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Infectious Lands-Aka Niche except it's the Walking Dead


Katumai

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The lands of niche were never a treacherous place-sure, it was dangerous from time-to-time, but nothing truly life threatening.

Then, a strange anomaly started to pop up.

The dead started to come back to life.

This would usually be a good thing, and that's what the nichelings thought too, but something wasn't quite right...

I mean, they're loved ones weren't exactly ruthlessly attacking, tearing apart, and eating them while they were alive.

They also never spoke such strange phrases.

 

hehheh zombie niche playthrough go brrrrr

love me another playthrough that i may never update again

first update will be in the next post

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"New normal."

What?

"New normal."

What kind of voice...that-that wasn't a normal voice, what were they saying?

"Things will be...okay..."

...wait-

"Hey kid, you alive?"

.......

"Of course she is!...I think!"

"That was probably the least helpful thing I've ever heard, congratulations."

"Wait! She's moving!"

 

The nicheling stirred, rubbing her aching head with a groan and mustering enough strength to slowly open her eyes. Not what she expected to see first thing.

Four nichelings-one female and three males-stood around her, staring at her like she had two heads. What were they looking at? Why was she even here? Stupid commoners.

"Um, excuse me, but why are you all staring at me? It's rude."

One of them-the one with the purrsnout-scoffed, leaning his head closer to her face and glaring at her.

"No need to get snippy, girlie. We found you on the beach and assumed you were dead, maybe one of the monsters got you or something."

"Ugh! You can't talk to me like that, peasant!" She snapped, swiping her paw at his face. He just leaned back, easily avoiding her claws and cuffing her on the side of her head. 

"Don't ever try that again, brat." He growled, sitting back and narrowing his eyes.

Before she could bite back at him that he should be executed, the only other female hopped up and shot her a smile.

"I'm really glad that you're not dead! What's your name? I'm Almond!"

"Statter." She sat up, closing her eyes and proudly raising her head.  "Princess Statter."

Nobody seemed to react to that last part, which made Statter want to have them sent to the dungeons or something. These commoners had no manners.

"I'm Starstruck." One of the other males piped up, slipping forward and smirking. He raised his wing, presumably trying to do, what, some sort of curtsey? Quite pathetic when you have half of an arm and a bat wing.

"Bastille." The one with the purrsnout answered next, then turned to the last nicheling.

"What about you?"

The small male just blinked, eyes darting around as if he was looking for something. He seemed utterly confused, and hadn't uttered a word, despite the fact that Bastille was growing more and more impatient.

"Oh uh, that's Everest." Starstruck came forward, spreading his wing out in front of Everest and giving Bastille a nervous smile. "He doesn't talk."

Bastille stared for a few moments, before huffing and walking further into the mountains.

Seeing no other choice, the other four followed, despite Statter's constant complaining and insults.

 

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"Look! A tree!"

Almond ran forward, picking up an acorn and cracking it open.

The other four followed her, scanning the area for anything else useful. Surprisingly, they had already found a pretty great camp.

There were two nests, a tree, a berry bush, and even a hot spring-the last one being particularly useful since over half of them would probably freeze to death.

"Can we all just agree that we probably won't find a better place than this?"

"Well I'm taking the hot spring! I'm freezing!"

"Sorry, it's already taken." Starstruck shrugged, standing on the edge of the spring with Everest, who was just kinda staring at it.

Statter scoffed, stepping forward and shooting the male a look.  "No it isn't! You're not even in it!"

Starstruck stared at her for a few moments, before reaching to his left and pushing Everest in the hot spring. "Now it is." He snickered, quickly apologizing to Everest as he popped up and glared at him.

"Stop screwing around, we need food. Almond, pick the berries. Statter and Starstruck, crack the acorns. Everest, you can...uh...sit there and be warm. I'll go hunting."

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"Did you get anything?"

Bastille didn't respond, simply dropping the rabbils he caught and stretching.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"How are things going over here?" He asked, sitting down under the tree and turning his gaze to the others.

Almond had picked the bush clean, and Starstruck had gathered up quite a few acorns. Statter was just moodily sitting by the water, presumably having left Starstruck to do all the work.

"Hey, princess." 

Statter turned, giving him a glare. "What do you want? I'm busy."

"Doing what? You're supposed to be helping gather food."

"Ugh, that's a servant's job-"

"Oh! Hi there!"

Hearing Almond's words, the other four turned, seeing Almond smiling at some other nicheling.

Wait...

"Almond! Get away from that thing!" Starstruck rushed forward, grabbing Almond and jumping back just as the undead creature snapped at her throat. 

The...thing stumbled forward, tripping and falling on it's face for a moment. It seemed to have no sense of direction, turning every which way as nobody made a sound.

"We need to go." Bastille whispered, jumping over the small river and waiting for the others.

