Caribbean Zombies

Prologue (Be wary of boredom, it's a long prologue)
The year is 1777, and the world is at peace. The Great Pirate War, as it had come to be known, between pirates, Jolly Roger's mighty army, and many countries ended 20 years ago. Many had died. Some in combat, others from natural causes (and by natural causes I mean giant scorpions and huge wasps), but the undeniable truth was that most had been lost to the villain that was known as Jolly Roger. He had cursed, banished, zombified, or simply killed any pirate he managed to get between his bony fingers.

However, that was all in the past. As I said, the year is 1777. A young boy by the name of Jacklyn sat snug by a fireplace, reading a book. The book had the words "The Indubitable Romans" scribed across the spine. The boy laughed as he read the dialogue. "This Cannonwalker fellow is hilarious!" Jacklyn said aloud. Jacklyn was an odd child. He had not many friends, as he mainly surrounded himself with books.

Unlike other boys his age, he'd rather be reading than running around throwing rocks at one another nonsensically. He was viewed as very intelligent for an boy that was merely 11 years of age. However, he was constantly put down by his peers at school because of his higher intelligence. He was pushed, shoved, punched, and pinched by large bruting boys with much lower levels of knowledge. Soon, it had gotten to the point where Jacklyn decided it would be more helpful if he shut everyone out. So, he did. Books were now his best and only friends. He looked to them to keep him entertained, and for the most part, they did (with the exception of a few regarding the Spanish and how they "conquered everything." Jacklyn assumed the man who wrote these was insane.). Jacklyn had lots of books. Some fictuous and odd, other realistic and action-filled.

There was, however, one book that stuck out to him. It had some ancient text scribbled along the covers and up the spine. Jacklyn never read it. It's not that he wasn't interested in it; He was extremely curious about its contents. The problem was, however, was that it was voodoo. Since the Great Pirate War, voodoo had been disposed of. It wasn't specifically illegal, it's just that once you started using it, bad things would usually happen. Jacklyn only knew it was voodoo because he recognized the scribbles across it as markings.

He understood the markings clearly, but he only bothered to translate the large ones across the front. The large ones across what he assumed was the front cover read "Spellbook Of Stuff." He didn't know what word was after "Of" so he simply assumed it said "Stuff." Jacklyn had found the book while heading home to his house from school one day. He grabbed it and quickly slipped it in the pocket of his coat. He hoped the guards wouldn't see it, especially the rather large brute that guarded the Fort (Jacklyn resided on Port Royal, so he saw guards more than often. He was familiar with many of them, but not all). He then got home, translated the large markings across the front cover, and then hid the book, hoping no one would ever find it.

While he usually tried to avoid the book, tonight, Jacklyn decided he would have a peak at it. He closed "The Indubitable Romans," and headed to his room. He dug around for the book. He found it stuffed beneath his mattress. He pulled it out and exmained it. He was about to open it when he hesitated. What if it caused 1000 years of bad juju? What if his family would drop dead? What if 237 years later, the next generation would be full of idiots? "Oh well" He said with a sigh. "Only one way to find out." Jacklyn brought the book to a table in his room he used as a desk. He put it down in front of himself and sat on his chair. He opened up the front cover.

The first page was blank. He turned the page. So was the second. He turned it again. It was blank. He let go of the book, somewhat disappointed in the lack of death and fear that should have been eminating from the book. Then, the candle next to him flickered. Jacklyn looked at the window. It was closed. He looked around, but no one was near. Then, he looked back at the candle, his head slightly tilted in curiosity. "Odd." He said to himself, noting the now rapidly flickering candle. Then, all of the sudden, the candle went out. Jacklyn looked in horror at the smoking wick. He was now sitting in darkness, other than the candle on the other side of the room and the light from the hallway.

Then, the book in front of Jacklyn opened with a rather loud thud. Text started to appear on the page as if it were writing itself. Jacklyn stared in horror as the book quickly scribbled in spells in English. The text was glowing a greenish shade of gray. The book started turning pages, each writing itself as the book went from page to page. Then, finally, it stopped on a page that simply said the words "Revival spell." Jacklyn looked at the page and read it over as it wrote itself. It contained a chant that said it could bring the dead back to life. Jacklyn didn't believe it was real. He couldn't. He didn't want to.

At that moment, the book started to levitate. It floated up, and then shot out of Jacklyn's door, leaving a trail of disappearing green mist. Jacklyn followed it. He grabbed his coat, put on his flat cap, and slipped on his shoes. This was going to be quite a night.

