This is my second attempt at a Zombie story, but I won't be making any of the mistakes I made before with this one, i.e no super powered zombies or keeping the main group alive. EVERYONE and I mean everyone has the possibility of dying. Enjoy!

Aang sat looking at the pond, his body completely numb after what the girl to his right had just said to him. "That's it?"

"Yeah…" Katara trailed off. "I'm sorry Aang…"

"Can I at least know why?"

She sighed deeply, "It's because you're immature Aang. While I mature, you seem to stay the same age. We're graduating High School in a month and you just stopped watching Saturday morning cartoons."

Aang leaned back against the seat, "Says the girl that needs a lullaby to help her get to sleep."

"That's completely irrelevant."

"Well I guess I'm too immature to understand the relevance," Aang mocked. He stood up, wanting nothing more to leave his problems at the pond.

"I still want to be friends Aang," Katara said. "Just because I lost a boyfriend, doesn't mean I want to lose my best friend."

He ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know about that Katara…" Aang walked away, leaving a piece of himself sitting on the bench.

Zuko went through the news on his phone as Suki held another dress in front of her body, "What do you think of this one Zuko?" She asked. Not getting an answer, she looked to him through the mirror to see his attention somewhere else, "Zuko?" He grunted in response, "Did you hear me?" Zuko shook his head, "Can you at least look at me?"

He looked up from the phone, "Sorry, but have you read any of these epidemic warnings spreading across the country?"

"I have, but I'm not really too worried about it right now," She said, going back to her 'problem' at hand. "Now, which dress do you think Sokka will like more? The red one or the green one?"

He scrolled down the web page, "I'm pretty sure he would rather have you naked."

Suki turned around to face him, "Why are you so obsessed with the news lately?"

"Why aren't you? People are getting sick every second, it causing people to go crazy. There are reports of people getting bitten by infected people. They're close to calling Martial Law." Zuko looked away from his phone momentarily to see the green dress she held in front of her body, it really brought out her teal eyes. "The green one is the best."

She looked back in the mirror, "I'm sure everything is going to blow over soon Zuko, it's not like it's an epidemic or anything. It's like if someone was smoking Bath Salts when they had Swine Flu, it probably won't even come close to us." Suki went into her closet, shutting the door behind her. He finally put his phone away as she came out of the closet, she tucked some of her messy hair behind her ear. The dress showed little cleavage with spaghetti straps and it came up to her mid-thigh. "You think he'll like it?"

Zuko stood up from the bed, looking at her beautiful form, "He's crazy if he doesn't."

A blush crept across her cheeks, "Thank you Zuko." Suki quickly realized how close he was to her. With the 6 inches he had on her, his amber eyes looked down at her. Whenever he was this close to her, her heart always sped up and had a hard time controlling her breathing. The silent stare between them was broken up by Zuko's phone.

He sighed at the screen, a frown appearing on his face, "I have to go, Katara broke up with Aang and now he's at my house." Zuko slid the phone back in his pocket. "Good luck with your date with Sokka."

"Thanks," They shared a small hug before he started to leave, pulling open the door part of the way before shutting it. His head hung for a second as he thought for a moment. He turned and walked back towards her, capturing her in a heated kiss. Suki's eyes widened in shock, trying to wrap her mind around the kiss that was over as soon as it happened.

"I'm sorry, but...I couldn't help myself..." He trailed off before quickly leaving her room.

"KATARA! WAKE UP!" Her brother's screeching tore her from her sleep, her heart thumping in her chest as she shot up in her bed. Katara's eyes adjusted to her surroundings, Sokka was by the side of her bed, their Father's spare gun in his hand. He was only dressed in his shorts, shirt and sneakers with blood splatter staining his clothes.

"Sokka? What's going on? Is that blood on you?" She panicked as he pulled her from her bed.

"Get dressed, we have to go now!" He yelled. Katara grabbed the clothes she had on the other day from the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the twitching body lying in the hall.

Pulling on her pants, Katara decided to get answers. "Sokka, please, what is going on? Who is that in hall?"

"Miss Stevens," He said, she could see the look of horror in her brother's eyes, "She broke into the house and she was completely rabid. She tried biting me and…I…j-just get dressed." Getting completely dressed, Sokka grabbed the softball bat from her closet, "You'll need this for protection. If you see the red in anyone's eyes, don't hesitate and swing, do you understand me?"

Katara nodded, "Where's Dad?"

