Chapter 6
Ambush!


Ryu hadn't seen nor spoke to Vega in two days. Right now he was taking care of Irene. She began to feel nausea and she frequently vomited. She thought that she had food poisoning. At a restaurant with Ryu, she ordered a pasta dish. It tasted good, but the clams were old and raw. It was about 11:30 p.m. when Ryu and Irene left the movie theater. They both hadn't seen a film in a long time. Irene tried to establish a normal life while Ryu took his mind off the training for his mission. Of course, he said nothing to Irene about it. To Ryu, it was in her best interests that he didn't tell her. The cult, he thought, would be easy enough to dispatch.
He was about to find out that he was dead wrong.
***

They talked about the movie for a while on the way back to the apartment. Irene laughed at one of Ryu's jokes, and tossed her hair back. It was then when she realized they were lost in an alley.
"Ryu, I don't know where we are. Have you even seen this part of town?"
"No, but we can't be that far away from the apartment. If we just turn around..."

"Irene Lew, you will come with us," a voice interrupted.
"What? Who's there?" Irene said as she and Ryu spun around.
"Irene Lew, you WILL come with us NOW!" the voice said. 

Irene quickly pulled a large clip gun from her purse.

"OUT OF THE SHADOWS NOW, MOTHER-FUCKER! OR I'LL BLOW YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!"
"You cannot resist us, Irene." The man revealed himself. His skin was green and his eyes were white, unblinking. He was a zombie, and coming closer.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, ASSHOLE! DON'T FUCKING MOVE OR I'LL SHOOT!"

The zombie continued to walk towards Irene.

"BLAM!" the single shot rung out in the cold air. The zombie fell back; the shot blew off a large chuck of its head off.

"What the hell was that!?" A breathless Irene asked. Before Ryu answered, a chorus of voices chanted,
"Come with us, Irene Lew, you cannot resist us." Thirty zombies came from out the darkness, their glowing white eyes exposing themselves. Irene didn't think, she unloaded.
She pointed her gun at the closest zombie coming towards her. She pulled the trigger twice. The shots hit the zombie in the upper chest; just below the neck. It still walked. 
Irene squeezed the trigger again; the zombie's head exploded with crimson. Yet the others still advanced fearlessly, for they had no souls.
Irene started to panic. The zombies began to encircle them. She shot seven times at random intervals. The bullets hit the zombies, but only two managed to hit their heads and kill them. 
"CLICK."
"Shit Ryu, I need to reload... DO SOMETHING!"

Ryu didn't have the Dragon Sword, and he dare didn't use The Art of Fire Wheel because he might incinerate himself. Still he rushed into the zombies. He punched and kicked them, but his blows were useless. He didn't even faze them. They did not fight back; they just continued to close in on Irene.
"SNAP!"
Irene wasted no time killing the zombies. She shot off rounds at point-blank range. The zombies trapped her, and their outstretched arms clumsily groped her. Their heads exploded, while Irene was too afraid to be disgusted by the chunks of brain and skull that landed on her face.
"CLICK." 
"OH GOD, I'M OUT!" she screamed. The zombies engulfed her. She kicked a male zombie in the groin with her spiked high heels. He didn't blink. The four of the zombies picked up Irene by her arms and legs, displaying her like a captured wild boar, while Ryu tried to fight his way to Irene. 

"LET HER GO YOU BASTARD!!!" He punched a zombie in the head. Ryu hear the vertebra break. That gave him an idea. He grabbed another zombie's head and quickly jerked it. The bone broke, and the zombie was lifeless. Ryu quickly did this to the other zombies one by one. He slowly made his way to Irene, but there was no end to the army of evil.

Suddenly a shadow fell from the sky. It landed on the ground with a thunderous "CRASH!" The dust cleared and the shadow stood up. It was a man who had a machete and a nasty grin on his face. 
"I'm taking over now, Ninja. Irene's fate is no longer in yours hands, but our master's. He ordered me to kill you. Instructions that I will now fulfill." The man swung his knife around; he was enjoying this.
"And what is your name, slayer-of-ninjas?" Ryu asked mockingly.
"Morgo, we will talk after I cut out your tongue!"

Morgo leaped into the air, then dived into a roll. He uncurled by Ryu and swung his machete. Ryu dodged, but the blade cut through his clothing and his skin. Ryu immediately clutched the rouge stain. Morgo slashed again, this time too wide. Ryu called upon The Art of The Fire Wheel, but Morgo spun his weapon around, deflecting the harmless will-o-wisps. Ryu backed up and sized up Morgo. Morgo wasted no time and charged. He slashed at Ryu, who sidestepped the knife and punched Morgo in the face. Ryu followed up with a roundkick that sent Morgo spinning down. However, Morgo kept the machete, and he threw it at Ryu's chest. Ryu quickly fell to the ground to avoid it, and it harmlessly hit the alley's brick wall. Morgo ran, somersaulted over Ryu, and recovered the machete. 
But Ryu was waiting for him.
Ryu slammed the hand and the machete into the wall, then pummeled Morgo with a series of fierce kicks to the side and face. Ryu concluded the punishment with a spinning jump kick. Morgo fell backwards into the wall. He quickly crawled to his weapon and retrieved it. Morgo felt too weak to get up, and strangely, Ryu was nowhere to found.
"CRUNCH!"
Ryu landed on his feet from his leap exactly where he wanted, on top of his assailant's rib cage. Morgo didn't move and Ryu couldn't imagine anyone surviving that impact. Ryu heard Irene scream; he picked up the machete and ran. The chase was on!