Everest was trying to quietly climb out of the hot spring, but he slipped and tumbled into the nest, no doubt alerting the monster to where they were.

It perked up it's ears, slowly turning it's head towards them and walking forward, blind eyes wide.

"Go!" Starstruck shoved Almond towards he river, before picking up Everest and leading him in the same direction. Statter followed suit, jumping the gap and running for her life. 

All five nichelings ran away, too far to hear the quiet phrase that the monster spoke.

"New normal..."

 

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They had been walking for hours, and the snow was really starting to pile up.

"I think my paws might just freeze off..."

"I'm coooolllddd! And tired! Someone carry me!"

"Hm, let me think...no."

Bastille finally stopped for a moment, sighing and turning to the other four. "Listen, you may not like what I have to say, but it will be necessary in the long run."

Everyone listened intently-even Statter, who looked more annoyed than they had ever seen her.

Bastille let out a breath. "If we want to make a tribe, then it will be necessary that a few children are born-"

Statter immediately hissed, backing away from the three males and crouching next to Almond.

"No way! If any of you touch me I'll bash your brains in!"

Bastille sighed, clearly losing patience. He opted to ignore her, turning to Almond and raising an eyebrow.

Almond thumped her tail against the ground, keeping silent. Then after a few heartbeats, she nodded. "Sure, I could do that."

Bastille nodded, relieved, and then continued onward, trying to lead them to a safe place.

 

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Just a few days later, after finding a decent spot to rest for a while, Almond had her child.

The only one currently with her was Everest, who was keeping a close eye on the bird in the sky as Almond slept.

 

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He was pretty on edge.

The other four had left to go gather food or something, and left Everest to keep an eye on the children. Not too hard, right? He could do it. He was just nervous. The world was more dangerous than ever right now.

Things seemed okay. He was sitting in the nest with Pocky, and Wildfire was sleeping just next to him. Cocospill was playing around with some of the strange grass poking out of the snow.

The only real danger seemed to be the bluebird circling overhead-but that wouldn't be a problem as long as he kept Pocky close.

His gaze drifted down to the two children peacefully sleeping in the nest with him. He loved them. Even if they weren't technically his children, he really did love them. He was left to take care of them most of the time, considering he was deemed not very useful in any other fields. Even Almond didn't see them as much she would like to, since she was usually out gathering berries.

A very familiar sound snapped him out of his thoughts.

He immediately looked up, scanning his surroundings, and his heart sank as he spotted the source behind Cocospill.

A monster was stumbling up to her, drawn forward by her joyful and oblivious humming.

What could he do? He had to act quick.

The first thing he tried was warning her, but that didn't work. It never did. Nobody could hear him, and all that accomplished was irritating his throat.

He could go and try to defend her, but that would leave the other two children vulnerable-Wildfire was asleep and the bird could easily take Pocky.

He didn't have many options.

As the monster got closer and closer, Everest grabbed Pocky and managed to sling Wildfire over his back, running away and trying to not acknowledge the blood-curdling screams behind him.

 

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4 minutes ago, Speedyscout said:

Nooo

Did Cocospill die? Well I mean... I assume so,, or became a "monster" at least.

NOOOOOOO- 

I mean I didn't even know her but, still sad.

You get used to it. :(

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3 minutes ago, Speedyscout said:

Nooo

Did Cocospill die? Well I mean... I assume so,, or became a "monster" at least.

NOOOOOOO- 

I mean I didn't even know her but, still sad.

Yep, she's dead-super dead

2 minutes ago, The Higher Cat said:

You get used to it. :(

Especially in my playthroughs-

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15 minutes ago, Speedyscout said:

Rip

What just makes me so sad is that it coulda sorta been prevented... Poor Everest, it was a hard choice :(

Sjbjdvf if you knew Everest you'd know this is possibly one of the least terrible things that has happened to him

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Starstruck met someone today.

"What might your name be, madam?" He grinned, sitting himself down in front of the strange female.

"I'm-" She cut herself off with a sneeze, rubbing her nose and then continuing. "Mitara."

Starstruck tilted his head, noticing how frail and sick she looked, and was about to ask her if she had maybe been infected or something.

That would have to be answered later, since it seemed something was happening back at camp.

 

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Hearing the screams, everyone else rushed towards camp, meeting Everest half way.

Wildfire, who had been woken up by the noise, immediately scrambled off of Everest's back and ran towards Starstruck, who hugged her and shot Everest a confused look.

"What happened?" Bastille asked, hopping up on a tree stump.

Everest was trying to catch his breath, and gently set Pocky down in front of the stump. He gestured wildly behind him, although that didn't seem to accomplish much.

Almond finally caught up.

"I heard screaming! Is everyone okay?"

