Infected
Chapter 1: Survivors
July 23rd, 2009
(Happy Birthday, Sasuke)

The woman feels her blood turn ice cold in her chest. She looks around at her sons, who have managed to keep themselves healthy. "Listen to me while I'm still alive," she stammers.
Her boys draw close to her, careful to not get so close to where they could feel her breath on their skin. "You have to survive this. I don't know whether or not you are immune, but promise me you'll survive this. Promise me you'll survive this plague. I don't want what's about to happen to me happen to you." She could feel her hands turn ice cold. Her breath became more shallow and stressed. "Watch out for each other. Look after each other as best as you can while you still can." Tears were forming in her sons eyes. "As soon as I die, run to the safe house farthest away from me. I don't want to hurt you." She smiles at them. "Remember that I love you."
As soon as those words slip through her lips, her heart slows a beat until it completely stops beating. The boys spend only a couple minutes by her side before they head out of the door and run. As they turn the corner and run towards one of the safe houses, they could hear a loud cry come from their house. Their mother was officially gone. The rest of the world was headed towards their doom.

Three months later...

Sasuke stands behind the door way, his breathing heavy as he waits. He could hear the groans, the screeches, the growls coming from outside the door way. He reloaded his gun, watching his friends do the same. Already, three of his friends had been taken. They had started with 30 of them; 20 of them were already killed. There was only so few left. He looks at his friends. They looked weak, defeated, and ready to give in. He was exhausted from fighting his way through. He wipes the bit of blood off of his face., "We have to keep moving," he regretfully tells the others. They look at him with horror; they were already tired from running. "I know it sounds like a suicide mission, but we have to keep going."

"Sasuke, we can't keep this up. There are thousands of those things chasing after us." Naruto looks red in the face, his forehead dripping in sweat from running at such a great distance and speed. "You saw what they did to Choji and Konohamaru." Naruto cringed at having to say what he saw them do to his little friend. "We can't keep running."

"If we don't keep moving, we'll die. We have to go. Load your weapons, drink some water, do whatever. We have to keep moving before they find us again."

Ever since the virus happened, nothing has been the same since. There hasn't been a straight line to whole dilemma. People Sasuke knew and loved had turned in flesh-eating zombies. It was something out of a horror movie or a video game in his mind, but once it spread, it spread quick and fast, taking everyone as it's prey. If you weren't killed by the virus, you were transformed by it. There were some immune to it; Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Itachi, Deidara, Kisame, Shikamaru, Neji, Rock Lee, Choji, Ino, Tenten, Konohamaru, Kakashi, Sasori, Tsunade, Might Guy, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Sai, Yamata, Iruka, Zetsu, Hidan, Asuma, Kurenai, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari were the 30 that were the original survivors. Only Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, Itachi, Gaara, Hinata, Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru, and Sai were left. They had thought Deidara had been with them, but after not having seen him for days, they figure we was probably dead. "Sasuke's right; we have to keep moving. But if we're going to move, we need to move now."

Naruto rolls his eyes. "What's the point anyways? We aren't any farther than we were when we first started. I highly doubt there'll be a plane waiting for us at the old air port."

"That doesn't mean we can't try," Sakura declares. "We have to keep going now or will end up like the others. I don't want what happened to Konohamaru happen to any of you. We have to move. Load your guns, grab some drinks, get the first aid kit and lets go."

Sasuke grabs extra ammo, the others doing the same. They each grab a first-aid kit. They were waiting at the hospital, knowing right now it was the only safe place they had. They pack them in their book bags. Kakashi plays look-out, staring out the window. He could see a few stray zombies standing right outside the door, but nothing that would cause much trouble for everybody. "There's two outside near the front door. They should be easy to take down. It's the horde of zombies we're more worry about. Sai and Itachi, check the back doors. Sakura and Hinata, check the west side doors. Neji and Gaara, check the east side doors. Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sasuke; you three will stay with me. When the coast is clear, you groups return. If there's trouble, signal us the your walkie talkies. We'll send Naruto and Shikamaru your way. Sasuke will stay with me and make the front door stays safe. Report back here after you've boarded up the doors."

Everyone went to their posts. Kakashi and Sasuke had taken responsibilty of being the leader. Itachi and the other members of the Akatsuki had agreed to help out only because they had their own members plagued with the virus. It was better to do it this way than to argue. Kakashi knew their advanced skills would be beneficial to their survival. "Itachi to Kakashi, we've got a problem. I've used my sharingan and spotted something off in the distance. We need Neji's eyes over here to check it out."