Chapter 1: New Beginnings (Rotten, smelly, undead beginnings)
Cold. That was all they could feel. Cold air. Cold ground. Everything was cold. Then, warmth. Each person, once they woke up, saw nothing but wood. Well, except for Breasly and Pears. Breasly saw marble lined with gold, and a large golden cross in the middle of his casket. Pears didn't see anything, as the dirt had caused his skull the cave in, completely destroying his head. But he was still conscious, along with the many others who were buried and once dead, but now alive.

Gunfish was the first to gain full consciousness. "Dammit, why am I here?" He said to himself. He tried to punch a hole in his coffin, but the hole he eventually made only made dirt fall in. "Dammit. Gonna have to dig my way out." Gunfish attempted dig away the dirt, but that only made more fall in. Across the Port Royal graveyard, Goldtimbers was sleeping soundly when he awoke with a jolt. "Why am I awake? They weren't supposed to wake me up until 6 AM. Wait a minute..." Goldtimbers realized he was now in a grave. "Me? Dead? How can this be???" Goldtimbers didn't dare try to scratch or kick his coffin, as he knew his fragile bones would get destroyed. Two graves over, Bobby Moon just sat in her coffin. "I'm awake, Woop-dee-freakin'-doo." A grave or two even farther over, Richard Cannonwalker sat there. "I died honorably...I think. What got me this kind of torture?" There were still others awakening in the graveyard, but those few were the first to get strength. Each felt a jolt and instantly kicked the lids off their coffins, along with the dirt, simultaneously. Each rised out of their coffins and looked at one another. Among the living dead within the cemetary were Jeremiah Garland, Richard Cannonwalker, Bobby Moon, Johnny Goldtimbers, Ned Edgewalker, Jim Logan, Pencil (as he was called), Andrew Mallace, and a few mindless zombies that wandered off the other way.

The crew looked at each other "You look how I feel." Said Goldtimbers, looking Richard up and down. "You look worse. Half of your ribcage is gone." Richard casually gestured towards Johnny's torn uniform and its revealed ribcage that seemed to be missing some broken ribs. "GARLAND!" Mallace yelled as yanked Jerry's arm. "Come, we must rebuild the BNO in this new undead form. We'll make a killing when we re-open the Pallace." As for Ned and Bob, they just looked each other up and down and became dazed. "What year is it?" Asked Bob. "I don't know." Said Ned with a blank look on his face. Gunfish just stood there. The group looked at each other  and said in something of a chorus "BOAT."

So, they set out to find a boat. However, they were stopped at the graveyard entrance as a young boy wearing a flat cap jumped in excitement and terror all at once. "WHAT A VIVID DREAM! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE ALL ALIVE AND WELL!" The boy shouted in excitement. "Err...kinda well." Ned said as he looked himself and the others up and down. "Where are my manners?" Said the boy, putting himself back together and standing upright. He held out a hand to the group. "My name is Jacklyn. I was born and raised here on Port Royal. I've read all of your books, and heard all of your stories! I'm a huge fan." He said. "Which of our books did you read?" Richard asked, trying to contain his excitement as he realized this was his first time meeting a fan. "ALL OF THEM! And I resurrected you all! Well, not purposefully, but still!" Jacklyn said, fidgeting and trying to contain his excitement. "Well, uh, we're looking for a boat. Do you think you could lead us to a  place where we could get a boat? Preferably for free?" Asked Garland. "Absolutely! I know just the place!"

The group then travelled toward the beach and the undead crew was staring in wonder at the island. Though they had all began to deteriorate, the island looked pretty much the exact same,  if not cleaner. The guard didn't seem to care about the passing zombies, as they were either asleep or assumed they were dreaming. Jacklyn lead them to a small fishing boat. "This is what my dad uses when he goes out to fish with his friends. He won't mind us taking it for a spin." Jacklyn said as they all loaded onto the boat. Jim looked up to the sky and noticed the vast green coloring of the night sky and the thick gray thunderclouds overhead. "Should we be concerned?" He asked, pointing a bony finger with rotting skin along it towards the skies. Pencil looked up. "Nah." He said. Rich grabbed hold of the wheel, only to be knocked off by Ned, who was then pushed over by Mallace, who was then knocked down by Bob, who then got shoved forward over the wheel by Goldtimbers, who took hold of the wheel and stood firm. "Where to?" He asked as Mallace got up and tried to push him off the wheel. "Dammit, I don't know." Said Garland. "Where to, Mallace?" "We should go to Padres Del Fuego." Said Mallace. "I know a guy there."

