Disclaimer: I don't own things. You know this. I'm a poor 21 year old who spends all her money on Vinyl and Books. I'm not JK Rowling.

Background:

At the height of the 1st Wizarding War, Voldemort creates an Army of Inferi. Instead of controlling them, he sets them lose to reek havoc all across England, praying on Muggle and Magic alike. Lily, fresh out of Hogwarts, sets out to find her sister, Petunia, and make sure she is still alive as she abandoned her family and swore to pretend that magic doesn't exist. James, also fresh out of Hogwarts, gets enlisted by Dumbledore to join The Order of the Phoenix and fight Voldemort/his army of Inferi. After months of trying to contact Lily to get her to join, the two finally run into each other. This is where our story begins, at the height of a "Zombie" Apocalypse.

DEAD LIKE THEM
CHAPTER 1

Her feet positively ached. Each movement, each time she set her soles back on the ground, she felt dull pains shoot through her feet. She hadn't stopped for a rest sleep in days. Didn't trust herself to be alone. But she couldn't help herself anymore. She spotted an easily climbable tree, and positioned herself on one of the top branches. She rested her back against the trunk, and although it wasn't exactly comfortable, the break in walking was like heaven to her. She took a deep breath, and with one last look at her surroundings, decided it was safe. It was quiet, and clear. It had been for two days.

She closed her eyes, and the blackness of her eyelids was all that she could see. But sleep wasn't common to her. Her mind was muddled with too many thoughts.

Where was Petunia? She had fled with her new husband, Vernon, as soon as the war was mentioned. Too scared to be around Lily or anything connected to the magical world since she knew the truth about the so-called zombies invading her life. Her parent's, though Lily had tried to get them to flee the country, had stayed put in their home. She had helped them fortify it, but knew that she couldn't stay. For her sake and for her parents, she needed to find her Sister. To know she was alright.

A few soft cracks of twigs breaking and the sound of footsteps broke her from her thoughts.

On instinct, her eyes snapped open and her wand hand rose to the ready. She knew it was likely to be an animal, but she wasn't taking chances, She slid from the branches as quietly as possible, and positioned herself on the ground, her wand pointing towards where she heard the noise.

A tall, lanky human like figure walked between the trees. That was all it took.

"STUPEFY!" She bellowed, and with impeccable aim, it hit him square in the head. The body froze, and fell to the ground with a deafening thud. She panted, and looked around, checking to see if there were any more. When she had deemed the coast clear, she made her way towards the unmoving form.

Her wand still at the ready, she approached the body. She didn't know why she did these things, but it was habit. Whenever it was one or two alone, she couldn't help but check, to make sure it wasn't a familiar face.

This particular body was face down in a pile of dirt. Jet black hair jetted across his skull, with bits of broken leaves poking into it from the fall, and follicles spraying untidily every which way. With the toe of her boot, she kicked it over. With a sharp look at his face, she felt her heart leap from her chest unpleasently.

His glasses were broken in two spots, once down the middle, and one of the left lens. His nose, spewing blood. His eyes were wide, as if surprised, and his hand clutched a wand. The last time she had seen him was at Platform 9 and 3/4, on the return of their last year at Hogwarts. He had broken up with her. They hadn't spoken since.

"James." She said quietly, tears prickling her eyes. She blinked them away quickly. She knew what she had to do. If she didn't kill him, he would come back to a fake sort of life, he would attack people. He wasn't in his right mind, it wasn't his fault. She pointed her wand at him again, directly to his forehead, ready to incite one of the few spells that could kill an Inferius.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, her wand hand trembling slightly.

It wasn't a moment too soon when the realization hit her.

Inferi didn't bleed. She looked at the blood dripping down his nose, and the wand clutched in his hand. It didn't make sense. Warrily, she backed away from the body of her former boyfriend, until she hit a tree, her back sprawling against it.

"Ennervate." She said, from a safe distance.

He groaned loudly.

"You nearly killed me." He said. Lily sighed in a huge relief, her wand arm lowering slightly. He whipped the blood from his nose with his sleeve, and picked up the pieces of his shattered spectacles.

"I-er..." She began, but couldn't figure out what to say. She was entirely speechless.

With his glasses in one hand, and wand in the other, he muttered "Repairo" before fitting them to his face again.

It was then that he noticed who his almost muderer was.

"Lily." He sputtered, stepping back a bit.

"Let me fix that for you." She gestured to slowly dripping nose, her wand ready in her right hand.

"You're alive." He continued, a dumbfounded expression on her face.

"Of course I am. Come here, I'll heal your nose." She said. "Episkey" she muttered, with a slight flick of her want. With a gut churning snap, his nose stopped bleeding and moved back into place.

"Thanks." he said, touching his nose gingerly. His eyes didn't leave hers. She looked moderately the same, though she had seem better days. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, bits were sticking out and frizzy. She had a bit of dirt on her significantly tanner face, hiding her freckles. Her clothes and hands were similar, lined with dirt.

He wasn't much better.

"Where have you been?" He asked. She shrugged simply.

"Around." She muttered. He eye'd her carefully. Though she looked the same, he knew she wasn't. She was noticeably worn.

