Chapter Text
The way it moves is not natural. That’s not how Noodle moves. It limps and it groans.
Screams of terror had already filled the room from the TV, and 2D’s was no different.
Burying Noodle in the Kong Studio cemetery was the second mistake Murdoc Niccals had made.
~~~
The figure groans loudly again. Although, it sounds less like a groan, and more like a wail; it’s strangled and filled with pain.
2D stumbles backwards, tripping over the rug and falling on his butt. He mentally curses himself for becoming such a cliche as he scootches backwards, away from the corpse. Because that’s what it is- it’s her corpse. A reanimated husk of what once was his bandmate, his best friend.
The body, upon seeing 2D trip, drops down to its knees on the shag carpet, becoming eye-level with him. He makes the mistake of looking into its eyes. They’re black- like his- but hollow and empty. Though it has no pupils, 2D can tell it’s staring right back at him.
Every time Noodle’s corpse moves, 2D can hear the horrible sounds of its splintered bones grinding within it, and its low, guttural growls.
It drops its hands to the floor, so that it’s on all fours, crawling towards a retreating 2D. He continues to scootch backwards until his back hits the wall, and he freezes, wide-eyed.
The monster crawls towards him, getting closer and closer until it’s completely cornered 2D.
‘What comes next?’ 2D thinks to himself. In the movies, this would be his untimely demise, of course. But it’s Noodle, isn’t it?
The creature draws its face up to 2D’s, until they’re only a few inches apart. ‘This is the end’, 2D thinks. He closes his eyes tight, but not before he sees Noodle’s figure open its mouth slightly, revealing muddy teeth. He thinks he’s going to throw up again.
His eyes are squeezed shut, and all he knows is that this is his undoing, killed by the rotting corpse of who was once his best friend. He feels an ice cold hand touch his cheek. He freezes, gasping slightly.
But a few seconds go by. Then a few more, and a few more after that, and nothing’s happened. Everything is completely silent. Reluctantly, 2D slowly allows himself to open his eyes.
In front of him sits Noodle. Her head is cocked to the side, lips slightly parted. Her icy hand rests gently on his cheek. Her eyes, once hollow and lifeless and now wide and filled with emotion.
“N-Noodle?” 2D whispers.
The corpse blinks once, twice, and then opens its mouth and speaks, in a low guttural growl, “Dee?”
2D’s eyes swell with tears. She’s in there, somewhere, his little girl.
“Noodle,” he gasps. “Noodle are you okay? What happened to you, Noodle?” His hands cup her cheeks, and a bit of her flesh falls away.
“Dee,” she says again, and tears spill down 2D’s face.
“Noodle,” he chokes out, and wraps his arms around her. He’s gentle, but he still feels her corpse crunch underneath his touch. She’s so, so delicate. “You’re right, love, it’s me, Dee,” he says to her. She groans out his name again and he holds her close, as gently as he can.
The two stay this way, for how long 2D doesn’t know.
He’s interrupted when Russel’s silhouette steps into his door frame before freezing.
“2D,” he says, shaking. “What did you do?”
~~~
I’m safe.
She can hear the familiar voices of her friends just outside the door. She sits in a rotting wooden chair in the mucky kitchen of Kong Studios– her home.
Rotting.
She brings her hands up, palms facing her. They’re white as a sheet, and there’s dirt deep under her fingernails and in the creases of her knuckles. A bit of burnt flesh peels away at her wrist, and a milky white bone protrudes just a bit out of her forearm.
Why doesn’t it hurt? Why can’t I bleed?
She’s rotting. Just like the chair. Just like every bloody thing in the dilapidated mansion Gorillaz calls home. She’s just another… thing.
She feels herself wanting to cry. She can’t. Maybe it’s a side effect of being dead.
~~~
“I thought you,” Russel shudders, not knowing if he can finish the sentence. He struggles to choke out the words. “I thought you dug her up.”
“She just showed up in my room,” 2D whispers, not knowing if the zombie in the other room can hear them. He doesn’t wanna hurt her feelings. “I thought she was gonna eat me.”
“Obviously Noodle’s still in there, somewhere,” Russel says.
“Yeah, but her body’s falling apart,” 2D points out.
Murdoc has stayed quiet throughout the entire conversation. He feels his stomach churn with guilt and disgust– not at the undead creature on the other side of the wall, but at himself. To say he fucked up is an understatement. He’s failed Noodle, more than once now. He doesn’t think he can open his mouth without the truth spilling out so he stays quiet.
“Murdoc?” 2D looks at him, head cocked to the side. Murdoc takes a step backwards, then another, and then runs out of the room.
~~~
They’ve been gone for so long.
Noodle looks down at her legs. They’re scraped and burned and covered in dirt. Her stark white skin rips and tears, and exposes muscle and bone.
Disgusting. Monster. They’re scared of me.
She leans forward, and gets up off the chair.
~~~
“I don’t know what to–” before Russel can finish his sentence, he and 2D hear a small groan from behind them. They turn to see Noodle’s tiny, rotting figure standing in the doorway. She lets out another pained, guttural sound, and reaches out for the two men standing across from her.
Without skipping a beat, Russel rushes towards her and as gently as he can scoops her up into his arms, carrying her like a baby. She reaches her hand forward and places it on his head.
“Ruuss,” she growls, and he holds her close, his forehead resting on hers.
“I’m here, love,” he whispers. “I’m here. We’re here.”
2D reaches out to place a hand on Noodle’s shoulder. He can feel her bone through her thinning skin.
“We’re here,” he repeats.
~~~
They’re here.
I’m safe.
I’m home.