Prologue

Thump, thump, thump, thump, his heart beat slammed against his chest. Feet pounding against the pavement, beads of sweat rolling down his sticky forehead. He wandered into a dark alley, met with a brick wall. Slow footsteps clicked in the distance, getting closer with each step. He spun around eyes wide, the figure's menacing shadow loomed over him, the thin sliver of moonlight filtering through the clouds threw the shadows across the wall. Its arm reared back withdrawing a sharp blade.

"No, please don't" he pleaded.

The figure remained silent, and brought the blade down on him. His anguished screams filled the noiseless night, with each strike they increased in agony. Dark blood splattered across the wall, and drizzled out into the storm drain. The cloaked figure turned around, and removed its hood. Marlene smiled exposing her sharp canines, the dim light glinting off of them.

"Greetings, once again it is October; the month of horror, gore, fear and fright. To commemorate this ghoulish holiday we have complied a series of horrific tales, tales of darkness, murder, and betrayal. Some may make you laugh, some may make you cry, some may leave you quivering in a corner, we shall see. For all of you young children that have stumbled across this page; turn away right now, there are plenty of other stories that should suit your age range. If you're still brave enough to continue, than by all means do so, but don't say I didn't warn you. For those of you brave enough to venture inside find a quiet area, dim the lights, play the appropriate music, and let us take you on a terrifying journey- but be warned" she tipped her head back and let out a diabolical laugh. Her skin melted away leaving a skeleton, it smiled a twisted grin, and slashed its claws across.

Before we begin I just want to say that I do not own POM or anything referenced or parodied. Let us begin.

Thriller

The moon rose full and high in the darkened sky, thick dark clouds shrouded the usually clear night. A lone otter crept through the shadows thrown across the path, shafts of bright white light filtered through the cloud barrier and washed over the Central Park Zoo illuminating everything in its glow. It was eerily silent, something quite strange for the tourist destination; usually swarming with the boisterous sounds of the animals that lived inside. A chill danced down her spine as she slowly walked along, eyeing her surroundings with a cautious eye. The only sound was her footsteps on the pavement, all was quiet.

Too quiet.

Her mind began to race with mortifying scenarios; each more terrifying than the last. A howl sounded in the distance, and she picked up the pace hurrying to get back home. Her arms held tightly around her body she dashed in the direction of the large rock cave, her hazel eyes flicking all around her. A threatening snarl broke out behind her, Marlene's breath hitched in her throat. She froze, her body ceasing all movement. Fear gripped at her heart as it drummed painfully against her sternum, out of the corner of her eye a creature stood cloaked in the shadows.

Did she dare turn around?

The gears slowly turned in her mind, should she make a run for it? Or face the unknown?. She slowly turned around, her heart stopped, in front of her was a fellow Zooster; it was Maurice. Only something was different about him. His peeling fur was a pale, blotchy yellowish white smeared in scratch and bite marks, patches of it were missing exposing the decomposing flesh. The chubby aye aye's blank eyes stared her in the eyes, bulging out from their sunken eyelids. Salvia dripped from his open mouth; exposing a set of crooked rotting teeth. His claws were sharp, and twisted demanding a carcass to rip from the seams. A foul decaying stench wafted from his exposed skin stinging her nostrils and making her eyes water. She took a step backward, and the creature followed at a much slower pace.

"W- what are you?" she stammered. The creature growled in response.

She backed away as far as possible, she felt a cool substance against her back; the brick wall surrounding her habitat. She was cornered, there was no way out. Marlene looked back at the zombified animal, its slack jaw was opened wide ready for the taste of flesh. Her body quivered, and shook as she tried to press herself in further.

The ground beneath her began to vibrate, she quickly looked down, what now? She thought crazily. A hand broke through; blotchy and pale, she shrieked and stepped away, more limbs ruptured through, and grabbed at her. With a petrified scream she ran in the direction of the centre habitat. Moaning and groaning reverberated behind her, she forced herself to move faster, evading the bony fingers that swung out at her.

Marlene grabbed onto the bar of the iron fence bordering the habitat, and tried to push her way through. She felt something grab her foot, with a shriek she wildly lashed out, and kicked at the creature, which snarled sinisterly in response. She tugged at the bar with as much force as her arms would allow. It came loose with a snap, she swung it back, and hit him in the eye. The animal shrieked, and released its hold on her. Marlene hastily squeezed through the remaining bars, and launched herself into the water.

She resurfaced, and opened the fishbowl, and jumped inside, landing painfully on her stomach. With a groan she pushed herself to her feet, and scurried to the penguin standing in front of her, his back turned.

"Skipper, what's going on?" she wheezed breathlessly.

He spun around with an unnerving smile "they're here" he chanted in an ominous sing song voice that made the skin beneath her fur crawl.

"What? Who?!" she asked incredulously.

"The zombies, and the apocalypse" he answered nonchalant.

Marlene looked around the penguin headquarters realizing it was empty "where is everyone?" she wondered.

"The zombies got them, frankly I'm surprised they didn't get you" Skipper stated with an arched eyebrow. The sound of claws raking through metal echoed through the air, he looked up at the entrance where the scraping and scratching was coming from.

"Blast, they found us!", he shoved her behind his back protectively " stay behind me".

She nodded timidly, he slowly climbed up the rung ladder with Marlene not far behind. Clutching a dagger in his flipper he threw the hatch open and leapt out, knocking a few of the zombified animals off their feet. With a mighty cry he barrelled into the ones blocking their escape, and hurled them into the water.