"Around." He repeated dumbly. She nodded. "We've looked for you."

"We?" She asked, ignoring the rest of the statement.

"Sirius, Remus, Frank and Alice, Marlene, everyone." He stated.

"You're in contact with them?" Her eyes widening. Her heart seemed to beat faster, knowing that at least a small part of the people she cared for were alive and well.

"I live with them. We have a camp, just over the hill." He pointed north, but all Lily could see was a thick cluster of trees.

"I... tell them... tell them I said to take care." Lily muttered. She shifted the backpack on her back.

"Tell them yourself!" James laughed. "You're not leaving. Not that we know you're alright. You've got to join us."

"Join you?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "Join you in what? Hiding away from the war? I will not! I have people to... to..." She sputtered, exasperatedly. As if she'd lie low while her family needed her.

"We're not hiding." James defended. "Just because we live out here- and if you're all the way out here, what are you doing, if not hiding?" He folded his arms across his chest, standing taller. She knew better than to be intimidated by his height.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." She turned away, making to leave.

"And where are you going? Your friends will never forgive you if they don't get to see your face." He called to her. She paused, and thought of the faces of her best friends through her school years. Marlene, and her sparkling blue eyes, her smile that could make anyone smile, and of Alice, her kind face, her smooth way of talking that could heal any heart.

"Fine." She said, turning back. "I'll go say hello. Just to check in, make sure they're alright." She gulped thickly. It had been months, a few more hours wouldn't hurt.

She followed James up the hill, through the thicket of trees, and after they reached the top, he handed her a slip of paper, scrunched in his pocket and folded many times over. She took it from him, and eye'd him skeptically.

"Read it." He said.

She unfolded the paper with a bit of difficulty, and read the text, scrawled in loopy handwriting.

"To yourself." He added, as she made to open her mouth.

The head quarters for the Order of the Phoenix is located at Latitude: 51.779202 and Longitude: -2.614445.

The paper emitted a ream of smoke, curdled up in fumes, and vanished.

She made to look at James with a puzzled expression, but before her eyes, the trees began to expand and unfold splaying across a clearing in the trees where the sun fell down upon them, warming her face.

The most extrusive feature was a 12 foot high, barbed wire topped fence that surrounded the enclosure. It's looming figure wrapped a large square around the buildings inside. James grinned at her face as it widened in amazement.

Inside the enclosure was a dozen or so cabins, as if it were a campsite, with a larger cabin at the back. A well sat in the middle of the circle of cabins, and dirt paths connected them all.

"It used to be a childrens camp. It's been long abandoned. Dumbledore removed all trace of it. Even removed the road leading to it." James explained. "We can't set up a base in the middle of a town, it's too populous, and as memory charms don't work on Inferi, the fiddelus charm and whatever other repellent charms he's set up are useless to them. That's where the fence comes in. He stepped forward and stood blankly infront of a solid area of fence. With a complicated wand movement, an area just big enough for someone to squeeze through vannished. James led Lily in before him, then turned and made the doorway dissapear. "Inferi don't climb very well. And as long as there's not thousands of them, it shouldn't be torn down."

Lily nodded, still dumbfounded. It all made sense, but she couldn't believe it was real.

"So what's The Order of the Phoenix?" She asked next.

"It's a secret organization, of sorts. Dumbledore started it a few years back to counter the war against Voldemort, since he doesn't trust Ministry. And who can blame him?" James chuckled.

"Is he here, then? Is Dumbledore here?" Lily questioned, her face hopefull.

James shook his head. "Not right now. He's a busy man."

"Why didn't you go to Hogwarts if you needed a fortress?" She continued. James laughed again.

"Hogwarts is closed. Too much danger in large groups of people. The Inferi can smell it, and no doubt Voldemort would send a troop out there. Parents don't trust sending their kids there, and so they've shipped them off to foreign countries. But for us, Voldemort is looking for us. There's not a single person in The Order he doesn't want dead. If the Inferi don't kill us, he will. We've got to hide when we're not fighting. Hence the security charms. This place is completely undetectable." He smiled proudly, as if it were his doing. Lily nodded slowly and looked around.

"So... where is everyone?" She asked, noticing that it appeared to be empty.

"Ah, right." He gestured for her to follow. "We don't typically lounge outdoors. Too much noise. All the buildings have noise charms on them, but we're not entirely sure if they're usefull against the Inferi or not. They're immune to most spells, after all. We don't want to attract them if we don't have to." He explained. he walked up the steps to one of the cabins, labled number Seven, and tapped the doorknob twice with his wand. The door popped open.

Inside was a dark, empty room. A fireplace sat straight back, with two plush, red couches facing eachother in the center and a hearth rug between them. James ignited the light that hung from the ceiling between them, and cast a warm glow across the room.

"Welcome to my home." He waved across the room. "To the left you'll find a small bathroom and the kitchen, to the right, my bedroom and the spare room."

"You live alone?" She asked. James nodded.

"Typically we double up, but... well, that's another story. We think this was a staff cabin, or something of the sort. The others, save for Dumbledore's, are bigger. Families like the McKinnons, and the Bone's have claimed bigger ones."

