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Chapter One, Rule 10: Be Quiet

"Renji, seriously man, stop!" I hissed to my friend as we crept along the side of the large white wall to our right. His shotgun gleamed in the afternoon light, barrel pointed straight ahead. In front of us was a large chain link fence that protected the hospital courtyard from the parking lot, but it was what was screaming at us and shaking the fence that had me worried.

Renji cocked the gun and gave me a smirk, nodding towards the group of three Walkers stuck on the other side. They had obviously been patients at some point, because they wore torn and bloody hospital gowns still loosely wrapped across their broken bodies. I exhaled noisily and nodded back and with that he shot off three rounds at the trapped Walkers. His shots were always deadly accurate due to his police training and all the Walkers hit the ground, blood pouring out of there fragmented brains.

"Seriously Ichi, you need to stop worrying every time I have ta' kill one of these things." Renji exclaimed while tossing his gun over and scaling the fence, "You're the one who wanted to come back and check up on this place"

I sighed and nodded, following him over the fence, "I know, I just needed to make sure everyone was really gone. And we need some supplies anyways." With the hell we had been going through, it was a blessing one of us hasn't needed a bandage yet.

It had been a week since we had immerged from the forest, a week since we had discovered the world had ended. And while I thought now somehow we would get over this, it was starting to dawn on me that this was our reality now.

We had started our hike back to the car that morning at 5, so it was understandable that by 3:30 in the afternoon I was dead tired when we finally stepped out of the forest. Renji of course seemed unfazed, the only sign that he was slightly hot was his long red hair pulled back in a band. Sure his tribal tattoos that covered his whole body had a light sheen of sweat, but he wasn't nearly as drenched as me. Being a pre-med student left me with long hours pf cleaning bed pans and no time for a gym membership. The ranger station came into view first and Renji made the decision to grab some fresh water and food before heading home.

"Hello?" Renji yelled as we walked in the front door of the cabin. It was eerily quiet inside, although the front door specifically stated the rangers should be on duty right now.

I walked to the counter and hit the assistance bell while Renji grabbed a couple subs and bottles of water from the fridge.

After a moment, noises started coming from the room behind the front counter.

"Anyone there? We want to purch-" I was cut short as a loud animal-like groan filled the small cabin.

I knew that noise; it was a sound I would never forget. The fear that swept through me must have showed because Renji instantly became on edge. I instinctually backed away from the counter while Renji pulled out his shotgun. We hadn't used it the whole camping trip, but he had been convinced we needed it in case we found a deer.
I had never been gladder for the red-heads idiocy.

"Who's there?" Renji called out, his voice taking on an edge I had only heard him use while on the job.

A figure appeared in the doorway, his shoulders slumped forward and mouth hanging open. Blood caked his hands and mouth, dripping saliva-like as his ghostly blue eyes gazed at us hungrily. One of his feet look as if it had been ripped apart by an animal, which caused him to drag it behind him as he made his way towards us.

"What the hell?" Renji exclaimed, cocking the rifle and shifting backwards in obvious fright. How could he not be afraid? Five years as a cop never prepared him for someone, no, something like this.

The man's head cocked to the side like a dog at the sound of Renji's voice and he let out another snarl. He quickened his dragging gaint, backing us into the corner. The man was only three feet away from Renji when three loud bangs filled the cabin. The body fell to the ground and Renji lowered the shotgun, though he didn't move from his spot.

Suddenly, the creature let out another horrible scream and grabbed at Renji's ankle. He swore and jumped backwards, falling onto his back and knocking me back as well. The man tore at Renji's hiking boots while my friend scrambled for his gun and cocked it once more, kicked the thing in the face, and unloaded a round straight into his head.

Brain splattered against the floor as the man fell face-first into a growing pool of blood, the body finally unmoving.

Renji got up slowly, unsteady at first before shaking himself off and walking towards the corpse. He nudged it with the butt of the gun, his face pale, "He's dead now, or at least deader the' before." I could see him glance down at me from the corner of my eyes, "Is this what you were talking about at the hospital before we left?"

I nodded, still unable to rip my eyes away from the body. I had seen patients die, even seen that man and nurse die back at the hospital two weeks ago, but this ranger….it almost looked as if his head didn't exist anymore. The shotgun had shredded his face apart, leaving a bloody, misshapen shape in its place. I could make out a part of his brain laying only a foot away from my hiking boots…

I jumped up and ran outside, making it just in time to vomit the light lunch of granola over the stations deck. Then I stayed there, staring un-seeing at the ivy below me.