"He's at the Station, he said he's fine. He wants us to stay here, but it's not safe. Whatever is going on, it's happening everywhere. He thinks they're…something else." Sokka explained while Katara avoiding looking at the nearly dead Miss Stevens. Flying down the stairs, Katara's eyes went wide at the broken door splintered on the floor. "We'll take my car, we have to stop by Suki's house to get her before we go to Dad."

Katara stopped, "If we're stopping for Suki, we need to get Aang too."

He easily pulled her along, "This is non-negotiable Katara, my duty since we lost Mom was to protect you and now that includes my girlfriend. Plus you dumped Aang yesterday, why should we get your ex-boyfriend?"

"He's still my best friend Sokka," She argued as he opened the door and pushed her in before slamming it shut. Sokka got in the other side and turned on the car, the roaring of the engine gaining unneeded attention.

"Then we might as well save Zuko, Haru and Jet too," Sokka sarcastically replied, "Katara, this is survival against man-eating monsters that used to be people…the faster we get to Dad, the safer we will be." Katara screamed when a couple of the creatures clashed against the car, banging on the windows. Sokka reversed down the driveway and sped off down the street.

She watched with horror as they passed by unluckier souls fare against their rabid neighbors, "They're like animals…"

Sokka barely swerving in time to miss other chaotic drivers on the road, "Yeah, animals on freaking steroids. Zuko thought there was something weird about whatever illness was coming across the country…we should have paid more attention."

Katara braced herself as Sokka's car collided with one of the infected, the body flying over the hood. "At least try to miss them Sokka!"

"When you wake up with one of them coming up the stairs to eat you after beating down the door, you kind of want to obliterate all of them," Sokka argued back. Since time was of the essence, Sokka pulled up to Suki's house and parked the car partially on her lawn and walkway. The broken front window with blood painted on the white curtains didn't raise his hopes. "Stay here, if anyone comes after you, you know what to do." Sokka shut the door behind him, jumping through the broken window in search for Suki. "Suki?! Are you here?!" The house was deathly silent as he crept along, realizing the sneaking was pointless after yelling. He heard a thud from the second floor and nearly leapt up the stairs, "Suki!?" Running into her room, Sokka was stunned to see the bloody body on the bed. "No…Suki…" Sokka dropped to his knees, tears beginning to prick his eyes. "I'm too late…"

The bathroom door opened; Suki came out drying her hands, wearing a green sweatshirt with black yoga pants and running shoes, a sheathed katana on her back. "Sokka?"

He looked between her and the body on the bed, "You're not dead?"

"No, but I got a surprise wake up call," Suki said, he quickly enveloped her in a hug. A soft smile appeared on her face, her hand softly patting his head.

"I'm so glad you're alive," He mumbled into her sweatshirt.

"Well I'm hoping you brought something to get us out of here," Suki pried him off of her. "We have to go get Zuko."

"Why do we need Zuko?"

"He's the one who has been following this thing since day one and he has a plan," She said. "I was able to get through to him for a minute, he said he has Aang, Jet and his sister."

"Fine, but we need to get to the Police Station and hold up there with my Dad," Sokka took Suki's hand, before they descended the stairs, he looked towards her parent's bedroom, "What about your parents? Where are they?"

He looked to Suki, who remained emotionless, "They…opted out…I found them in their room." Sokka was speechless, but Suki pulled him down the stairs with her, her grip loose on his hand, "They made their decision, there's no reason to get hung up on it now with everything still going on." He decided to let it go as they left the house, Suki closing the door behind her on instinct. They saw some of the infected shuffling down the street and Sokka raised his gun, but Suki lowered it. "Don't. Zuko said they are sensitive to loud noises, so the more noise we make, it will alert more and more of them." Suki got into the back seat while Sokka got into the driver's seat. Sokka started off towards Zuko's house and Katara turned back to look at her friend.

"Are you okay? Did you have to…kill any of them?" Katara asked.

Suki looked out the window and nodded, "Yep…and I have a feeling we're all going to have to kill a lot more soon."

Seeing the solemn look that had overcome her friend, Katara turned back towards the front of the car, letting the conversation die. She noticed that Sokka had passed the turn to the Station. "Sokka, where are you going?"