She pushed her way forward, sighing in relief as she saw her children, running forward and pulling Pocky towards her, sheltering him with her body.

She scanned the group, growing more and more nervous as she realized something.

"Everest, where's Cocospill?"

Everyone was silent, staring expectantly at Everest. Seemingly giving up on trying to explain anything, he just dropped his head and shook it, wiping away a few stray tears. 

Most were able to catch on.

Bastille narrowed his eyes, growling and striking Everest in the face with a paw. 

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WATCH THEM! YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO THAT RIGHT! WHAT ARE YOU, USELESS?! I NEVER SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED YOU!"

 

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3 minutes ago, Possum Girl said:

Hearing the screams, everyone else rushed towards camp, meeting Everest half way.

Wildfire, who had been woken up by the noise, immediately scrambled off of Everest's back and ran towards Starstruck, who hugged her and shot Everest a confused look.

"What happened?" Bastille asked, hopping up on a tree stump.

Everest was trying to catch his breath, and gently set Pocky down in front of the stump. He gestured wildly behind him, although that didn't seem to accomplish much.

Almond finally caught up.

"I heard screaming! Is everyone okay?"

She pushed her way forward, sighing in relief as she saw her children, running forward and pulling Pocky towards her, sheltering him with her body.

She scanned the group, growing more and more nervous as she realized something.

"Everest, where's Cocospill?"

Everyone was silent, staring expectantly at Everest. Seemingly giving up on trying to explain anything, he just dropped his head and shook it, wiping away a few stray tears. 

Most were able to catch on.

Bastille narrowed his eyes, growling and striking Everest in the face with a paw. 

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WATCH THEM! YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO THAT RIGHT! WHAT ARE YOU, USELESS?! I NEVER SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED YOU!"

 

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Poor Everest

:((

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Did you really think that they were going back to their camp after that situation?

Yeah, no. 

There were ports not too far ahead, and the tribe decided that would probably be the best way to go.

They were taking a short break to gather what little food was left on the island.

Well, except for Pocky. He was sitting by the water with Starstruck.

 

"Ocean is pretty, isn't it?" Starstruck asked casually, bashing another acorn with his tail to crack it open.

Pocky nodded, gaze unbreaking from the waves. 

"Yes. It's very yellow."

Starstruck blinked, cocking an eyebrow at the child and scanning the water. "Uh, you sure? Last time I checked, it was blue."

Pocky shuffled his paws, lowering his head for a moment. "Yeah, it can feel that way sometimes..."

Silence filled the air for a few heartbeats, before Pocky blinked and looked back at Starstruck. "Oh, wait, you meant-um..."

He sighed, tapping his tail against the ground and awkwardly scraping at the sand with one paw.

"It's um, it's calm, is what I mean. Yellow-uh, calm."

 

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After a day or so of crossing the sea, the tribe arrived at their new home.

A jungle.

Great.

Pocky already felt hot, both from his heat body and the fact that he had grown up in stifling cold. This was abnormal to him.

"Be careful." Bastille whispered, presumably trying not to alert anything. He went in first, and gestured for Statter to follow, since she was the strongest aside from him. Surprisingly, she followed without any complaints.

Pocky drifted off towards the bay, not caring for whatever they were doing.

 

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"You sure do enjoy staring at the water a lot, don't you?'

Pocky payed no mind to Starstruck, simply flicking an ear and hoping that would be taken as a greeting.

The grown nicheling sat next to him, observing the clams at the bottom of the small bay just to the right of the ports.

"So uh...is it still yellow?"

Pocky inwardly cringed a bit. He appreciated Starstruck trying to understand the way he spoke, but in all honesty, he barely understood it himself. It was like nonsense just flew out of his mouth whenever he opened it.

"The water, yes. I'm not feeling too calm at the moment though..."

Starstruck turned and raised an eyebrow, silently telling him to continue with that statement.

Pocky took a deep breath, and looked anywhere but the other nicheling.

"I may be young, but I understand that things aren't good right now. They'll never be good. The world will always be just some blue place, and I'll always feel blue-black and orange-green-purple and never truly understand anything that's happening..." He sighed, knowing full well that he was probably making little sense at the moment. 

"So, I'll just accept it. Death is around every corner,  so why fear it or feel sad? Danger never truly rests, so why bother feeling scared? That's life. Life isn't good nor terrible-it's just life. We're born, we live, and then we die. That's all there is to it."

There was only silence for minutes, but it felt like years. It wasn't comfortable silence either, it was the kind that fell upon you when something strange or unsettling had been said, but nobody dare spoke a word in fear of hearing more.

"That's...an interesting outlook. You sure are a unique one, kid."

"I'm not unique. Nobody is."

 

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(i seriously applaud you if you can figure out what Pocky is based on-)

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