"They brought entire familes?" Lily asked. James nodded.

"No one wants to leave their loved ones alone. You never know when you're going to see them again. And anywhere Dumbledore is, is safe." James shrugged. Lily nodded again in understanding.

"Do you want to shower?" He asked, noticing again her dirtied state.

"Please." She begged. "It's been weeks."

"I can tell." He teased. He gestured towards the bathroom he had earlier indicated, and she went inside.

"If you leave your clothes out" He called after her "I'll have Arrabella clean them for you."

"Don't be silly." She laughed. "I can clean my own clothes."

"Really, Arrabella doesn't mind. She's a squib, an old friend of Dumbledores. She likes to feel needed." He countered. Lily sighed.

"Fine." She said. Once inside the bathroom, she stripped down and slipped the clothes outside the door for him. She then turned the knobs to turn on the water. It sputtered for a moment, and then gushed an even flow of water. She stepped inside, and as anyone would, shuddered at the cold. A simple heating charm remidied the problem.

The heated water bore into her scalp, a now unfamiliar feeling. It had been months since she had a shower. For the past while, how ever long it had been, she had grown accustom to dusting herself off in streams and rivers. Breaking into homes wasn't safe, as you never knew what might be inside, and couldn't watch your back while behind a shower curtain. Besides, most of them had the water mains turned off in time of crisis.

The water rolled onto her stiff shoulders and she didn't even mind that it was hoter than a shower at her home may be. The scalding heat tinted her sink red, and more importantly, relieved tension. It had been weeks since she had a good night sleep, or laid anywhere that wasn't stiff as, literally, a rock.

The water poured over her face and she could practically feel it removing dirt before she had even started. How had she ever taken this relieving feeling for granted?

She took longer than she probably should have to shower, but she desperately needed it. When she got out, she grabbed one of the towels off the rack and wrapped herself in it, before turning to the mirror.

For the past few months the only reflections of herself that she had seen were that in broken windows and bodies of water. She hadn't noticed how tan she had gotten. While she was never chubby, she seemed much leaner before, and her arms and legs much more toned. Her hair was longer and messy, and she ran through it with her fingers, trying to untangle the knots brush free before pulling it back into it's typical ponytail. Her lips were cracked and uncared for, and her eyes had tired circles beneath them. She leaned against the wall and closed them briefly.

"You alright in there? Do I have to send in a search team? I'm worried you may have drowned yourself." Called James joking voice. Lily opened her eyes again, green staring back at her in her reflection, and exited the room with just her towel wrapped around her.

"Ah, so you've made it out alright." He observed. He was sitting in one of the couches, a book in one hand which he set down when she walked into the room. She nodded, and sat on the opposite couch, sinking into the cushions.

"I've been keeping guard." He continued. "We do a buddy system wherever you go. No one travels alone, sleeps alone, eats alone, anything."

"I've been tavelling on my own for months. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." She folded her arms across the towel. James shrugged.

"If you're going to stay here, you're going to follow Dumbledore's rules."

"And who says I'm going to stay here?" She accused, wondering where he had gotten that idea from. He stared at her dumbly.

"Why wouldn't you?" He asked. She shrugged.

"Maybe I like being alone. I've grown accustomed to it. I can fend for myself." She explained.

"That doesn't mean the situation wont present itself where you can't defend yourself. Where you need a hand." He defended. "You're never going to find another place like this. We're self sufficient, Ministry free. And were helping people! We're not just defending ourselves!"

"I'm not a child, James, I can handle myself." She snapped.

"Just because you've been lucky-" He started.

"Lucky? Lucky?" She repeated, with a sharp laugh. "You left me, James Potter. I was forced to be on my own. I haven't been lucky, I've been strong." She glared at him. "Where are my clothes?"

James tossed a pile of soft and warm clothes to her. She caught it, walked back into the bathroom and pulled them on.

By the time she was done, and her temper had cooled a moment, he was gone. She leaned against the sofa. She had a knack for making that boy disappear, didn't she?

AN: So this will be the AN of all AN's, just a quick explanation of how this story came to be, blahdablahdablah.

This was supposed to be a joke story. Just something to distract me when I was having writers black on the Canon L/J story I've been working on. I was reading the survival guide & World War Z, and thinking about how easy it would be for Voldemort to start a Inferius war, and all the Muggles would think they're really zombies, ya know? But anyway. Not sure how often I update, since, like I said, this is just something to distract me from the Canon story I'm writing. And I can't promise how good it will be since I'm writing it chapter by chapter, almost completely unplanned... but I'm posting it anyway. Maybe you guys will like it.

Oh, and apologies that it sort-of starts in the middle of the war. I promise the back half of the story will be explained. I tried to explain as much as I could in this chapter, but we'll get there. :)

Ah, also: I'm currently between titles. I'm going with either Brains for Breakfast or the current title, Dead Like Them. Opinions?

Review please?

Jen Riddle.

Oh, and PS: What happened to the spell checker on here? I'm currently using Notepad since my Word trial expired. Bah. Please give me a heads up to any noticeable mistakes! I tried to catch as much as I could!