Chapter 2: Family Reunions (Not really)
So, they floated to Padres. "Damn, dude" Said Rich as he looked at the volcano, which had been covered in obsidian, along with the once flowing lava rivers. "What the hell happened here?" Asked Ned. The beach was run down. The buildings were destroyed, along with the dock. The signs looked worn and burnt. Jacklyn looked upon the scene in horror. "My brother lives here. I hope he's alright."

The crew walked toward the inner ring of the island when they felt a rumble. The obsidian that covered the top of the volcano started to crack and lava began to spew from it. The team ran into a cavern. "Wait a minute, where'd the kid go?" Asked Mallace. Jim looked out through the cavern opening. "Jacklyn!" He yelled. He ran out grabbed the exhausted and amazed kid, and threw him towards the cavern entrance. Jacklyn crawled right into the cavern, panting heavily.

Jim didn't make it in time, as rocks and lava began to flood the entrance. "I'LL CATCH UP WITH YOU GUYS THROUGH ANOTHER ENTRANCE! GO!" Jim shouted. They all ran as fast as they could. "Stick together! Don't wanna get lost in here!" Said Johnny. They kept running until they saw a zombie. Unlike themselves, this one seemed to be mindlessy wandering. "Weird. Maybe that one was under the ground for a little too long." Said Davy. They tried to walk around it, but it started thrashing at them. They tried to get away from it, but it screeched, attracting more mindless zombies. They were all eyeing Jacklyn. "NOT WORTH IT." Yelled Mallace as he ran off. "Andrew, wait!" Yelled Garland, who followed him. Goldtimbers jumped in front of Jacklyn, pulling out his sword. He started to wave it around but he then looked at it. It was chipped and broken. "Damn these weak weapons!" Goldtimbers said. "Over here!" Cannonwalker said as he ran off in the direction he thought Garland and Mallace did.

The crew got away from the zombies, only to find themselves stuck in a dead end that looked like an abandoned mining area. "What were they searching for in the caves?" Asked Pencil, Ned shrugged. Bobby still stood dazed. "I miss Andrew and Jerry." Said Gunfish. "As do I, Davy." Said Johnny. "Psssst, over here." A small whisper came from what seemed to be a fort made of minecarts. Richard walked over to the fort. "Hello?" He said in a questioning tone. A rather large man poked out of the front of the fort. "It's me, Hermit." Richard's face lit up. "Is the coast clear?" Hermit asked. "Absolutely, come on out." Rich said. Hermint came out and cracked his back. He looked the exact same, if not better, than Richard remembered him. "Did you not die...?" Asked Richard. "I'm undead. I can't be twice undead, Richard."

"PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS!" Said Hermit as he made lightning strike from his hand and hit the ground. "Itty-bitty little living space." He gestured toward his minecart fort. "It's been 26 years, how've you been holding up?" Asked Hermit. "Thirty?!?!? You mean to tell me I was buried alive 26 years ago?!?!??" Asked Goldttmbers in a worried tone, after noticing Hermit. "Buried alive....?" Hermit looked at the group. "Oh. So, this isn't Jolly's work." Jacklyn came up to Hermit and looked at him with curiosity as he tilted his head sideways. "Jolly? As in Jolly Roger? He's been dead for 20 years. You don't get out much, do you?" Jacklyn asked. "Not really, no. Hence the name, Hermit." "So, uh, how's it been?" Asked Davy. "Pretty good. Nothing really amazing though. Except for the fact that those annoying skeletons and those damn guards have moved out, allowed me to gain full control of the cave." Hermit grinned. "Not it's much easier to torture my victims, as I can do it without having to worry about being bothered." Jacklyn gave him a disturbed look. Hermit smiled back.

The crew ended up going back and exploring more of the cave, searching for Jerry and Mallace. They searched the whole cave for them, but they couldn't find them anywhere, so they decided to go outside of the cave via an exit they had found. While they still hadn't found the two of them, they DID find a peculiar looking undead fellow sitting on the ground and staring up at the sky. "There's a storm coming, and it's gonna be big." Said the man. "Albert Spark?" Asked Bobby. "Yes?" He looked at them all. "HOLY HELL." He shouted. He hugged Bob. "I didn't know you guys were alive! If I did, I wouldn't have lazed around here!" He looked them all over. "It's been a while." Albert said. "26 years, in fact." Said Goldtimbers, still not accepting the fact that he might have actually died. "We're looking for Mallace and Andrew, have you seen them?" Asked Ned. "No, I don't think so, sorry." Albert said. "No matter, it's good that you're back." Said Rich.

And so, with their grown group, they continued their search for Andrew and Jerry, not knowing what they'd find next.