His eyes went to his girlfriend through the rearview and then looked back at the road, "Suki agrees with you that we need to get Zuko. Aang, Azula, Jet and Zuko are held up in his house…as far as we know right now." A sad smile appeared on Katara's face, happy to know at least someone agreed with her. If this was a complete outbreak, a larger group would increase their chances of survival. Sokka swerved out of the way of another car, keeping Katara on her toes so she wouldn't smack her head against the window. Pulling up to Zuko's house, Katara's eyes reflected the flames that engulfed half of his yard. "Well, let's see if they're still alive before the house catches fire." Sokka and Suki got out first, taking care of the couple infected around the house. Katara was the first to run up to the door and pounded on it.

"Zuko? Aang? Anyone?" She yelled, her fist slamming against the door.

The door quickly pulled open and Katara was face-to-face with a homemade flamethrower. After a second, it was lowered away from her, "Oh, it's only you," Azula sighed. "I wanted to light up another one of those dead freaks." She left the door open, walking back into the living room, "Zuzu, your friends are here."

Sokka shut the door behind them and they went into the living room where Zuko and Jet were sitting beside a radio. Zuko held up his hand for silence before Sokka initiated any 'I can't believe you're alive' conversation. '…Again, please stay indoors and barricade all doors and windows. Do not let yourself come in contact with the attackers and if someone you know has been bitten or scratched, isolate them immediately before they contaminate anyone else. If you are just tuning in, infected attackers have taken over the city and you must keep your distance from them. Don't attempt to reach family or friends. If you find yourself surrounded by any infected individuals, the Ba Sing Se City police have said to attack the head to defend yourself. Wait, we have an update,' The man on the radio was silent for a couple moments, '…it has been reported that…that the East Coast has gone dark….we'll try to keep a constant update as long as we are on the air.' Zuko shut off the radio, grabbing his bolt action rifle from the table. "Nice to see you're all in one piece."

"Where's Aang?" Katara demanded.

Jet wiped the blood from his hook swords, "He's…busy."

"What does that mean?"

Zuko and Jet shared a look, but said nothing. "He's not here," Azula finally said. "He took off about 5 minutes ago. He is probably breakfast by now. And why do you care? Didn't you dump his poor ass last night?"

"That's what I heard too," Zuko couldn't stop himself from mumbling.

"It doesn't matter what Katara did last night or not, we need to get down to the Police station with my Dad. The Station has ammo and guns we can use and it's safe," Sokka tried to reason.

"I'm not leaving without knowing where Aang is," Katara poked her brother in the chest.

Azula rolled her eyes, "Jeez you're a buzz kill. I didn't hear anything from him about finding out about you, I'm pretty sure his words were 'who cares'."

"Azula, stop," Zuko snapped at his sister, "Stop trying to stir up drama, we have other things to worry about." Everyone turned towards the pounding on the front door, "Well, it looks like we have company." Zuko went over to the window, peeking outside. "Nice to see you brought your car, but it's pretty useless right now. There are at least 30 out there and they're headed this way."

"What's the plan hot head?"

The back door burst open with Aang leading a group into the house. Aang had a metal pole for his weapon, not surprisingly stained with blood. With him was Haru, who had a baseball bat, Yue, who had a crowbar, Ty Lee, who had an axe and Mai, who had a machete. "Oh look, the Air Head came back." Azula commented.

"Did you find a way out of here because we just ran out of options," Zuko spoke before Katara could say anything to her ex.

"Yeah, we found a way through the woods, Toph is out there waiting for us." Aang reported. He and Katara made brief eye-contact before he quickly looked away. "Ready?"

Zuko nodded, "Let's go." Though it wasn't going with their original plans, Sokka, Suki and Katara followed everyone else, Zuko following behind Suki. It was a silent walk through the woods, gun fire echoing in the distance. Katara kept eyeing her former boyfriend, attempting to find the words to smooth out the bad blood between the two. But every scenario that played out in her head didn't seem to work. After 10 minutes, they reached the edge of the woods, seeing Toph leaning against one of the trees, a hatchet hanging from her right hand.

"Jeez, did you have to find everyone we know?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"Let's just be happy we all even made it," Jet said as they made it out to the clearing. Looking at their surroundings, they were on the edge of town on a barren road, with either side of the road surrounded by forest.

"So what now Sparky?"

"I think the plan is obvious, go back to the Police station with my Dad," Sokka proposed.

"No, we're not going back into town Sokka, we'll be walking right into a death trap," Zuko argued, "We should get away from town, at least lie low until everything is safer. The lower population density, the less we have to worry about being one of those things next meals."

