We had to shut off the internet for a while to save money. Sorry for the delay.

Croakers seem to move faster in hordes; their rotting flesh in the numbers brought tears to Haruhi's eyes. Move, move fast, and move now. Don't think, just go! Hikaru's hand slid down from Haruhi's arm to her hand; this is it, they are going to die. He pulled her to the left, dodging trees, branches, and everything that got in their path.

"Hikaru, Hikaru stop," Haruhi pulled her hand out of his, "we're surrounded, what's the point?" She stopped in her tracks, croakers twenty maybe twenty five feet away from them. Her hope for survival was now dwindled to nothing. On the bright, fucked up, side she wouldn't die alone; fucked up isn't it?

"What do you mean what's the point!? Five years, ten years from now! I'm telling you! I have an Idea, it's going to be risky, but we can pull it off; we're not going to die today." He recaptured her hand in his and pulled her further away from the horde. "It's better than nothing, we have to try."

"Alright, we'll try," might as well go down with a fight. She stopped dragging her feet and stood by him huddled behind a large tree. "What's the plan? What do I do?" Hikaru pulled out his large blade and set down the backpacks.

"Take your top off."

"Excuse me? How is that going to help?" She looked over shoulder; they were now ten feet away, in two short minutes they would swarm the couple.

"We're going to cover ourselves in them. It's a fifty-fifty shot it will work, but it's a shot; we don't have any clean clothes so take your top off and I'm going to cover you." He pulled his shirt over his head and shoved it in his backpack. Haruhi did the same, this time grateful she wore an undershirt; the thought of rotten flesh on her bare skin made her want to vomit.

"How are we going to do this? If we get close enough they'll swarm, we're surrounded and we have to move now!" Their stench violated her nose bringing tears to her eyes. She wasn't quite too sure how it happened, but Hikaru managed to isolate a croaker and sliced its gut open. He slung one of the intestines, either the large or small; Haruhi wasn't too concerned as to which one it was, over her small shoulders then slung the other over his. For extra measure he painted her undershirt in the fluids that seeped from the croakers open torso.

"Now or never, and if we die… I'm glad I won't die alone," Hikaru took Haruhi's hand in his own and waited as the croakers engulfed them. Waiting for the inevitable, she closed her eyes and waited for the mauling to start; it would be a painful death to say the least, being eaten alive. Hot stinky breath snorted into her face leaving behind a mucus film coating her nose forcing a gag deep in her throat. She opened her eyes and was met with white. She inhaled sharply and clenched Hikaru's hand; the rotten hunk of flesh stared her down, sniffing, and then simply walked away.

"Hikaru, it left," she whispered over to him. Nodding he laced his fingers with her and walked slowly forward. White eyes followed them but none moved to them. They walked for what felt like hours at a pace that could only be described as sluggish. Each step they took another wave of croakers seemed to appear from the shrubbery. Hikaru didn't speak a word the entire time, his white face was paler than normal; sweat dripped down his forehead and stung his eyes. Haruhi looked out into the horizon and saw the heads dwindling. It would be over soon, they would make it out of the horde; but the sirens seemed to grow louder still, if they wanted to make it out of the sirens reach they would need faster transportation. They further they walked, the clearer the distance became, a town was up ahead. They could find a car, but it would be a huge risk. Croakers hid around every corner in cities. It was best to avoid them at all costs.

"Haruhi, the town up ahead… it's where I lost my brother. We can't go there." Contrary to his words his feet kept moving forward. What seemed like the final wave of undead passed as the sun slowly made its way west, down the horizon. A few stragglers shuffled on the town's border turning their heads as Haruhi and Hikaru walked by, croaking when they got near.

"Hikaru, we should get to high ground, and set up camp for the night. If those sirens are still on tomorrow, it'll only bring more croakers," they entered the town and were greeted with broken glass and burnt down buildings. The town looked as though it had been hit with a bomb; destruction was everywhere the pair looked. Haruhi moved to unlace her fingers from Hikaru but he only tightened his grip.

"Yeah we should, in the morning we need to find a car; that siren is bad news. Whoever or whatever set it off can't be any better." They found an apartment complex three blocks from the outskirts of the city line. Shedding the intestines that still clung to their shoulders; the pair climbed the rusted iron outside stairs.

