiences at Willamette. He's gone off the deep end."

"You come to throw your panties at me?" Leon chided, driving circles around Chuck.

"Whatever buddy." Chuck said, attempting to reason with the Terror is Reality competitor. "Look, I can take you to a bunker where it's safe...." Leon slowed to a stop in front of Chuck.

"Bunker?" He asked. "Where it's safe? Man, you are a pussy, aren't you?" Just from looking, you could tell Dash was ready to kill him. "I used to follow you when you did motocross. But look at you now, you're a broken man. You just don't got it anymore, do you?"

"What's your problem?" Chuck asked. He knew there was no reason in arguing, but it couldn't help to try.

"You're such a chump, Chuck." Leon's voice was getting tense. Both Leon and Chuck turned to see another survivor waving for help on the sides. Chuck was ready to run and help, but Leon started his engines again. "I'll race you for him." Leon sped his bike up, and the poor survivor started to run. He wasn't fast enough before the chainsaws cut the poor man in two. Dash gasped at the sight while Frank only shook his head.

"I knew it." Frank said. "He's gone insane. That's what happens during outbreaks. People either become zombies, die, or go insane." Leon began laughing maniacally, while Chuck could only look onward in horror as Leon turned and drove towards him. He stopped with the chainsaws only inches away from his stomach.

"What are you doing?!" Chuck demanded. "That wasn't a zombie!"

"Yeah, no shit Chuck!" Leon said. "Twice the points. They're harder to his 'cause they move around so much, bastards."

"You're crazy! This isn't a game!" Leon turned his head and gave Chuck a look of maddened murder.

"You're right about that. That was just practice." He continued driving circles around Chuck again, all while laughing crazily. "Now it's a game! Terror is Reality, baby, for real! Live in Fortune City!" Leon's voice turned malicious again. "I've always wanted to take you down, chump." He reached into his jumpsuit and pulled out some bike keys. "But you need some wheels, Chuckie." Chuck walked over and picked up the keys. At least he had a fair battleground to fight him on. "Don't keep me waiting." Leon smirked and drove north. Chuck looked at the keys and then started walking towards the bike.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Dash said. "You can't fight him! He's gone bonkers! We're coming with you."

"Not a chance, kid." Chuck said. "There's only one bike and this guy has a thing out for me. Get Kristin, Stuart, and Brittany to the bunker and I'll meet you in the Silver Strip afterwards." Chuck started the bike and drove off the ramp waving and signaling to leave.

"Well, at least I'm not doing it." Frank said. "Alright, come on! It's going to get dark soon and the zombies get real ravenous when that happens." Dash looked onward, hoping that Chuck would be alright, and then she followed Frank and the others to the Royal Flush Plaza.

"Good luck, Chuck." Dash wished.

30 Minutes Later....

"So we should head to the South Plaza to go and pick up these guys huddled around something?" Dash asked. She and Frank got the survivors back to the Safe House and they were discussing their next move with Stacey.

"I'd recommend it. Then I suggest that you go and help Chuck with that Leon guy." Stacey said. "I've been watching the monitors and Chuck's motorbike is totaled, but Leon's bleeding pretty bad."

"Which way were they heading?" Frank asked.

"Last I saw, it was towards the Silver Strip. Get the guys in South Plaza, then go and help Chuck." Stacey turned back to her computer screens while Frank and Dash left the room. After they climbed through the vents and entered the Royal Flush Plaza, Dash wanted a couple questions answered.

"Chuck told me you were at Willamette." She said. "Was that a bad outbreak?"

"Not just that." Frank said. "The first outbreak. I was investigating the town after the government put up a blockade. It wasn't really legal to enter, so I snuck in on a helicopter. I was stuck in a mall in the center of town for three days until the helicopter came back. In that time, the zombies broke in, people died, others went crazy, and to make matters worse, I got bit. Now I have to stick a goddam needle in my wrist every 24-hours to keep myself from turning." Dash could tell this guy had a rough time after Willamette.

"But I exposed what happened, now we can prepare for when another outbreaks happen. Most buildings are equipped with Safe Houses and pharmacies are selling Zombrex to prevent people from turning. I became a legend. I shook hands with the president, I had interviews, store openings, fans waiting for autographs, and I even had a TV show lined up. But then...."

"The fame went to your head?" Dash asked. Frank looked at the rainbow-haired girl and gave her a confused grin. "Something happened like that with me back in my hometown."

"Well, you know it, kid. There was a huge scandal when people found out I was infected. My show got cancelled, I lost most of my money, and I hit an all new low. Then I saw it, a way to get back into the game." He said that just as the two walked past a Terror is Reality poster. Unlike the ones with Chuck on them, this one had Frank in a wrestler's outfit.

"You were on Terror is Reality? Aren't you, like, sixty or something?"

"Hey, I'm forty-one! Anyway, I was on the show. They gave me a special deal to, instead of riding motorcycles like Chuck, wrestle with zombies in an arena. I knew things were a little fishy about the show, so I decided to poke around. That's when I saw the show's host, TK, pay this guy to blow the zombie pens, took pictures, but then the outbreak happened before I could warn everyone."

"So how did you and Chuck meet?"