"Neji, head over to Itachi and Sai, head over to Gaara. Switch places quick. Hows your door looking, Sakura?"

"Hinata's spotted something in the distance as well. She thinks she needs to talk to you first."

Kakashi heard Sakura transfering the walkie talkie to Hinata. "What do your white eyes see, Hinata?"

"A horde. A strong horde of former ninjas and villagers. Maybe some special ones too. I need Neji's eyes to really get the details."

"How many do you suspect," Sasuke interjected.

"About 200 strong."

"Itachi, put Neji on."

Kakashi waited patiently for Neji to hear him. "What's up, Kakashi?"

"What do your byakugan eyes see?"

"Hinata's right about the minor details. There's about 200 headed our way from the south and west. About 50 of them are special. They're about 10 meters away. Our safest exit would be out the east side doors. I suspect we won't be caught if we go that way. When I checked, the east side was completely empty. I suspect they all gathered on the west side of town. But we have to get out of here now if we're able to make it to another safe spot. I can tell we'll really need to run."

Kakashi wipes the sweat off of his face, clears his throat, and tries to calm his nerves. "Men, and women, head out towards the east door. Get your weapons ready. Hinata and Neji, keep your eyes on as long as you can. Itachi and Sasuke, make sure you have enough chakra to make it through the whole trip. Your sharingan will be of good use to us. Naruto, get your demon activated in case there's a Tank coming after us. Gaara, grab your gorde and strap it to you so we won't have a problem like we did the last time. Sakura, get your knives ready. We'll need quick hands to take them down and make sure you feel well enough to use jutsus. Let's move out."

The others gather to Sai and Gaara. Kakashi makes sure his gun is loaded, his knives and shuriken are ready, and his chakra is high enough before he tells them to exit. Gaara and Sai push the door open and they all begin running. The smell of death filled the air. An atmosphere filled with sickness, suffering, and fear surround them as they make their way towards the old gas station across town. Many soldiers before they were infected set up safe areas when the zombies started forming. I guess they had a prequisite to set up safe houses for those who survived. Kakashi could hear the foot steps approching close behind them. "Neji, are they close?"

"They'll reach the hospital soon. There's another small horde that will be used to slow us down near the market. There's no special ones, but there are 50 of them there designed to slow them down."

"Shit," Kakashi says under his breath. "Make sure your guns are loaded and ready. We have to cut through that market. It's the only sure-fire way to make sure we aren't spotted by any other hordes in the area or special zombies."

The others keep pace, running faster and faster. They could see the small horde standing near the market. Kakashi stops them in an alley way. He signals for Itachi and Neji to join him near the edge. "Use your 36 trigram to kill them. Itahci, make sure they don't know he's about to attack by using your mangekyo. I know it will take a lot of energy, but you've got to try it for right now. Make your steps towards them quiet. Sai, start drawing animals on your scrolls and send them out. Shikamaru, multi-shadow possesion. Try to get at least five. Make them choke until they die. Naruto, get your demon working and claw the hell out of them. I know you enjoy doing that. Gaara, sand coffin and sand burial. I'm sure you can handle the whole back row near the door. Run through this alley way. It will give you a clear shot to the whole back row without being spotted. Hinata, you and Sakura stay with me. Right now, you aren't much use. It's not to be a dominating male; it's just that you guys will be useful in watching for smokers or hunters that may be near by." All of the others nod. Kakashi raises his hand, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. "Now!"

Itachi and Neji head out, the zombies running straight for them. Shikamaru stops 10 of them, holding them until he noticed them start to fall. Gaara makes his way towards the other alley way, stepping out and raising his hands, noticing that none of them turned around. He catches 15 of them with sand coffin, using the gravel from pavement that had been broken off mixed with his stand for an effective coffin. "Sand coffin," he cries out. 15 of them are trapped in sand and gravel, struggling to break free from it. "Sand burial." The coffin squeezes hard enough to make the zombies constrict to death., Gaara smiles, but notices some have turned around and are heading in his direction. Naruto comes through, clawing them and killing them with the fiery blow of the demon. Gaara smiles at him. "Nice shot."

"I love the sound of dying infected," he cries in his demon voice. The two remain in the back, attacking anyone that comes there way and killing them.

Neji manages to take down three of them with the 36, but he knows that's not enough. He starts pushing his chakra farther, making his zone of attacks much greater. Even Itachi had killed more by confusing them and killing them with a single blow. Neji pushes himself harder with his chakra, killing three all in the same time. He's rather proud of himself, but knows if he keeps it up, it will probably drain him too quickly. He had to save his strength for the 200 member horde heading their way. "Hinata, smoker on the left corner. Take him out."