"Ichigo," I jumped when Renji placed his hand on my shoulder, "We have to get inta the city."

My eyes grew wide, understanding instantly what he meant. If the virus had spread this far, then what had happened to the hospital? To the city? To my-

"Renji, my family-I have to get back to Karin and Yuzo-"

"I got it man. I need ta find Rukia and the baby as well. Let's go, get yer shit together, I'll get the car runnin' "

I nodded; grabbing the bag I hadn't realized I had dropped. God please let them be okay…

I shoved open the emergency exit doors, letting in a blinding sheen of light on the dark staircase. We propped it open with a cinderblock sitting nearby, then stepped inside the hospital.
It was dark at first, but my eyes soon adjusted and we followed the blinking EXIT sign to the second floor.

It looked like WWIII had broken out in the hallway. Bodies lay everywhere, dried blood caked to them and staining the white tiles. The only light was from the flickering ceiling bulb at the end of the hallway, casting shadows over the corpses that made me not want to move from the safety of the staircase.

"Come on, I need your help finding the supply closet." Renji grumbled, picking his way around the bodies. He kept his gun armed and ready, by now used to expecting every corpse to get up and come after us.

I hated seeing this place like this. A hospital was a place of healing, never destruction. These bodies that littered the floor had not been infected, or else they would have gotten up and attacked right when we appeared. The only alternative was death by another human. I glanced down at the corpse of an elderly woman as I stepped over her, taking in the multiple gunshot wounds littering her chest.

I averted my eyes quickly, focusing on the task of at hand. Worrying about the past was not a luxury we could afford anymore.

The supply closet was around the corner to where we were, passed the flickering light that lit the area. The next hallway was actually mostly bodiless, though it hadn't escaped the smears of blood and bullet holes dotting the walls.

"It's right here." I walked towards a closet door blocked by a wheelchair. Shoving the wheelchair away I opened the door, creating an eerie creak down the hallway. I cringed, very much aware of the amount of noise I had just made.

Renji walked straight into the closet, pulling the empty backpack off his back and starting to dump necessary medical supplies in. I grabbed mine and followed suit. We worked in silence, used to each other's presence so much that it required little to no talking.

Renji and I have known each other since kindergarten, though we only became best friends in high school. Actually, I seem to remember thinking he was a real dick in middle school, though I had respect for him because both of us had such brightly colored hair. Maybe that's what brought us together during freshman year and stuck us together all through my med schooling and his police academy. I guess if I were to choose one person to get stuck with, Renji was a pretty good choice.

BANG

I stiffened, dropping the syringes I had been packing. Renji moved to the door of the closet instantly, crouching with his gun poised and ready for a threat.

"Ren is there-"

"Shhhhh" He hissed at me, sending a warning glance backwards before fixating his gaze towards the danger.

I could hear the sounds of movement, banging echoing down the hallways of the hospital. God-damnit, we were stuck in a tiny ass closet with no escape route. If we managed to make it out of here, there was the hallway of bodies that we would need to weave through and the staircase to reach as well…
For an instant, I couldn't help but think of how stupid it would be to die by tripping over a carcass.

Renji cocked his gun and I clenched my jaw at the loud noise.
I shifted the backpack over my shoulders, preparing for a run.

"Alright, I think there are about five out there. Too many for us to handle with only one shot gun…we need to make a run for it." Renji whispered to me. I nodded, rolling forward on the balls of my feet. I had been a track star in high school so running was my specialty.

Renji lifted himself from his crouch and pulled his back pack on. We locked eyes one last time before we were running, the sounds of the walking dead reverberating behind us as they gave chase.

The hallway of bodies was a challenge. I leapt over as many as I could before catching my foot on one and slamming into the blood covered chest of another. On any normal occasion I would have been embarrassed…but having your face covered in dried blood and a mouth full of a dead persons shirt tends to change your reaction to things.
I scrambled away from the body and pulled myself up just as Renji caught up to me, his face and front of his navy plaid shirt drenched in blood.
"I got two of them, but there's more then five now. Don't stop" Renji turned and shot off three more rounds at the growing crowd of zombies. We sprinted to the staircase entrance, slamming the door shut just as the bodies impacted on the other side. Renji locked the door and shoved a broken peice of metal in the handle as I held the door closed.

