a/n: Hello! Please enjoy!
Chapter One
Before
"Police say they have no leads on the recent disappearances," a ZNN reporter said. "In other news, the recent spike in the drug known as Bath Salts has led to violence in many US and Canadian cities-"
Tony turned the television off and sat at his desk. "World's getting crazy," he muttered, glancing across the bullpen to Ziva. She was filling out paperwork and not paying attention to him. "People are disappearing left and right, and now we have to worry about drug addicts trying to eat our faces."
"What are you talking about, Tony?" Ziva asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "I am trying to get this case report finished and you are going on about…face eating?"
"Have you even watched the news lately?" he questioned in response, standing, walking over to her desk and sitting on the its corner. "It's becoming Night of the Living Dead out there."
"What?"
"You know, George A Romero's greatest film! It's about people rising from the dead and eating the living. Zombies, Ziva, zombies."
"Drug users are hardly zombies," Ziva snorted, rolling her eyes.
"You sure about that, David?" Came Gibbs's voice as he walked into the bullpen with his third cup of coffee in his hand. "You two needed to get changed."
Tony groaned. He forgot that it was tonight that they were providing security detail for SecNav. Jarvis was hosting an event to introduce a new piece of naval technology. It was at the bottom of Tony's list of things he wanted to do on a Thursday evening. The team didn't have a choice though. Thanks to a cop on civilian shooting in Atlanta, riots and protests were breaking out in all major cities in the US. DC wasn't spared. There was a protest on the news earlier that day that started out peaceful and then turned violent. The weird disappearances, drugs, and riots created the perfect storm of unrest. The last few days were just strange. It only proved there was a need for extra security for SecNav's event.
"We're up to our eyes in work," Tony complained as McGee joined them. He already changed out of his day-to-day attire and into a black suit and tie. "What do you think, McGoodlooking? Do you think we need to provide extra security tonight?"
"People are scared," McGee began. "With everything going on, that is. The drugs and the violence are getting out of hand. The protests are turning into riots. People are getting hurt. It's good we're going to be there tonight."
"You're supposed to back me up," Tony sighed as he returned to his desk. He grabbed the garment bag that was hanging from his file cabinet. "Boss, can't Vance give this to another team?"
"There is no one else," Gibbs grunted, taking a long draft of his coffee. Tony knew by the tone of his boss's voice that the discussion was over and to drop it.
Tony frowned and made his way to the men's restroom to change. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ziva grabbing her own bag and following after him. He exchanged a look of displeasure with her before they disappeared into their own restrooms.
The recent surge in violence and riots didn't scare Ziva. She grew up in a land of war. She lived through horrors that her team couldn't imagine. As she changed out of her jeans and blouse and into more formal attire, her thoughts traveled back to a few months beforehand.
Her most recent run in with violence was still fresh in her mind though. It was only a few months ago that she and Tony had been trapped in an elevator thanks to a bomb planted by Harper Dearing. When the elevator rumbled and began to slip as the blast rocked the building, she was sure then they would die. By some miracle, they didn't and emerged from it with a stronger relationship.
When she finished getting dressed, she pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and left the restroom. As she returned to the bullpen, she found Tony standing at his desk now dressed in a black suit. He smiled at her as he attached his holstered gun to his pants. Ziva gave him a small smile in return. As long as she got to spend the evening with Tony, she didn't mind the extra work detail.
"How long is this going to take, boss? The game's on tonight," Tony said, bringing Ziva out of her thoughts.
"Couple hours," Gibbs replied, grabbing his bag and leaving the bullpen.
Tony groaned, making Ziva giggle along with McGee.
Tony yawned for the fifth time as he paced the back of the auditorium with Ziva. He was bored. He found it hard to keep his eyes open as Clayton Jarvis droned on about a new computer system the navy was getting. Tony wanted nothing more than to go home and collapse into his armchair with a beer.
"Stop that," Ziva hissed to him. Her brown eyes narrowed into a glare and Tony knew she was annoyed.
"This is boring," Tony whispered.
"You are yawning too much, and this is not that boring."
"Only you would find this interesting."
"I do not find this interesting, but I just think you are over exaggerating the situation."
Tony kept his chuckle quiet as they stopped their pacing at exit of the room. "Hey, " he began, wanting to change the subject. "Do you want to get something to eat after this? I haven't seen you eat anything since this morning."