"I'm not going to leave my Dad back in town if I can go back and save him," Sokka angrily argued.

"Sokka, the police station is dead center in the most heavily populated area of Ba Sing Se. It would be suicide if we went now. We can just lay low for a bit and attempt to search for him when it cools down. Your Dad isn't worth sacrificing anyone else's life," Zuko attempted to reason.

Sokka felt a wave of anger wash over him, "My Dad is as important as everyone else here. Maybe you just don't understand because your Dad was a deadbeat, but my Dad actually means something to me."

Zuko raised his rifle towards his friend, as well as Azula, "Watch what you say Sokka or I can reunite you with your Mother." Sokka raised his gun while Katara gripped her bat. "If it wasn't for me Sokka, your dumbass would probably be dead, as well as your sister's and even Suki. So maybe if you would pull your head outta your ass and use some critical thinking, you would know that one life isn't worth all of our's."

"Okay, we get it, zip up your flies because this dick measuring contest is over," Jet attempted to stop their bickering. "None of us know what to do. The world is ending and any option can mean death for us. So how about we put it to a vote?"

"No way, I'm not going to be able to stand one more minute with this asshole." Sokka spat. "And I'm not leaving my Father to be eaten by those things."

Zuko gritted his teeth, "Don't do this Sokka."

"No, screw you man! Fuck you, I'm saving my Father." Sokka didn't budge from his position.

"Fine, then you're all either with him…or me," Zuko laid the ultimatum on the group. He backed up towards the way out of town while Sokka did the opposite, "Choose your side, the suicide mission or survival."

The first people to choose were the siblings, Azula going to her brother and Katara going to Sokka. Katara watched as Aang walked over to Zuko's side, not even bothering to look at her. Haru and Ty Lee silently went over to Sokka's side and Mai, Toph, Yue and Jet crossed to Zuko's side, leaving Suki left to choose. "Come on Suki," Sokka said.

"I don't want to choose between you two," Suki replied, "We don't have to split up because of petty things we've all said."

"Suki, you're my girlfriend," Sokka argued.

"But I grew up with Zuko."

"And I've protected her long before you moved here," Zuko added.

Sokka scoffed, "You just want her with you because you're in love with her." Suki looked over at her friend, he didn't have to say anything, but she could read it on his face.

"That's not the point here Sokka, I'll protect her like I will protect anyone in this group," Zuko didn't dare look at the auburn haired girl.

"Just give up on it already Zuko! She chose me, not you, so stop trying to fill her head with lies and stop guilt tripping her into going with you!"

A loud explosion went off in the city, taking the attention off of the argument for the moment. "We can't wait here forever. If you're going to with Sokka, go with him, but we have to leave now." Zuko turned with his group, walking down the open road. Suki turned back towards Sokka, who was still stunned that she was still trying make a decision.

She sighed, "I'm sorry Sokka." Suki ran to catch up with Zuko.

"Fine, but after this day, if I even catch your scent…you're dead Zuko Goto!" Suki slowed down to a walk when she caught up with Zuko, their eyes meeting and a small smile on both of their faces. Zuko reached down and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers together.

2 Years Later

Zuko rubbed his aching and tired eyes, the crisp morning air was the only thing keeping him awake. Being up in the clock tower of a church wasn't exactly his ideal sleeping arrangement. He looked over to the other side of the tower, Suki sat up against the wall, only having passed out a few minutes ago along with Aang, his head lying in her lap. Sticking together since the outbreak of the infection, their whole group had gotten close, especially he and Suki. He watched a lone infected shamble past the church, Zuko set up his silenced rifle, watching its movements. It briefly looked at the church before stumbling away. He sighed and put the rifle back down, Zuko tried to get more comfortable against the stone wall, but to no avail. "How much longer until you want to go?" Suki whispered, her sleep filled eyes cracking open.

"I'll let everyone get at least another hour of sleep," His voice was hoarse. "So you and Aang can keep cuddling."

Suki gave him a sarcastic chuckle, "Jealousy doesn't suit you well Zuko Goto."

"Trust me, you'll know when I'm jealous," Zuko yawned. He got up and stretched, his worn shirt rising with his arms, revealing his lower stomach.

Suki grinned, "I still think your abs look a lot better without a 'happy trail'."

"I'll shave it when you shave," He smiled back.

