Fic: Rude Awakening(Pushing Daisies)
Title: Rude Awakening
Fandom: Pushing Daisies
Author:
milleniumrex
Characters: Ned, Emerson Cod, assorted dead people
Rating: PG for, well...the apocalypse
Words: 1091
A/N: Written for
apocalyptothon, for the request by apocalypsos of "Ned is the only one left. He keeps waking up the dead he finds to have someone to talk to.". This is my first time writing in this fandom, or actually, any fandom not involving superheroes. Hope you enjoy.
Emerson Cod hated nothing more than being woken up out of a sound sleep. It put him in a bad mood for the rest of the day, and God help the person who work him. And apparently, being woken up from death was the equivalent of being woken up from a sound sleep times 100.
"Remind me again why I'm alive?"
Ned looked straight ahead as the two men walked down the deserted street, Digby padding alongside him. "Well, your body was intact, and it seemed like surviving the apocalypse would be awfully boring if I was the only person left alive."
"Hmm." Emerson looked at his watch. "So I've been alive for 12 minutes now. If everything in the world is dead, what died to balance the scales?"
Ned's eyes drifted down to a cockroach, belly up on the road.
"Oh, hell no. So in the great cosmic scheme of things, my life is now equivalent to a cockroach."
"They're all that's left. You, me, and a whole lot of those little guys. I'd probably be talking to them by now, if I hadn't brought someone back."
"Have you figured out what went down yet? All I know is, I was having my coffee, and then I was dead, until I wasn't."
Ned shook his head. "It looks like something in the air just turned...bad all of a sudden. Everyone dropped dead within minutes. I guess something in my gift allowed me to survive it, but it looks like I'm the only one."
"Chuck and Olive...they were still on their trip to LA, right?
Ned nodded. "I haven't heard from her. I figure it got Olive, but if I find her, I can still bring her back. Chuck...I mean, if Digby here's still kicking, maybe she is too?"
"Maybe. This is kind of uncharted territory here. Not every day the whole damn world just up and drops dead."
Ned looked around and spotted a deserted diner. Inside, they could see a young short-order cook slumped over dead on the counter.
"Want a bite to eat?"
Emerson shrugged his shoulders. "By all means. Let's go and order in the diner of the dead."
Ned walked in and tapped the young man on the back of the head, as he sprung up from his endless slumber.
The young man looked around at the deserted diner. "Damn! Did I just fall asleep in the middle of my shift or something?"
"...Something like that, yeah. Listen, my friend and I have a long trip ahead of us. Do you have any pie?"
"Uh...I think I've got some slices of cherry. That good?"
As the cook ran off to the fridge, Emerson chuckled. "You run a pie shop, and yet you go out to eat pie. In the middle of the Apocalypse."
"All my pies rot when I touch them. I don't know the last time I've eaten pie. Well...except when Chuck bakes me one."
Emerson rolled his eyes as Ned got his trademark goofy grin on his face. "Listen, if she's out there, we'll find her. Not like we'd have to search in a sea of people, right?"
"Nope, just travel cross-country with no trains, buses, or planes. Just you and me, alone in the world, in a car..."
Emerson cocked an eyebrow at Ned. "You don't sing, do you?"
"Oh, no."
The cook came out and put two plates of cherry pie in front of Ned and Emerson. He stared intently at Ned.
"...Are we the only ones left in the world?"
"Looks that way." Ned mumbled between bites of pie.
"And you're the one who woke me up? Why me?"
"I'm guessing because you had the pie." Emerson deadpanned.
"Okay...if you don't need anything else, do you think you could put me back? I don't think I want to be alone."
Ned reached into his pocket. "Sure, just let me pay for the pie, and - "
"It's the end of the world, dude. What am I going to do with money?"
Ned nodded, touched the young cook's hand, and he slumped over dead.
"You could have at least waited until I was done eating." Emerson mumbled through bites.
Ned stretched. "Well, one thing's for sure. We won't have any trouble finding someone to ask for directions."
"Directions?"
"Yep. I'm heading for LA. Now. It's your call if you want to come with me, but....I'd kind of like to have a friend in this world besides Digby here. He's a great dog, but not exactly the best conversationalist. I could put you back, if that's what you really want, but it seems like kind of a waste. "
Emerson thought for a second. "So you're basically asking me to be your sidekick in this crazy little post-apocalyptic quest for love, eh?"
"Sidekick, partner in crime, bridge to what remains of my sanity. Call it what you will. If you don't come, I'm just going to be waking up random dead people for small talk. And that's going to look kind of desperate."
"What the hell." Emerson said, a smile creeping across his face. "There's got to be something interesting to do in a dead world."
"I wonder if Disneyland is still open. No lines!"
Emerson laughed as they walked out the diner, Digby padding behind them. The road was filled with deserted cars, most if not all without people in them. Ned's car hadn't survived the event, thanks to the garbage truck driver behind it stepping on the gas just as he dropped dead. So they were in need of new transportation.
Ned eyed a new Toyota with the driver slumped against a nearby parking meter. "Do you think we should ask permission? I mean, even if they're dead, it still is their car."
"Oh, for pete's sake. It's not like they're using it. Just get in. Look, the guy didn't even lock it." Emerson jiggered the handle until it was open. Digby barked as he jumped in the back seat.
Looking askance at the dog as he settled in, Emerson grumbled. "If I'm sitting next to the dog this whole time, we'd better stop at the craft shop. I'm gonna need more yarn."
The world may had ended, but for the piemaker and the private detective, life went on. Chuck was only a country's drive away, and if there was one more person left alive in the world, the distance wouldn't keep Ned from her. He had already gotten her back once. He wasn't letting her go again.
