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dominophile · 7 months

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I NEED MORE TROLLS APOCALYPSE AU PLS 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Did I hear that right?? The apocalypse au is wanted???

Oh anon you've made my day.

Allow me to add our lovely trigger warnings and then I'll talk a sec!

TW: blood, death, bugs and worms, implied canabilism reference

ok! with that all said and done, let me explain a few things. The bit I wrote about an apocalypse au with my oc is unrelated to this here. Why? Because that was a snippet for funzies, this has plot and lore and rules and I'm not being self indulgent and adding my own characters.

This is a parasite based infection. Worms in specific, like maggots that don't just eat the dead. Sure I could explain the lore better, but I could also just write it into the story itself. :)

also yes, I'm very aware worms isn't a new zombie concept, I'm not claiming rights to the idea of worms creating the undead, but I am writing my own original story about the idea.

Now! Without any further delay, enjoy the read!

The Queen's Demise

Poppy's POV

Poppy holds her breath, hands pressed tight against her mouth. She could hear the heavy, pained breathing nearby.

She stays completely still as the figure drags themselves past her hiding place behind a large tree.

A few minutes of silence pass, she's safe.

Poppy takes a large breath, leaning against the tree.

"That was close..." She says, calming her nerves down.

It was only a few days ago that everything was fine. She was happily leading the village without a care in the world. but then...

"Queen Poppy! Come quickly!!" A voice yelled, catching Poppy's attention.

"What's going on, what's wrong?"

The other Troll doesn't have time to answer before screams drown out their voice.

Poppy looked, seeing her people running around frantically.

She quickly ran closer.

"Hey!"

"Stop for a second!"

"What's happening??"

She called to various Trolls running by, but not one seemed willing to stop and explain a thing.

Then she spotted it.

Emerging from the bushes was a Troll. But they looked... wrong.

They were pale, and their eyes seemed almost glazed over.

Poppy got closer.

"Hey, are you ok..?" She asked, reaching out carefully to touch the Troll's shoulder gently.

Upon closer inspection, they had various wounds as well.

"it hurts..." The Troll murmured.

"I can call someone, if you need!" She began to remove her hand. "I'm sure someone here knows what to..."

She trailed off as the other Troll looked her in the eyes, leaning closer.

The Troll suddenly falls over and begins coughing violently, blood splattered to the grass below.

Poppy took a step back, opening her mouth to speak, to tell the Troll in front of her she would go find a doctor and fast. But as she prepared to run, her eyed flickers to the blood, and she froze in place.

Worms. She saw worms.

Multiple worms were in the splatters below, a few of them making their way towards Poppy.

"What the..." She can't finish her sentence. The Troll suddenly tackled her to the ground, clawing desperately as if they were the one being attacked.

They growled, they were speaking their words breaking apart like they haven't quite learned to talk properly, and Poppy couldn't make out what they were actually saying.

"get off!" Poppy yelled, thrashing about helplessly. The Troll on top of her was surprisingly strong.

Suddenly, the weight is off of her. She looked up quickly.

"Branch!" She yelled, seeing her boyfriend pinning the Troll to the ground.

"Poppy, run!" He snapped, freeing one of his hands to grab a sharp wooden stake from his pocket.

Having that on hand was so... in character.

"No! You'll get hurt!"

"I'm fine!" He shoved the stake into the Trolls chest, removing it and stabbing again and again a few times until the body beneath him stopped moving.

He breathed heavily, standing up.

Blood splatters decorated his clothes and face.

Branch turned to Poppy. "See? I know what I'm doing."

Poppy nodded, pulling him away from the body.

"Hey what are you-?"

"worms.."

"worms?"

"I saw worms.. they coughed them up..."

Branch looked down at the body. Sure enough, inside some of the exposed wounds were little worms that seemed to be digging in and eating away.

"worms..." He repeated, putting an arm in front of Poppy and backing away.

"...how did you know I was in danger?" Poppy asked after a moment of silence.

"Oh, I didn't exactly... I came to find you to tell you... what you already know now, I guess."

"What do you mean?" Poppy looked at him.

"There are others, Poppy. I found them in the woods by my bunker..."

Poppy stayed silent for a moment before speaking up again.

"What's... going on Branch...?"

"From what I can tell, these worms are eating them... from inside it seems. Impatient bastards couldn't wait for us to be dead I guess"

Poppy nodded, then froze. "Where is everyone? Dad? Viva??" She looked at Branch desperately.

"They're fine, don't worry. Viva is helping gather every Troll we're sure isn't infected."

Poppy paused. "So some... aren't getting taken to safety...?"

Branch shook his head. "We don't have much information yet, so we can't risk anything. Any Troll with any symptoms of being sick isn't allowed in."

"this Troll here... they were in so much pain Branch... they didn't know what they were doing...."

Branch sighed. "I'm sorry Poppy. At least they're out of their misery now."

"I guess."

"Come on, let's go tell Vive you're ok, she'll be thrilled. Then we can make a plan to move forward."

"I'll meet up with you, I just need a minute..."

Branch looked like he wanted to protest, but stopped himself. He just nodded and walked off, leaving Poppy alone with the body.

She waited a moment, collecting her thoughts, before she fell to her knees and cried.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you..." She whispered. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you..."

She wiped her eyes, taking a deep breath. She couldn't break down now. She was queen, she had to do something.

She knew what she had to do. it was her duty as queen. She stood up, looked at the body one last time, then ran off to find everyone.

A while had passed, and Poppy had called everyone to attention. Branch had found an empty and safe corner of the village and he gathered everyone there with Viva and Clay's help while John Dory was currently making sure everyone was here and paying attention.

"Listen up everyone!" Poppy yelled, which caused the murmuring among the crowd to quiet down.