"How high should we go, Hikaru?" Haruhi was three steps ahead of Hikaru climbing up to the top. She stopped at a flat and motioned for Hikaru to join her.

"What, what is it?" Hikaru's gold eyes studied Haruhi's shocked face and followed her line of sight to inside the apartment. Oh… There were lights, candles to be exact, lit on the small kitchen table and shelves decorating the room with a warm orange glow.

"Someone else is here; you said that this was the city you lost your brother a month ago, right?" She tried sliding the window up to enter the room, but it didn't budge. She tried again, "Hikaru, a little help please, it won't open," She tried again. Hikaru came up behind her and smashed the window open with the butt of his blade. "What the fuck Hikaru?" She sighed out in frustration.

"Keep your gun out and sweep the perimeter," he stepped inside but was met with a fist to his face. Hikaru crumpled to the ground with a grunt holding his nose.

"Jesus fucking Christ! Hikaru, are you okay?!" Haruhi jumped in after him, her gun in her hand. Her second foot hit the floor just as a spear came to eye level with her face.

"Drop it," it was a man who spoke, his voice was deep and stoic. She did as she was told and the spear was lowered.

"We mean no harm, I didn't know he would break the window," Haruhi kept her hands up in defense, and looked the stranger up and down. This man was a giant, six foot six at the least, with soft black hair and steely gray eyes.

"Could have knocked," was that suppose to be a joke? The giant kept the spear lowered but clenched tightly in his massive hands. He stepped closer to her, slowly looking her up and down. "You seem safe, what's your name?"

"Haruhi, that's Hikaru, we came from the woods, the sirens started blaring and we managed to make our way here," she lowered her hands to her side, still keeping eye contact with him.

"I heard it too; I'm Mori," he set the spear against the table and extended his hand to her. "I'm glad I'm not alone anymore." His hand engulfed Haruhi's, she ignored his comment.

Hikaru groaned down beside her, clutching his nose.

"I think it's broken," He leaned up against the table, Haruhi quickly by his side. Her fingers grazed over his nose and he slapped them away. Again she looked it over and concluded it was dislocated, not broken.

"Mori, can you help me with this?" He grunted his response then quickly grabbed hold of Hikaru's shoulders.

"Hey, what are you- OWE the fuck Haruhi?!" She snapped his nose back in place with a gnarly pop. The bridge of his nose was hues of black and blue. Mori slipped out of sight and returned with a first aid kit. Twenty minutes and several swears later, Hikaru donned three butterfly Band-Aids on his nose and a glare at the two who did it to him.

"Is it okay if we stay here for tonight? Staying in the city, so close to the siren isn't a good idea, we'll be gone in the morning," Haruhi stood over by the smashed window, watching the tall man move around.

"Haruhi, are you sure we can trust him? We just met him," Hikaru looked to Haruhi, the back to Mori.

"Because we broke into his home and he didn't kill us," she dead panned. "Good enough for you? Because that's good enough for me," she crossed her arms over her petite chest and stared Hikaru down.

"You can stay, I'm searching for my cousin, let me come with you and search for him is all I ask," Mori looked sad mentioning his cousin, his gray eyes turned from steely to melancholy.

Three agreed to travel together, in the morning they would set out to look for a car. That night Haruhi was unable to sleep; she wasn't sure if it was the siren that still rang in the distance or the fact that her Hell-ish world was growing. From not using her words, and having a stern set of rules, to conversing constantly, allowing herself to sleep fully, and feeling the warmth of another person intimately close. As she lay on the carpeted floor of Mori's temporary shelter/apartment, she tried her best not to toss and turn, in fear of waking the ginger who held her close, his hand resting low on her stomach, his fingers near the hemline of her pants. He always did this when they tried to sleep; his hand possessively on her in some way, not that she cared. She made it perfectly clear to him that she would not have sex with him; when he tried to snake his hand into her panties she slapped him, claiming that sex in an apocalypse only leads to death. Rule number one: Sex gets you killed. The siren off in the distance came through the broken window like a harsh breeze.

Turning her head to the side, she could see Mori crouched in a corner; his head hung low in his lap with his spear clutched in his massive hand. His breathing was even and deep signaling that he was asleep. Turning her head the other, Hikaru was spooning her side; one hand on her lower stomach, the other tucked under his head. His face was peaceful when he slept, like the years of stress and mischief were wiped clean every night. His blade was a few inches from his head, ready to go at any second if needed; her gun lay near her knees, still in hands reach but far enough way where she won't roll over on it.

