A/N: This chapter has been waiting to be posted for like a month, but I couldn't think up a title and then I was listening to Radioactive by Imagine Dragons (that band is too perfect, ugh) and I was just like... yes. And then I had to think up a summary and wow it's not that good. It might get changed a bit after I figure out a more concrete plot.

I don't have a second chapter written up yet and I should really do a bit more plotting before uploading this chapter, but I just really wanted to get it out there.

I'm not totally happy with this but I can't figure out how to improve. Sorry for any confusion or mistakes.

On July 7th of X777 the world ended.

The cause wasn't a nuclear war or an alien invasion or even a government experiment gone wrong. It was all because of one bad burger served to a man in a restaurant. Although there was speculation that the man was in fact an escaped government experiment and that was the reason he reacted the way he had to the spoiled meat, no one had any proof though. All anyone knew was that one moment everything was normal and the next it just... wasn't.

Within the week over half of the world's population had been wiped out. Humans became an endangered species and the world fell to chaos.

Amidst the destruction and decay of the world were groups of survivors with... special talents banding together. They called themselves guilds and they made it their duty to protect the humans of the world. They created safe houses and cities, refuges for the survivors. They were rays of hope in the bleak world, beacons of light.

One guild in particular shone brighter than the others.

That guild was known as Fairy Tail.

x

Levy pressed her fist to her mouth and swallowed the cough that was threatening to break free. She glanced out the window at the corpses milling about on the street below. They didn't know she was here and she wasn't about to alert them to her location.

Lucy tapped her hand twice and she nodded, shifting into a crouch. They had to get into the basement of the building across the street without attracting the attention of any of the zombies, which wasn't as hard as it sounded. Zombies relied heavily on sound and scent and if you were able to mask one of them then you were in the clear... most of the time.

Levy glanced at the body on the ground in front of her and winced. She always hated this part. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes, preparing herself.

It's now or never.

She let her breath out on a sigh and plunged her hand into the chest cavity, flinching away from the feeling. It wasn't something one could explain with words, wasn't something one would want to explain.

They made short work of painting themselves with the blood and Levy tried not to gag at the smell of death that clung to them. She took shallow breaths and steeled her nerves. Now came the hard part.

"Ready?" Lucy mouthed, not daring to speak. Levy nodded in response and they stood together, walking down the stairs side by side. Levy found strength in her friend, she wasn't alone in this graveyard. Even without Lucy she wouldn't have been alone. Bisca was positioned in one of the buildings with her sniper rifle, and Natsu and Gray were waiting for their signal at the edge of the city.

The job was just a simple rescue mission. If all went well then they'd be in and out and heading back to Magnolia in under 10 minutes. Levy hoped everything would go well. She couldn't bear to lose another friend.

They paused at the door and Levy gave Lucy what she hoped was an encouraging smile. They'd been doing rescue missions together for half a year now and they'd yet to run into trouble, but that just made Levy think something major was on the horizon. She smiled for Lucy though, wanting to show strength and courage, even if inside she felt like jelly.

Lucy reached over and squeezed her hand once. We'll be fine. Levy nodded and took a deep breath before pushing open the door and stepping into the sunlight.

x

It was a short walk across the street, but Levy's heart was thudding with every step. She couldn't help but worry that maybe they didn't smell dead enough. Although that was what Bisca was for. If any zombie looked too long then she'd shoot them dead where they stood... well deader.

She nearly sighed in relief when they made it to the opposite building, but they weren't in the clear yet. With a small wave towards Bisca she followed Lucy inside.

There were a few of the dead shuffling inside what must have once been a gym but they paid them no mind. It was odd to see one of them walking on the broken exercise machine. The action was almost... human.

A tug on her hand drew her attention back to the present, back to their job. She smiled at Lucy and they moved towards the door marked stairs. It was a short walk down and the stairs opened into a wide room with doors along all the walls. There were speakers along the ceiling, a few were barely hanging on by the wire and a couple more were scattered on the ground, smashed beyond repair. Levy wondered if this had been a dance hall. She could imagine the bodies spinning around the room. She could practically feel the energy, the life, that had once filled the room.

"Third door," Lucy said, nodding towards the door in question. It was odd to hear Lucy's voice after hours of silence. Thankfully down there they could talk without fear of alerting any of the dead above.

Levy knocked on the door; three taps, a pause, followed by two more taps. They stepped back when the door slowly creaked open and Levy kept her face carefully blank at what waited inside.

Three adults (two men and one woman) and two children (a boy and a girl) waited inside. They didn't look much better than the corpses above ground, the people they rescue never did.

"Sorry about the smell," Lucy said, ever the lady. "We had to do it to get in here."

"We're not going to have to..." the woman trailed off, her lip curling in obvious disgust.

"Of course not. We should be able to just walk out of here without a fuss. We just have to wait a few minutes." Lucy motioned to Levy and she nodded turning away from the group to contact Bisca. "How about some food while we wait?"