Hinata turns around and with her byakugan, runs up the building to make her strike. Kakashi smiles, so happy that Hinata had decided to come out of her shell and actually stand up and fight. "Hinata, look for the horde. How close are they?"

"They're about 3 meters away. We have to kill the rest of them quickly or they'll get us before we have a chance to reload our chakra. Send Sakura up here. We'll keep watch. I know you can handle the zombies down there."

Sakura goes up with Hinata, Kakashi stepping out and immediately killing one that tried to surprise him. He could see Naruto and Gaara were done with in the back. Shikamaru was starting to run low on chakra. He could see his body dwindling quickly. He heads towards him, taking out the ones he was able to hold but not fully attack with the choking. Shikamaru drops the shadow when all of them are gone. Kakashi catches him before he can hit the floor. "Don't waste anymore energy. Head inside. I'll keep your path clear." Kakashi kills off the rest of them, Sakura and Hinata jumping down to him to help him fight off the rest. Sai had already killed most of them with the monsters. They gather near Kakashi when suddenly, a growl rips through the air. The others turn around, looking down the street. The large zombie stands on the street. He's obviously the leader of the horde. His teeth are stained with the blood of the others he's killed. Hinata can feel her hands shake as she stares at the great beast. Naruto is breathing heavy as his demon settles down. Sasuke could feel his hope begin to dwindle a bit. Maybe he wasn't going to make it out alive like he was hoping he would. "Everyone, get into the market now," he whispers.

The zombie standing in the street growls a loud growl. Behind him, the zombie horde starts running towards them. Two Tanks are near the front, three Boomers are behind them as well, seven Hunters leap through the buildings, five Spitters close behind them. 10 of them the team had never seen before, but knew they were obviously trouble. They turn around and head for the market door. Once they're inside, Naruto blocks the door with shelves. Sasuke manages to make his way towards the office, activating the security system, which covered the windows with steal coverings. He could hear the zombies on the other side of the steal covering, pounding on the windows as they tried to bust their way in. "Now what do we do? I"m sure that one standing in the street is considered their leader or something. I've never dealt with this many before. I mean, that horde with 134 strong was tough and it killed five of our members, but 200; this is a horde bent on eliminating the rest of us. I'm pretty sure some of the other specials we never fought before were just formed." Sasuke felt exhausted. "Kakashi, that center one is the leader somehow. I'm not sure how, but I think he is. We've got to get out of here somehow."

"Sasuke, admit it to yourself already; we're not going to make it out of here alive. we're trapped here in a Krogers waiting for our death pretty much." Sasuke felt his blood beginning to boil again. "We're dying, Sasuke. It's a misson that we've failed."

"Shut up, Naruto. Just shut up. You're still able to breathe oxygen through your lungs, still able to fire a weapon, and still able to fight off zombies with your demon. You can't say that we're about to die if we've that much right now."

"Sasuke, we don't really have that much unfortunately," Sakura says, her own hope severly drained. "We need some other way to fend them off and we don't have much. If we hadn't walked down that path earlier, maybe there would be more of us but there's not. This is almost hopeless."

Sasuke punches the counter. The pounding on the steal became louder and louder. He wasn't sure how something had broken through yet. An idea suddenly comes to mind. "Look through the aisles. Find anything that can form a bomb. I know there's something here that will work somehow. Check for anything that will be useful to us; medicine, ammo, weapons, bandages, back packs; anything that will come of use to us. If anyone hear knows how to build a bomb, come with me. We'll set it up right near the front door. We'll find a beeper and a red light to lure them to it."

The others looked at him, wondering how a situation so hopeless and doomed and yet he still held faith that was almost uncanny. Sakura smiles at him, Itachi is rather impressed with him. The others start looking down different aisles in search of anything useful. Naruto just stares at him. "This is hopeless."

"It's not hopeless. If we can get out of here alive, then it's not hopeless. I promise you one thing; I won't let anything happen to you. I'll hold faith to that. I promise to try and protect as many people as I can while I can still walk on my feet and having a beating heart in my chest."

Naruto blushes slightly. "Fine, I'll try to stop being a downer. I'll check the back for anything of use to us."

Naruto runs to the back, Sasuke glad that we was able to put some determination and strength back into his heart. Now there was only one problem; how was he going to keep that same determination with everyone else when the current situation did seem almost too bleak for any chance of survival or hope? Even if this was to be their last stand, Sasuke had to try.

To be continued...