Chapter One: Fall of Phantom Lord

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." -Twelfth Night

There was little he couldn't accomplish. He was the best damn zombie killer in the entirety of Phantom Lord. He had killed hundreds of the stinking bastards, taking them on, one on one, or five on one. There had never been a fight he couldn't win.

Of course, that was about to change.

"Dammit," he yelled, swinging his iron club at one of the rotting heads of the creature that began to close in on him, sending it flying a good two meters away, causing the body to fall to the ground. He watched as its nerves gave a last few shakes before finally falling still. "How many of these bastards are there?"

"I don't know!" A feminine reply came from his left, followed by the sound of a hard thwack, and the thump of a head and body hitting the ground, one immediately following the other. Gajeel looked at the person who spoke, seeing Juvia taking on three of the stinking creatures herself. He swung his club, knocking off two of the heads at once, Juvia taking on the third herself, getting it to fall away after three strong hits with her dulling, rust crusted machete.

"How'd they get in anyway?" The base had to be crawling with hundreds of zombies. It was peaceful only minutes ago. The two of them were in the dining hall, receiving their rations, when alarms started to blare throughout the camp. They ran outside with their weapons only to see their home overrun.

"I think it was through the north entrance!" The north entrance was their most fortified entrance, as it was the main one and closest to all of their homes, but if the security failed it was also the one most vulnerable to attacks. Why the security failed, he had no idea. The only other gate was the west gate, where the zombie's seemed to be headed, probably because of the large amounts of people congregating there.

While those unable to fight attempted to flee, the strongest members fought, Sol throwing large rocks at the invaders, but quickly becoming surrounded, and the amount of large rocks he was using as ammoniation quickly lessening. It would only be a matter of time before the man was taken over and joined the ranks of the undead. Sure enough, there was nothing Gajeel or Juvia could do but watch as the zombies closed in and began to tear at Sol's flesh, biting at him, causing Sol to collapse on the ground. It would only be a matter of time before he stood back up, joining the enemy's ranks.

Totomaru faired only slightly better, with fewer on his trail, perched on top of one of the dilapidated wooden buildings, a pair of torches in his possession, one in each hand. Anytime one of the zombies got close, Totomaru would set it on fire, watching it until it burned away. This method began went to hell after a particularly active zombie went up in flames. It ran around, as fast as it could manage, and caught the dry wood of the house, setting it ablaze. Gajeel and Julia watched in horror as the building that he was using as refuge went up in flames, consuming Totomaru with the anguished screams of someone being burned alive.

It was even too late for Aria, once thought to be almost invincible by both Gajeel and Juvia. He was slumped over, the bandages that covered his face falling off of his body, his eyes plucked out of his skull, being eaten by one of the zombies like they were a pair of grotesque, bloodied grapes.

At the head of it all, the leader of Phantom Lord stood on top of a tower at the west entrance, using the little power the measly generator had conjured up, protecting himself with the combination of an electrified fence and shotgun to take down any of the zombies who came close to him, but also effectively blocking anyone's escape. "Jose, please," one of the members called, "turn off the fence and let us through!"

"And let you abandon Phantom Lord? Never. Go fight and if you lose your life in the process, so be it!" The member trying to escape looked on, shocked and horrified at what the man who claimed to protect them said. Give their lives? They just wanted to live in peace. Very few of the people remaining had experience fighting.

Gajeel knew that this was going to happen. He knew that if the base ever came under fire that Jose would never give it up. He would fight to the death, bringing those around him with it. When he had gone beyond the walls of Phantom Lord with Jose, Juvia, Sol, Totomaru and Aria, he had seen horrors. Jose had sent dozens of members to their deaths, making them be bait to drive away the zombies, or torturing them to cause the member to scream, drawing the zombies near only to abandon them when the zombies finally smell the blood. Of course there were no survivors. Gajeel had even seen some of these people walking with the other undead. He wasn't going to allow himself to have that kind of end. He refused. He was going to escape.