"We've been out of Republic City for 2 weeks, you try finding time to shave your business when you're trying to keep everyone alive," She mumbled as her eyes closed again. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before pulling up the door. Zuko climbed down the ladder and went down the steps to the ground floor of the church. He quietly pulled open the door, he poked his head out to see a couple people of his group were awake.

"Morning Zuko," Asami sipped on her water. "You look tired."

"I've been keeping watch, I decided to let Aang and Suki get some sleep," He said, taking a seat on the cushioned pew next to her. The group had met Asami and her friend Korra once they met up with the people who had started Republic City. They did group runs to find more materials to keep the growing uninfected city going. Korra passed Zuko a water, "How long have you two been up?"

"Only a little bit, I don't get much sleep outside the city," Korra stretched her arms above her head. "As much as I dislike my apartment at night, the noises are like relaxing, you know?"

"You have noises around your apartment?" Zuko asked, "It's always like dead silent around me and Suki's apartment…well except for her snoring."

Asami sipped her water again, "Well we share an apartment next to Aang and Yue and we hear everything she does in there. Poor girl needs a boyfriend."

"Stop talking about me," They heard Yue mumble from the pew she was sleeping on.

"Stop masturbating so much," Korra said.

"Stop having sex with each other so loud," Yue shot back, turning both girls face's bright red and Zuko looked at them.

"When were you two going to bring that up?" Zuko barely contained his light laughter. "Were any of you going to invite us to the wedding or will we just see you two with wedding rings on at some point?"

"It's harmless experimentation, we don't know if either of us are going to come back from one of these runs. We've lost Bolin and Mako while you lost Mai and we all almost lost Jet a couple runs back…we're just embracing life wherever we can get it," Asami explained.

Korra sipped her water, "I don't know about you, but I just love getting off three times a night."

Zuko stood up, "Well that's all I need to hear. Okay guys, wake up, time to head out. Jet, make sure Princess wakes up from her beauty sleep, we're leaving in 10."

Zuko's rifle hung off his left shoulder while his right arm went around Suki's waist, the group walking behind him, the lack of sleep getting to them. Being this close to the wall, there were few to no infected around so it was an easy and relaxing walk. Aang, as usual, kept his guard up until they made it inside of the walls of Republic City. Jet sighed as he repositioned the bag of medical supplies on his shoulder, "Why do I always have to carry the bag of supplies?"

"Why are you always the one who complains?" Azula shot back.

"Because I'm tired of being the one who always carries the bag of supplies!"

"We have to keep you around for something Jet," Zuko joked, earning him a dirty look in the back of his head. Seeing the walls through the small thicket brought relief to the group, they were only a couple clearance checks away from a good night's rest. Stepping out into the open field before the wall made them easily spotted by the guards, Zuko raised up his hand to show they were human as they crossed the field. He gave a guard a nod as they made it to the gate which slowly opened for them. They were quickly checked for bites and scratches before they took the supplies.

Korra yawned, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to get a hot shower before I hit the hay."

"And I'm assuming Asami is joining you?" Yue commented as the group split apart.

Zuko heard a familiar voice by the processing building that checked out newcomers to the city. "Go ahead to the apartment, I'll be there in a little."

"If you want to stay up and do more work, be my guest," Suki kissed his cheek before going towards the apartment complexes. Zuko walked over to see several guards surrounding a small group of survivors, whoever was leading the group had a big mouth on them.

"-You can't send us back out there, my Father needs medical attention. All he did was break his leg, once it gets fixed, we can be on our way, please," The man pleaded.

Zuko glanced in between the guards to see the familiar voiced man, "Holy shit…" The guards broke apart a little at Zuko's words and saw the full image of Sokka Aqua. His dark brown hair was a mess; he had grown a trashy beard and wore torn clothing. "Well if it isn't Sokka Aqua…"

"Do you know this man sir?" One of the guards asked. With being one of the head supply runners and one of the founders, Zuko had a high position in the city and was well-known to the guards.

"I used to…the last thing I remember is having his gun in my face," He mumbled the last part, the hatred he saw 2 years ago still present in his eyes.

"He's claiming his Father needs help and his group needs passage into the city, do you want us to let them in?"

Zuko was silent for a couple moments, knowing Sokka's Father's life was possibly on the line as well as his groups. He sighed, "I guess…but just to be safe, I would suggest a full-body cavity search, just to make sure he isn't hiding anything." Fear spread through Sokka's body when he felt two strong hands on his shoulders. Zuko smiled, "Welcome to Republic City Sokka."

-SDB