Fandom: Pushing Daisies
Author:
milleniumrexCharacters: Ned, Emerson Cod, assorted dead people
Rating: PG for, well...the apocalypse
Words: 1091
A/N: Written for
apocalyptothon, for the request by apocalypsos of "Ned is the only one left. He keeps waking up the dead he finds to have someone to talk to.". This is my first time writing in this fandom, or actually, any fandom not involving superheroes. Hope you enjoy. Emerson Cod hated nothing more than being woken up out of a sound sleep. It put him in a bad mood for the rest of the day, and God help the person who work him. And apparently, being woken up from death was the equivalent of being woken up from a sound sleep times 100.
"Remind me again why I'm alive?"
Ned looked straight ahead as the two men walked down the deserted street, Digby padding alongside him. "Well, your body was intact, and it seemed like surviving the apocalypse would be awfully boring if I was the only person left alive."
"Hmm." Emerson looked at his watch. "So I've been alive for 12 minutes now. If everything in the world is dead, what died to balance the scales?"
Ned's eyes drifted down to a cockroach, belly up on the road.
"Oh, hell no. So in the great cosmic scheme of things, my life is now equivalent to a cockroach."
"They're all that's left. You, me, and a whole lot of those little guys. I'd probably be talking to them by now, if I hadn't brought someone back."
"Have you figured out what went down yet? All I know is, I was having my coffee, and then I was dead, until I wasn't."
Ned shook his head. "It looks like something in the air just turned...bad all of a sudden. Everyone dropped dead within minutes. I guess something in my gift allowed me to survive it, but it looks like I'm the only one."
"Chuck and Olive...they were still on their trip to LA, right?
Ned nodded. "I haven't heard from her. I figure it got Olive, but if I find her, I can still bring her back. Chuck...I mean, if Digby here's still kicking, maybe she is too?"
"Maybe. This is kind of uncharted territory here. Not every day the whole damn world just up and drops dead."
Ned looked around and spotted a deserted diner. Inside, they could see a young short-order cook slumped over dead on the counter.
"Want a bite to eat?"
Emerson shrugged his shoulders. "By all means. Let's go and order in the diner of the dead."
Ned walked in and tapped the young man on the back of the head, as he sprung up from his endless slumber.
The young man looked around at the deserted diner. "Damn! Did I just fall asleep in the middle of my shift or something?"
"...Something like that, yeah. Listen, my friend and I have a long trip ahead of us. Do you have any pie?"
"Uh...I think I've got some slices of cherry. That good?"
As the cook ran off to the fridge, Emerson chuckled. "You run a pie shop, and yet you go out to eat pie. In the middle of the Apocalypse."
"All my pies rot when I touch them. I don't know the last time I've eaten pie. Well...except when Chuck bakes me one."
Emerson rolled his eyes as Ned got his trademark goofy grin on his face. "Listen, if she's out there, we'll find her. Not like we'd have to search in a sea of people, right?"
"Nope, just travel cross-country with no trains, buses, or planes. Just you and me, alone in the world, in a car..."
Emerson cocked an eyebrow at Ned. "You don't sing, do you?"
"Oh, no."
The cook came out and put two plates of cherry pie in front of Ned and Emerson. He stared intently at Ned.
"...Are we the only ones left in the world?"
"Looks that way." Ned mumbled between bites of pie.
"And you're the one who woke me up? Why me?"
"I'm guessing because you had the pie." Emerson deadpanned.
"Okay...if you don't need anything else, do you think you could put me back? I don't think I want to be alone."
Ned reached into his pocket. "Sure, just let me pay for the pie, and - "
"It's the end of the world, dude. What am I going to do with money?"
Ned nodded, touched the young cook's hand, and he slumped over dead.
"You could have at least waited until I was done eating." Emerson mumbled through bites.
Ned stretched. "Well, one thing's for sure. We won't have any trouble finding someone to ask for directions."
"Directions?"
"Yep. I'm heading for LA. Now. It's your call if you want to come with me, but....I'd kind of like to have a friend in this world besides Digby here. He's a great dog, but not exactly the best conversationalist. I could put you back, if that's what you really want, but it seems like kind of a waste. "
Emerson thought for a second. "So you're basically asking me to be your sidekick in this crazy little post-apocalyptic quest for love, eh?"
"Sidekick, partner in crime, bridge to what remains of my sanity. Call it what you will. If you don't come, I'm just going to be waking up random dead people for small talk. And that's going to look kind of desperate."
"What the hell." Emerson said, a smile creeping across his face. "There's got to be something interesting to do in a dead world."
"I wonder if Disneyland is still open. No lines!"
Emerson laughed as they walked out the diner, Digby padding behind them. The road was filled with deserted cars, most if not all without people in them. Ned's car hadn't survived the event, thanks to the garbage truck driver behind it stepping on the gas just as he dropped dead. So they were in need of new transportation.
Ned eyed a new Toyota with the driver slumped against a nearby parking meter. "Do you think we should ask permission? I mean, even if they're dead, it still is their car."
"Oh, for pete's sake. It's not like they're using it. Just get in. Look, the guy didn't even lock it." Emerson jiggered the handle until it was open. Digby barked as he jumped in the back seat.
Looking askance at the dog as he settled in, Emerson grumbled. "If I'm sitting next to the dog this whole time, we'd better stop at the craft shop. I'm gonna need more yarn."
The world may had ended, but for the piemaker and the private detective, life went on. Chuck was only a country's drive away, and if there was one more person left alive in the world, the distance wouldn't keep Ned from her. He had already gotten her back once. He wasn't letting her go again.