"Are you alright!" I screamed at him, very much aware of the amount of blood covering his front.

He laughed, nodding, "Shot one in the throat and it splashed me with some blood, I'm fine"

Releived, I nodded and started sprinting down down the stiarcase, escaping into the cold night just as the door above slammed open and bodies came tumbling after us. We shut the fire escape door and leaned against it while the bodies pounded repeatedly behind.
"Ichigo, you need to get over the fence" Renji yelled over the blood curdling screams.

I looked at him as if he was crazy, "Hell no! We're both making a run for that fence!" I yelled back, anger growing at the mere suggestion of leaving him.

"If I let go of this door, there all gonna come streaming out and we both wont make it"

"Its not an option Renji, come on!" I knew he would hate me for it later, but I grabbed his stained shirt and dragged him across the courtyard. He screamed at me, but had no choice to follow as the zombies instantly escaped the doorway. We tossed our bags and his gun over the fence and started climbing and I honestly thought we had made it when I saw Renji hit the ground, safe.

Something grabbed my boot and pulled me back just as I was about to drop down. I screamed, kicking backwards and feeling the sick sensation of cartilidge breaking under the impact. As the zombie fell, she ripped off my boot in the process. The other Walkers went into a frenzy to get at my exposed flesh. I began pulled myself up the rest of the fence just as Renji yanked me the rest off the way off.

I hit the ground hard, jarring my elbow and illisting a string of curses. The zombies surged against the fence, but it held strong. We were safe.

"God DAMN IT Ichigo!" Renji screamed at me, pulling me to my feet and shoving my backpack into my hands, "Can't you just listen ta me once an' a while?"

I grinned at him, shoving him forward as we jogged back to the car, "Nah man, I'm never gonna listen to ya cause your too much of an idiot"

He glared at me and tripped me on my shoeless foot, causing me to stumble and stub my toe. Asshole.


Renji's silver Honda Passport was something of a novelty now. It was'nt an old car, though seventeen years had managed to put a good amount of wear on the SUV. It was the amount of memories the car embodied. Mostly all of my highschool life surrounded this car. I hated grey cars, but the Passport pulled it off well. Even with the constant smell of wet dog when a dog had never been in it.

I leaned back agaisnt the headrest and stared unseeingly out the window, letting the moment of peace calm me fromt eh near death experience.

"Renji" I mumbled, rolling my head to look at him as he drove.

"Huh?" He answered, sparing my a sidelong glance.

I coughed and leaned forward, resting my forhead against my palms, "We won't survive by ourselves. Don't do that again. And no matter what happens next, we can't loose it for eachother. Neither one of us can live like this alone"

There was a long silence in the car, so long that I had to lift my head to see if he was even listening.

"I know" He finally managed, though he sounded exasperated, "We'll find our families and get hell out of this nightmare"

My eyebrows furrowed into my usual scowl. I knew the tone Renji was useing. It was one he used when he was trying to convince a victim they were safe. He was coddling me and I hated it. But, rather then exploding like I normaly would, I reached forward and turned on the tapdeck as loud as it would go. I'd had enough of the fighting today.

"Living easy
Loving free
Season ticket for a one way ride"

I snorted and glanced at my bestfriend, seeing a look of barely restrained laughter on his face.
"Seriously man?" I asked.

"Asking nothing
Leave me be
Taken everything in my stride"

"Wha'?" He spurted out, looking at me with a cheshire grin plastered on his face, "Evr'y one enjoys a little AC/DC!"

"Don't need reason
Don't need rhyme
Ain't nothin' I would rather do
Going down
By the time
My friends are gonna be there too, eh"

I couldnt control it anymore, the irony of our situation leading me to hysterical laughter. Renji joined in, howling with laughter along with me. When the chores started, we found ourselves screaming along with it.

"I'm on a highway to hell
On the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell"


Wow. Honestly, I hadnt expected people to like this so much. Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the first post, Im glad you guys appreciate zombies as much as I do.
Also, just to clear things up a little, this will NOT have any Ren/Ichi in it. Renji is straight, so the only thing going on is a little bromance.
If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask.
Special thanks to Ciel Leon once again for the wonderful Betaing! (is that the verb for it?)

Review :)