"Juvia, this way." He grabbed the woman's wrist and dragged her along, taking paths in a shadows, using his club to decapitate the occasional zombie, until he reached a secluded corner of the camp. It was bare, filled with dead crops from a failed harvest, dead leaves and dry dirt caddy-cornered against a wall. "Keep watch," Gajeel said, passing Juvia the club, knowing she was more than capable of defeating any creatures that came their way.

She nodded and placed the machete in her belt and held up the club. She gave Gajeel a curious glance as he got on his hands and knees and began digging away, but held her stance. A few minutes later Gajeel pulled a wooden crate out of the ground, opened it, and produced a few basic supplies all stuffed into a black backpack: a knife, some dried food, two metal water bottles, both filled, a rope, and a first aid kit. "Gajeel, what is all this?"

"You didn't think we'd stay here forever, didn't you?" Gajeel replied before beginning to scale the wall. The chinks in the brick weren't noticeable at first, but upon closer examination it was easy to see someone had carefully carved out foot and handholds. The electric fence that surrounded the perimeter of Phantom Lord had been cut away at the top, leaving an almost undetectable place to climb through. At the top of the wall Gajeel extended a muscular arm, reaching for the club from Juvia. "Hold on," he said, and she did so, and Gajeel hoisted her up over the wall with him.

"Where are we going to go?" Juvia looked around the forest outside the wall, drawing her arms close to her in a defensive position. It was obvious she wasn't comfortable being this far out in the open. Frankly, Gajeel wasn't a fan of it either. "Are we going to find a new home?"

Gajeel gave the Phantom Lord emblem on his bicep a glance, then sighed. "Not like we have much of a choice, huh?" He stepped out into the forest, Juvia on his heels. They were going to survive.

Screams continued to be heard from behind the walls. People he knew were being killed. Smoke was rising from inside. It didn't take a genius to know that this was the end of the life they once knew. They walked on, heading south. Being out in the open, exposed like this, they were gambling with their lives.

The sun was starting to set and the night was beginning to come in, bringing the cold air with it. No moon lit up the sky, so only the faint light of stars breaking through the treetops guided them, so they were essentially walking in complete darkness. "At least the zombies can't see us either."

"That's little comfort, Gajeel. We could easily walk into one of their nests without even realizing it."

He knew that Juvia was right, but all he did to acknowledge this was give a gruff grunt before continuing onward. A faint amber light showed itself in the distance. "Move!" He pushed Juvia down by one of the bushes and they watched the light rush towards them, beginning to illuminate a shadowy figure that made their way towards them.

"What is it?" Juvia asked, her voice hardly above a whisper.

Three or four zombies ran behind the figure with the light, chasing it down. "Someone being chased by zombies."

"Should we help them?"

His and Juvia's life, or some random stranger's? "Probably not."

"Gaje-"

"Shh."

The shadowed figure came into sight, only a few feet away from their hiding place. She was a young woman, running away, struggling with the backpack on her back that seemed to burst at the seams filled with something, likely supplies. Of course, just feet away from the pair, she fell over, letting out a squeal of pain, backing away from the encroaching zombies. He didn't know what came over him, but he happened to catch a glimpse of her eyes, brown and shining even in the dark, terrified, like a deer in the headlights.

In a moment that would change his life forever, he burst from the bushes, club in hand, ready to pound in heads. Of course, he didn't know this action would change everything.

Long time no see fanfiction! I've been super busy, so sorry! I promise I'm coming back and I will be finishing Broken in the MLB fandom soon! The play I'm in is just taking up a ton of time (not that I'm not enjoying every second of it!) and I'm working on my new job! Since the show opens Friday my weekdays will clear up and I should be able to write more! Yay! This story is going to be about seventeen chapters and they'll be pretty short chapters, around the length of this chapter, if not a tad bit longer. I hope y'all enjoy this zombie fic (the first I've written on any of my accounts). It should be an... interesting read, if nothing else! Let me know y'all's thoughts and I hope y'all had a Happy Easter/April Fool's Day!