She took her lacrima out of her pocket but before she could contact Bisca it lit up with the girl's face.

"Levy, thank god it got through."

"Bisca, what's wrong?"

"We have a bit of a problem."

"Problem?" Her heart leapt up her throat and she swallowed down the panic that was bubbling up. "Are Gray and Natsu okay?"

"They're not the problem."

"Then what is?"

"We've got a visitor."

Levy shut her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. "A dragon," she breathed, barely daring to speak it.

"Unfortunately. Natsu and Gray are hidden so you don't need to worry about them, but we won't be going anywhere any time soon. It seems like the nest is somewhere in the city. I'm watching it now and trying to figure out a pattern, I'll let you know when it's safe to go."

"Be careful, Bisca."

"You too."

Levy sighed and slipped the lacrima back in her pocket. Her heart was thudding too loud in her chest and she took a few deep breaths, willing it to quiet down.

Dragons had vanished from history suddenly one day. One minute they flew through the skies and the next they were just... gone. No one really knew what happened, but everyone just figured something had killed them. Then the virus started spreading and suddenly there were dragon sightings, only these weren't the same dragons that once shared the skies with humans. They were mindless beasts. They lived to kill and their favorite prey were humans.

There were theories that whatever was turning the humans into walking corpses was infecting the dragons as well, but due to the different DNA the dragons were affected differently. Unfortunately that meant they didn't have the diminished strength that the zombies did, in fact they seemed to be stronger than before.

They were an unstoppable, killing force.

A hand fell on her shoulder and she jumped, whirling to face Lucy. She tried to keep her expression neutral, but the panic must've shown in her eyes because Lucy took her arm and led her further from the little group.

"What's going on?"

"We've got a problem." Levy swallowed and raised her gaze to Lucy's. "There's a dragon out there."

x

Levy let Lucy come up with the reason why they couldn't leave yet as she went to check the situation above ground. She didn't doubt what Bisca said, but she just had to see the truth with her own eyes.

She opened the door to the main lobby, peering into the room with caution. The ten zombies that had been milling about before had scattered. It was eerie how silent it was.

She kept to the walls as she crept through the room. She knew from experience that even if a room seemed empty there was a chance it wouldn't be, and there was no way she was going to leave her back unprotected for any lingering dead.

She paused at the window and glanced outside, dread filling her entire body at what she saw.

The entire street that had been brimming with corpses just a few minutes earlier was completely empty.

Only one thing cleared out the dead so fast.

It really was a dragon.

Levy turned to head back downstairs when movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She only had a moment to brace herself before the body slammed into her and she was flying. Her body shook as she slammed into the glass and there was a second of silence before it shattered and she was thrown against the asphalt. She winced as the glass dug into her back and tore at her clothes.

She pushed herself up only to have the body slam her back into the ground, tearing a strangled moan from her mouth as a piece of glass dug deeper into her shoulder.

The zombie leaned over her and she felt a wet glob of drool hit her cheek. She cursed under her breath and swung her arm up, socking it in the jaw. Its head snapped to the side but it didn't get off of her and she struggled to free her other arm, which just caused her to bite back a scream as pain tore through her. As long as that glass was lodged in her shoulder the arm would be useless.

One of the zombie's hands pressed against her waist and she heard a crack. There was a moment of silence before pain laced through her side and her eyes welled with tears. This zombie wasn't just a normal zombie, it was one that had had been a mage when it lived based on its strength.

Levy wasn't a fighter, she wasn't strong, and with her arm useless she couldn't even use her magic. She just had to hope that Bisca noticed the situation before it was too late.

The zombie leaned down to take a chunk out of her arm when its head exploded all over her. Levy winced, but she wasn't about to complain. She raised her hand in a quick wave and pushed herself to her feet, wincing as her entire body erupted in pain. She didn't have time to worry about her wounds, she could do that once safe inside the building.

She never had the chance to move though. A shadow appeared above her, blotting out the sun, and her breath froze in her throat. The shadow slowly descended and there was an earthshaking thud as the dragon landed behind her. She could feel its hot breath puffing against her back but she didn't dare move. She stared at the building only a few feet away and Lucy appeared in the window, her eyes wide. She opened her mouth to shout but Levy shook her head, raising her finger to her lips. It would be pointless if Lucy died here too.

It was scary how calm Levy felt as she turned to face her death. She'd almost died hundreds of times since the end. She'd faced countless zombies and survived, survived when her friends didn't. She supposed it was finally her turn to let the others survive.

She huffed a laugh and slid her eyes up to meet the dragon's emotionless gaze.

She'd faced death countless time, but she'd never even dreamt of dying at the hands of a dragon.

The dragon stared back at her and for a moment she saw the intelligent being it used to be reflected in its eyes, but then it was gone, replaced by the killing machine. Levy didn't look away from the dragon as the clawed foot came at her.

"I'm sorry Lucy," she breathed.

"Levy!"