"as your queen, I know you all want my guidance... but the truth is... I'm not sure what to do."

The murmuring picked up again.

"but! I promise you all, I'm going to find out!"

Branch looked at her. "Poppy..?"

She kept talking. "I'm going to go and find help. Maybe someone somewhere else has a better idea of what to do, or even a cure!!"

"Poppy no!" Branch yelled, walking over as quickly as he could. "That's a suicide mission, you can't!"

"What choice do I have? I have to keep my people safe!"

"I'm sure we can work something out here! Where I know you're safe!" Branch pleaded, Poppy just sighed.

"My mind is made up Branch, I'm sorry." She put her hand on his cheek, offering a soft smile. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it! Don't you trust me?"

"...I trust you. Just please be careful... I wouldn't know what to do if anything happened to you.."

"I'll be back so quick you won't even miss me! Promise!"

Branch doesn't respond, instead he just handed her a pocket knife.

"Take this, remember me and stay safe."

She nodded, and walked off to go pack.

Poppy sighs heavily.

"Hang on a while longer Branch..." She murmurs, standing up fully again.

Poppy looks around, trying to find anything she recognizes.

She had decided about a day ago to travel to the Hard Rock Trolls. That tribe thrived in danger, so she thought they could help, plus she had friends there.

She was just a little lost right now. She had been in her own thoughts for a while now, and hardly paying attention to where she was going. Now she wasn't sure where she was.

So she keeps walking. She's bound to find something soon, right?

But an hour passes. Nothing.

Another hour goes by, still nothing.

She's completely lost.

With a groan she dramatically falls backwards into the ground. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, just trying to clear her mind.

But she's scared. She's alone and scared. She's always relied on having her friends around, but no she had no one.

She was going to die out here in the woods, tired and alone and-

"Poppy...?"

She jolts up, looking around.

"wh- who said that??"

Poppy's eyes fall on... another Troll? A very familiar looking Troll actually.

"...Creek?"

The other Troll lights up a little, walking closer.

"yes! I'm so glad you haven't forgotten about me!"

Poppy huffs, standing up and stepping back.

"Creek, you betrayed us. You sold out literally the whole village!"

She looks him over quickly. Same old Creek, except... more tattered. His hair's a mess and he's covered in various cuts and scars and he seems pale. His left arm is hastily wrapped in leaves as well.

"I know, and I'm sorry! Very sorry! But I mean you no harm now, honest."

Poppy wants to protest, but what choice does she really have? Creek probably knows this part of the woods, right? He can help her get out and get help for her village.

"Ok Creek. We're on the same side I guess..."

"...are we?"

"Well, yeah! The infection..? The worms..??"

"I can't say I've heard of it..."

Poppy stares at him, tilting her head to the side slightly. Before she can ask anything he speaks again.

"hey... you'll help me, won't you Poppy...? You've always been so good at helping..." He trails off, like he's not really sure what he's going on about.

"What's the problem...?" She asks cautiously, stepping closer to him.

"It hurts... so much..."

She feels her heart sink.

"w-what? What hurts...?"

"everything... You're... helping me.... right?" He smiles, but it feels wrong. He reaches his arm out towards her, and the loosely wrapped leaves fall off.

Poppy's eyes widen. Worms. His arm almost halfway up is eaten down to the bone and is infested with worms.

"No.. no no no..!" She backs away, with every step she takes, Creek takes one as well.

Creek's smile drops.

"Please Poppy... it hurts.... I can feel them inside me..." He pleads.

"I'm sorry. I'll come back for you soon, but I need to get help for the village first." She whispers before taking off. She doesn't know or care what direction she's going, she just knows she has to flee.

Poppy doesn't look back to see if Creek is even following, that's too risky.

She runs and runs, until she trips, sending her tumbling down a hill.

She stays on the ground at the bottom, the shock slowly dying. Then she feels a sharp pain in her ankle.

Poppy sits up to look at it, it's already bruising and hurts to touch.

"What do I do what do I do..!" She asks herself, feeling her heart racing. She's so lost in her panic that she doesn't hear the leaves rustling behind her. She doesn't notice the figure creeping up towards her... until it's on top of her.

Without thinking she kicks at it with her non injured leg.

"Help... me..."

"Creek!" She gasps. "Please just- get off me and let me go! Please!"

"But... I can feel them under my skin...in my head... Poppy they want you too... not just me... let them in Poppy..." his words melt together and his claws dig into her flesh, drawing blood.

"Please stop...!" Poppy cries, but Creek doesn't even seem to hear her anymore. She feels some of the worms from his arm clumsily fall onto her body and she tenses up. Creek just stares at her, eyes blank. He's still alive, but he's not himself anymore. That much she can tell.

"Creek please, I don't want to hurt you...!" Poppy looks up at him desperately. To no avail.

Creek holds still, very still, staring Poppy down, then he lunges at her, fangs bared.

She acts quick, grabbing the knife Branch gave her and plunging it into Creek's chest. He yelps and falls backwards.

"Poppy...!"

Poppy grabs him and stabs again, and again, and again. Over and over until he stops struggling and falls silent.

She sits back, breathing heavily and tears falling from her eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so sorry" She sobs. She never wanted to take a life. Ever. Even an infected one. She went on this journey to find help and hopefully a cure... now she's done the opposite. No one deserves that, not even Creek.

She hugs her knees to her chest, ignoring the pain that shoots through her ankle when she does so.

She just sits there and cries.

She's distracted and her vision is blurry. So much so that she doesn't notice Creek's body pull itself up off the ground and clumsily drag itself over.

She doesn't notice, until it's too late, and she feels his teeth sink deep into her flesh.