While it was true that he noticed she hadn't had anything to eat, asking her to dinner was also a selfish act. He knew the feelings he had for Ziva. They were always there, but he never wanted to admit them to himself. It wasn't until he thought he lost her forever did he realize how much he loved her. And it wasn't until they had been trapped for hours on end in an elevator together thinking they could have died did he realize he needed to tell her. He knew there was a chance Ziva didn't feel the same about him, but he needed her to know. Life was too short after all.
Tony watched as Ziva's mouth opened to speak, but the sound of glass shattering stopped her from saying anything. The noise echoed around the auditorium, causing heads to turn towards the exit.
"Ziva, DiNozzo, check it out," Gibbs voice came through the earwig in Tony's ear.
"On it, boss," Tony replied, his hand moving to the sig on his hip as he pushed open the door with caution.
The sound of groaning and snarling filled the auditorium as a crowd of ten people were walking and stumbling towards them. Their arms were outstretched as they approached. Tony noticed that many of them were covered in blood while others looked like walking corpses.
"NCIS! Stop!" Ziva shouted drawing her weapon.
"Federal agents! Stop and get down on your knees!" Tony barked as Gibbs and McGee joined them with weapons drawn.
The crowd didn't listen and breached the entrance to the auditorium. Gibbs was the first one to fire his weapon as the agents began to back up. The round pierced the chest of a woman, but she didn't stop approaching them. She didn't even stumble.
Tony could hear the audience getting out of their seats in a panic. He fired three rounds into the chest of the man in front of him, and like the woman Gibbs shot, he still kept walking. The four agents emptied their clips into the crowd but bullets weren't stopping these people.
One man in the crowd split from the group and went towards a naval officer trying to leave through another set of doors. The man grabbed the officer and bit down into his shoulder, tearing the flesh from his body. The officer cried out in pain as the man took another bite.
The audience in the hall began screaming and all chaos broke loose. Tony loaded another clip into his gun and fired into the crowd. Nothing happened. The crowd was now splitting up and going after the naval officers and commanders who were trying to escape. Blood quickly covered the floor of the auditorium, turning it into a slippery surface.
"What are these things?" McGee yelled.
"Not human!" Gibbs yelled in response. He fired his gun once more and hit one of the not humans in the head. The man fell to the ground. "Headshots!" He commanded them.
Tony was still backing up as he aimed his gun at the head of the nearest assailant. He fired and watched the bloodied woman fall. He turned to fire another round only to find himself face to face with the naval officer that was bit just seconds before. The officer's eyes were bloodshot and blood poured from his mouth as he growled at Tony. Chunks of the man's shoulder and neck were missing.
Without thinking, Tony fired into the man's head, killing him. "Boss!" Tony yelled. "Whatever this is, it's spreading!"
"I see that. We need to go, now!" Gibbs said, grabbing Jarvis's arm.
"Gibbs, what is going on?" Jarvis asked, looking around in horror.
"Come on, sir, we're leaving."
Tony, Ziva, and McGee provided cover fire as Gibbs led the Secretary of the Navy to the emergency exit. They were almost there when a woman came out from behind the curtains of the stage and bit into Jarvis's neck and pulled him to the ground. SecNav was dead before his head hit the floor.
Gibbs fired his gun and killed the woman. "Let's go!" Gibbs yelled, holding the fire exit open for the team.
They all ran out the door and Gibbs slammed it shut on several of the "non-humans." McGee and Tony ran over to a dumpster and pushed it in front of the door as Gibbs and Ziva held it closed.
"What was that?" Ziva asked once the door was secured.
"I don't know," Gibbs said. "Let's get back to the Navy Yard and find out." He pulled out his phone and began dialing as they ran to the car that was parked in the alley.
Tony noticed that the noise level outside was not much different than the noise level from inside the auditorium. The sound of sirens and gunshots filled the air. He could smell smoke from a nearby fire. He could hear screams coming from a block away.
Once they were inside the car, Gibbs floored it and began weaving in and out of traffic as he yelled at Vance over the phone.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Gibbs hollered. "It was a bloodbath! SecNav is dead! Fine! We're on our way." He slammed the phone shut with one hand and tossed it on the dashboard.