"Yucatan Casino. There was this big guy named Ted, who was a little slow mind you, that was feeding survivors to a big show tiger named Snowflake. He knocked me and Chuck out, and when he lost his cool, we teamed up and killed the guy. The tiger, however, we tamed. I believe you may have seen her when we rescued you." Dash remembered seeing a big tiger with the other survivors when she met Frank and Chuck. It didn't bother her at all because Fluttershy would sometimes be taking care of a tiger. The conversation ended when they came across the South Plaza, the construction site filled to the brim with zombies. Dash grabbed a wrench, while Frank brandished a chainsaw. The two could see an Ultimate Playground store boarded off up ahead, marking their destination. Dash ran up to a fat zombie and knocked its head clean off with the wrench while Frank mowed through hordes of zombies. One by one, the zombies fell to the ground, headless or lacking an upper torso. After making a clear path to the room, Frank peered into the window and got a good look at the four men. A guy in a green sweater-vest, a black guy in a blue sweater with red suspenders and a blue tie, a guy in a lab coat, and a fat guy in a... Japanese schoolgirl outfit. Those four looked like the biggest nerds on the planet.

"What's the situation in there?" Dash asked, gasping between exhausted breaths. Frank turned towards Dash and put on a really annoyed look.

"Nerds." Frank said. "We've got nerds in this room." Frank looked into the window again, and back at Dash again. "And they're playing a board game." Dash face-palmed herself. Stacey sent them to save freakin' nerds.

"What next? An old lady?"

"Chuck took care of that one while we were with Rebecca." Frank and Dash pushed some of the barricades out of the way so to get into the room, then placing them back so no zombies could get in.

"I roll for a Cone of Cold!" The sweater-vest guy said, rolling some dice in his hand.

"Cone of Cold cast on the Flame Construct," Lab coat guy said. "Critical failure." Frank wanted to throw himself into the zombies for doing this, but he had no choice. He walked towards the nerds and stomped his foot.

"Hey, guys." Frank said through gritted teeth. "Playin' a game in here?" The four men got up, frantically looking around.

"Jeepers, mister." Said the black guy. "You scared us. I thought you were one of those undead necrotic beings out there."

"Well, I'm not. I'm Frank West, here to get you out of here."

"I'm John," said lab coat. "This is Curtis," pointing to the fat guy. "Brian" pointing to the black guy. "And Kevin." Pointing to the guy in the sweater-vest.

"Now that we've been formally introduced, let's get the hell out of here."

"Not until we finish our game, Mr. West." Said Kevin. Dash had been looking out of the window for zombies, but when she heard the nerd troop being stubborn, she lost her cool.

"Look, buddies." Dash said. "Frank and I busted our flanks out there trying to get to you guys, and we're not going to take your load of rotten apples about your game. Get your butts in gear and move out!" The four nerds stood up, and began to quake in their shoes.

"Well go!" Curtis said. "Not only because you yelled at us. You're pretty cute."

"We never talk to girls a lot before." Brian said, sheepishly. Dash began to blush, and Frank began to chuckle.

"Can it, camera guy." Dash aimed her wrench towards the door. "March!" The nerds grabbed what weapons they could before piling out of the door. Dash took lead while Frank held up the back behind the nerds, all of which were afraid more of the girl with rainbow hair than the actual zombies. Just as soon as they came up to the door, Dash stopped.

"Why are you stopping?" Frank called from the back. "We've got to go and find Chuck." Frank ran up to the front and saw what Dash was gaping at. At the end of the corridor stood a very skinny man. He was wearing this briar-like outfit that looked a lot like full body armor. However, the oddest thing about him was that on his head he was wearing a jack 'o lantern. He turned towards the group and made a very low, almost echoing cackle.

"Hello there, Miss Rainbow Dash." Said the pumpkin head. The carving for his mouth actually moved when he spoke. Creepy....

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Dash demanded.

"I'm Keeper Briar. A servant of the ghostly king that you've been sent to exterminate." Frank had a strange vibe from this guy. Dash's eyes widened, and began clutching her wrench firmly between her hand.

"Are you one of Mad King Thorn's goons?" The pumpkin head, Briar, nodded. "So that means you're a ghost?"

"Do you want me to prove it?" Briar walked through the wall to his left, then reappeared next to Curtis, tapping him on the shoulder. The poor guy panicked so badly, he swung the 2x4 he was carrying and knocked Briar's head clean off. The pumpkin rolled away on the floor, while the headless briar body shambled to the head and reattached it on his shoulders with a sickening crack.

"That is the scariest f***ing thing I have ever seen in my entire life." Frank said, flatly.

"So now you know who and what I am," Briar said. He grabbed Rainbow Dash by the throat and held her three feet in the air. "You're coming with me!" Dash could only shout Frank's name before the two materialized into the floor. Frank pounded on the floor where Dash and Briar once stood, and the nerds could only look onward in fear.

I'm not letting this happen again. Frank said. Not like with Isabella. He stood up and turned on his earpiece.

"Stacey, I need your help." He said.

"What's wrong, Frank? Is Chuck okay?" Stacey's voice replied.

"Some guy with a pumpkin for a head just kidnapped Rainbow Dash, that kid. I need you to keep an eye out for either of them."

"Go and find Chuck, first. I'll see what I can do." Frank switched off his communicator and turned towards the nerds.

"What are you waiting for? Move it, nerds!" Next Chapter: Chapter Five: Smells Like Burning Pumpkins Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 5 Minutes