Skipper grabbed hold of her wrist "come on" he tugged her along, fighting his way through the mutants. A instrumental melody filled the dank air. The two stopped in their tracks, he scanned the area suspiciously.

"What is that?".

Marlene listened carefully to the rhythm "it's coming from the lemur habitat" she announced. They followed the sudden beat, bringing them to where she said. A large boom box stood in front of them; the song was blasting from the speakers.

Julien was beside his boom box dancing to the music, oblivious to everything that was happening.

"Ring Tail, what are you doing?!" Skipper hollered.

Julien faced the two with a scoff "I'm dancing, what does it look like I am the doing?".

"Julien, we have to leave now" Marlene hastily spat out.

The zombies closed in on them, she gasped and hid behind Skipper, Julien rolled his eyes and amped up the volume. Strangely enough the undead halted abruptly, and began dancing to the song in the traditional thriller fashion.

Skipper and Marlene watched with bewilderment at the scene unfolding in front of them. Seeing the distraction he grabbed Julien and ran towards the Zooveiner shop.

"My boomy box!".

He threw open the door, and pushed them inside "we should be safe here".

Marlene cradled her head in her paws "why is this happening?!" she cried.

Skipper clamped his flipper over her mouth, and listened intently to the noises outside. Once they had passed he removed it, Marlene glared at him. He wasted no time in gathering a handful of supplies and hiding them behind the barricade of foamed fingers, T shirts and plushes. Julien continued the song, humming it quietly in her ear as they crouched on the floor.

"Would you stop it?!" she snapped in a hushed tone.

"Hey, I love this song" Julien defended, arms folded over his chest.

The door slammed shut causing the three to jump in alarm, he continued to sing jittery. Marlene closed her eyes, praying it was all just a dream and that she'd wake up soon.

The floor creaked with the sound of approaching footsteps. The three went rigid, paralyzed with terror. Private reared his scarred head around the corner, Marlene turned white; her body draining of all colour. She tried to scream, but found she couldn't, she stared into his blank soulless eyes frozen in horror. Julien squeaked and stopped his singing, Skipper grabbed hold of their paws and ran. Private roared and gave chase, hungry for the taste of blood.

"Stop singing, it's attracting them!" Skipper yelled at the lemur who carried on the catchy tune.

He pulled the handle on the door, it didn't open. He haled and strained to force it open but it wouldn't budge.

Marlene snuck a glance over her shoulder, the gap between them and Private was closing.

"Umm, Skipper" she began nervously.

"Not now, Marlene" he grunted, continuing his fruitless effort. The zombified penguin approached them, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

Skipper turned around, his eyes met Private's and narrowed, his grip tightened on the handle of the dagger until his flipper blanched white. "Go" he ordered bravely "there's a back entrance, I'll hold him off for as long as I can".

Marlene was about to protest, but Julien grabbed her arm and yanked her away. She struggled to free herself from his grip "Julien, what are you doing?. We can't just leave him!".

"If he wants to die let him, he has made his choice" he stated cowardly. They stumbled out of the back entrance, and towards the clock tower, hearing Skipper's haunting screams in the distance. Marlene cringed, and closed her eyes trying to drown it out, tears falling down her cheek.

They could hear the music again.

Zoosters streamed from all angles, all zombified. They were cornered.

Julien hugged into her side, Marlene stared down at him with an arched eyebrow "what are you doing?!" she demanded irritably.

"Hey, I'm just doing what the song says" he smiled as he stroked a paw through her soft chestnut fur.

She shoved him to the ground with an annoyed grunt "the song's ending" she said as she listened to the instrumental play. The zombies danced their way toward them, jaws open wide with pointed teeth stained with blood. If they could just make it till midnight maybe they could survive.

Julien turned his head to the right, a hoard of zombies were gathered around the boom box, which carried on the music. His amber eyes widened.

"My boomy box!"

Without a rational thought he ran towards it "Julien, what are you doing?!" Marlene cried in horror.

"I refuse to leave it behind" he called over his shoulder. She watched as he reached the stereo, and grabbed it with a triumphant cheer. Before he could get any further Kowalski and Mort lunged at him. She witnessed the event, helpless to do anything as they hacked his limbs off, and gnawed at his flesh like the animals they were.

His ear splitting screech stabbed her ears, she turned back to the swarm around her, she was all alone. With no other option she swung the pole at a zombified Stacy and ran. Her feet hurt but she couldn't stop, her survival counted on it.

Her heart was pounding to the point she felt it would burst, she glanced up at the large clock tower; five minutes until midnight, she could do this. She just had to make it to the tower and she would be safe.

Marlene tripped over a crack in the pavement, and fell to the ground. She frantically looked over her shoulder, the zombies were getting closer. She looked back, Skipper stood in front of her; his eyes pale and glazed over. He stepped towards her, blood drizzling down the corners of his beak.

She tried to back away "Skipper, please don't" she whimpered. Julien and the others gathered around her in a ring, dark blood staining their chests. There was no way out, trembling uncontrollably her eyes darted all around her as the undead closed in ready to claim their next victim.

She clenched her eyes shut as they sprung into her and sunk their teeth into her flesh, ripping her limbs from their sockets. Fur and flesh flew through the air, a deep foreboding laugh rang out simultaneously with the dongs of the clock tower striking midnight with her anguished screams.