Her head was still swimming from the pain of being in close proximity to the siren blaring. Laying down made her feel as if she were drunk; closing her eyes made it feel better, but every time she did, she saw the white eyes of the croaker that stared her down when the first walked through the woods. She turned to her side so her back was facing Hikaru and her face to the window. The hand that rested on her stomach gripped her shirt and pulled her close to the body behind her. Haruhi made to scoot away but the hand refused to let her go.

Sighing, she pulled the hand away then moved to the other side of the room, closer to Mori and the window. The chill of the night time air that pooled in helped her relax slightly, lulling her to sleep. That night, for the first night in two years, Haruhi dreamed.

She dreamt of the croakers that didn't follow them through the woods and possibility of who or what was responsible for the sirens off in the distance. Her bleak and slightly terrifying dream was halted by a hand on her shoulder shaking her awake.

"Haruhi, wake up, it's time to go," it was Hikaru who woke her up, her head foggy from little sleep and a pounding head ache that still rammed strong in her skull.

The now trio packed what they could from the apartment and set out into the city. The search for a car was tricky, if they set off an alarm croakers were sure to swarm. Haruhi figured if the siren could be heard loud and clear from the city then it could be heard from miles away from their location, meaning more waves of undead. An educated guess told Haruhi they had maybe an hour before the huge waves started to flood in; she did not want to have to coat herself in more croaker fluids again to escape. The three of them soon found a big black truck that looked like it hadn't suffered too much damage, it would do. The shitty part was that no one knew how to unlock the car without setting off its possible alarms. Mori was the first to try, sticking a thin piece of metal from the rubbish around him into the window seal of the driver's side door. He jiggled it around and the door came unlocked with a pop. Haruhi loaded the bags into the backseat then climbed up to the front.

"I read a book last year on the anatomy of vehicles. We need to pop that thing open and fuse certain wires together to get it to start," She pointed to a section under the wheel and racked her brain for what wires that needed to be cut and wired together.

"Or," Hikaru flipped a sun visor down and a set of keys dropped onto the seat, "we use the keys." He gave her a smirk.

"Well excuse me, what dumbass leaves their keys in their car?" She huffed and climbed into the back seat.

"Be grateful," was all Mori had to offer about the matter.

They drove off down the streets out of the town towards the country side at the base of the mountains. Stopping only once to siphon gas from a similar truck then continued on the road. They chatted, well Hikaru and Haruhi talked while Mori listened. He chimed in every so often to dissolve the disputes the younger pair would have. They learned that Mori's cousin, called Hunny was two years older than Hikaru and Haruhi. They attended the same high school as Hikaru, but never conversed with each other. Mori was fiercely protective of his cousin and it devastated him that they were separated. Hunny had gone off to help hurt citizens while Mori was to stay at the front lines and fight off the undead. He returned to the "safe haven" in flames with no one around. His gut told him that they headed to the mountains for sanctuary. His mentioning of the mountains made Haruhi think, how weirdly convenient that this random group would all be headed to the same location; why is everyone heading to the mountains? For now she would leave it be, and be grateful she had company.

For two days they drove, switching drivers every so often, until they hit dense woods. They carried on foot from there. All three of them silently thankful that the siren was a quiet ringing many miles away from them. The sun hung high in the sky beating down on Haruhi's neck and shoulders. Her blood crusted, disgusting, tank top offered no protection for her shoulders, turning a rosy pink. Her legs ached from the incline of the walk. Her back sore from constant moving, she started to slow down. Bitter exhaustion was never good in a world like this; with her rotten luck when she's completely worn out would be when croakers appeared. Deciding that falling back a few paces was better than passing out on them, Haruhi stopped to rest her legs and drink her hot water.

The hot water burnt her tongue but felt oddly refreshing; she slid the nearly empty bottle back in her bag with intentions to jog back up to the men. She looked up, expecting them to be only twenty feet at most away from her. She was not expecting to be knocked to her side by a flash of gold.

"Not again," She felt a twig snap under her back and a pair of very soft lips pressed to hers. Whoever this person was, he was a good kisser. Shifting her face to get a look of her assailant her brown eyes were met with a pair of striking purple irises. He lifted himself from her to look over her.