"What's happening, Gibbs?" Ziva asked with a steady voice. Tony couldn't help but notice how calm she seemed.
"Vance said he'll explain what he knows when we get back," Gibbs grunted. "As far as I know, all hell just broke loose."
Ziva was thankful when they reached the safety of NCIS. She wasn't sure what she saw, but it was terrifying. She didn't find many things terrifying, but watching men and women ripping flesh and organs from each other was on the list. She never saw anything like it before. Piling into the elevator with the rest of the team, she found herself standing close to Tony. He made her feel safe, and right now, that's what she wanted.
When they reached the floor of the bullpen, they found Vance barking orders at people and agents running for the elevator and stairs. They got out of the elevator and pushed their way through the crowd before stopping in front of the director.
"I'm evacuating," Vance said to Gibbs.
"What's going on, Leon?" Gibbs asked before Vance could say anymore.
"It's a virus," Vance began. "The stories about people biting other people that's been going around, the ones that were being chalked up to bath salts, it's a virus that's been killing people and bringing them back to life."
"Like zombies?" Tony asked. Ziva could hear uncertainty in his voice.
"Yes, actually," Vance answered. "The kid that cop shot in Atlanta that started all the protests was one of them. That's why a whole clip couldn't bring him down."
"What do we do?" Gibbs asked.
"Get out of Washington. Get into the country and ride this out." Vance sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I heard rumors that the military was going firebomb the city to stop whatever this is from spreading. God bless anyone who's still left there."
Ziva watched the shock wash over Gibbs' face. This had to be serious if the military was willing to wipe out all life in the nation's capital. "Where are you going?" Gibbs then asked.
"My cousins have a farm outside McArthur, Ohio," Vance explained. "Family's going there. You're all welcome to join us."
"I…I need to get to my dad in Stillwater," Gibbs replied before turning to his team.
"I'm going with him," Ziva said at once. She knew she had no way of getting to her own father. She wasn't going to abandon the only other man she thought of as a father. "My own father is probably already secure in some Mossad bunker, if this is world wide."
"Me too," McGee chimed in. "My sister is home with my parents. They'll be okay."
"Dad's probably on a plane leaving the country," Tony then said. "He always bails when trouble arises. No point in splitting the team up to go find him."
"We're going to Stillwater," Gibbs said to Vance. "If things go south there, we'll come to you."
Vance nodded. "Good luck. Get out of here by morning."
Ziva watched Vance hurry passed them and to the stairs as the elevator dinged open and Abby and Ducky stepped out.
"Oh good, we heard you got back," Ducky said. "Did Vance tell you?"
Gibbs nodded. "We're going to Stillwater," he said. "You're coming."
"Of course, Gibbs," Abby said with a frown and nod.
"You won't hear any arguments here. Abby already phoned her brother and Mr. Palmer left to get to Breena. They're going to her parents' cabin to wait this out."
"Good," Gibbs replied before turning back to the agents. "Tony, Ziva, you two live close to each other. You two go back to your places together and pack. McGee, Abby, and Ducky all live on my way home so I'll take them. We'll meet up outside Rock Creek Park in two hours. Call if you get held up or if something happens."
The group nodded and Gibbs dismissed them. They all piled into the elevator and took it down to the ground floor before rushing to their cars.
"We're taking mine," Ziva told Tony.
"No arguments there," Tony replied, following her to the red mini.
Thanks to her driving, they were the first of the group to pull out of the Navy Yard. Ziva navigated the streets and the chaos that overtook DC. She wouldn't admit she was scared. She might have be trained to deal with situations of violence and chaos like the one they were in now, but she wasn't trained in dealing with zombies.
Tony was playing with the radio as Ziva drove. Every station was broadcasting the same emergency alert message
"The Center for Disease Control and the federal government has issued the following message: This is a pandemic warning. A pandemic warning means there has been an outbreak of a virus for which there is no known cure. The federal government and the Center for Disease Control recommends all citizens remain in their homes and stay calm. By leaving your homes you are exposing yourself to the virus. Infected individuals should be isolated from yourself and the rest of your family at all times. Do not attempt to approach anyone infected with the virus. Stay indoors until the alert is over. This as been a message from the Emergency Alert System."
"I guess staying indoors and keeping calm is out of the question," Tony said as he stared out the window.