"You're real! You're not a mirage! Well you are a vision that is for sure," he continued to yapp but Haruhi stopped listening and stared up at the beautiful man hovered over her. His eyes shone with a type of youthfulness she hadn't seen in a long while. He spoke with a kind of grace keying her in on his elegant lineage. His soft pink lips were perfect M's and his hair looked so soft, it was pulled into a low pony tail at the nape of his neck. This man stirred things in Haruhi's body unlike anything other. She wanted this man, this complete stranger; he was perfect in every way. She stared blankly up at him dazzled by his absolute Godliness.

"Did you hear me? I asked your name, are you okay? Did I knock you deaf?! Oh God I broke you, I'm sorry!" He stopped babbling nonsense and Haruhi came to her senses.

"I'm, I'm fine, and you are so handsome. Wait, I mean, my name is Haruhi I'm traveling with two others up the mountain. Who are you?" Great, now she was starting to babble herself. Curse this perfect man for making her lose her senses, and his unbelievably sexy body resting on hers.

"My name is Tamaki, Tamaki Suoh; you're with others? Where, when I found you, you were alone, wait, did you just call me handsome?" She swallowed hard, pushing every indecent thought from her mind; reminding herself what happens when sex is mixed in with death. But dear lord did she want this man inside her more than she wanted air to breathe.

"NO! I said hand-full. You're a hand full," nice save Haruhi, now stop picturing this man between your thighs doing naughty things to you. God what those fingers could do, what could those things do? They were long and slim, slightly calloused, but they looked like musician's fingers. She couldn't stop the visions of her riding this man till she was raw that kept popping up in her mind. Her eyes were glazed over with lust. She should get up before she did something stupid, like kiss him or, well, fucked him till she saw stars.

"Haruhi, are you okay, you fell behind" Hikaru didn't finish his sentence when he saw Haruhi pinned on the ground by a strange man. He charged at them knocking the newest one to the ground throwing punches. "You messed with the wrong girl!" He flung his fist at Tamaki's face, but was stopped by the blonde's hand catching Hikaru's fist and twisting his wrist. Tamaki pushed Hikaru off of him and stood with both of his fists up ready to fight.

"I meant no harm to the lady, I just got a little excited to find another living being," he dodged the first punch, but didn't move in time and caught one right to the jaw.

"Hikaru stop! You did the same exact thing when you first saw me," Hikaru didn't listen to her and continued to throw punches at the beautiful stranger. "Hikaru, stop!" This time she dove for him jumping on his back trying to pull him away. "Fucking dumbass, you did the same thing, he didn't hurt me!" her foot got caught in an uplifted root making Hikaru trip and fall over with her on top.

"You sure?" he turned his head to the side spitting out a bit of dirt that managed to get past his lips.

"What? Am I sure what?" She was straddling his back to keep him pinned.

"Are you sure he didn't hurt you?" This was the last thing Hikaru wanted, another male to be traveling with them. But who was he to deny the new guy human contact? Hikaru himself barely made it two weeks without his brother, how long had this guy been traveling alone?

"For fuck's sake, yes I'm sure, he did less damage than you did," Since when is Hikaru so hot headed? Oh wait, always.

The two of them stood and the two men exchanged names, both in a hostile manner, but they didn't exchange more than that. Hikaru walked a faster pace than them to catch up with Mori while Haruhi stood behind to talk with Tamaki.

He had been traveling alone for nearly two years; his father was very wealthy and had a team of body guards that managed to keep him safe for the first six months, even after the virus had spread. Tamaki said they had watched over him ever sense he was an infant and maybe that's why they chose to stay with him. He was very fond of them and cried when they started to die one by one.

"What about you? What's your story?" He asked earnestly, looking at her side profile as they walked behind the other two.

"Not much to tell, I was in law school, I had four years left until I took the bar exam and that's about it, I lived a dull life." She kept her head straight, refusing to give away any emotion. She felt very strong desires for this man, but he was a stranger, and sex gets you hurt, killed, or worse, a sense of love that can be ripped away from you in the blink of an eye. So far now Haruhi would harden herself, keep her distance, and push down her urges. Until they were buried like sand over fire, she would not look at Tamaki.

Let me know if you liked it or hated it :)