A/N: yes, the time skip here from the end of chapter one is intentional. I ran this past the Collective and it was agreed to let it stand as is. There is gratuitous Japanese and Kansai-ben in this chapter. If there is a translation guide at the end of this chapter

Dance of Death

"Mou, Aru kare hen," Misa said softly. A tear trailed down her cheek. "I can't run anymore."

"We won't be able to right now, anyway," Alex said, peering through the blinds. "We're surrounded, and the sun is going down. I'll figure a diversion in the morning and we can make a break for it."

"No, Ah-chan," Misa said. "You don't get it. I'm tired of running. There's no where left to run to."

"That's not true, koibito," Alex tried to comfort. She forced a smile. "Asuka onee-chan, Shaun and the others said they would meet up with us at the ryokan."

Misa struggled to stand. When she managed to gain her feet, she walked softly over and dragged Alex deeper into the house. Shaun's security measures ensured They would not get in, as long as the inhabitants remained quiet.

"I'm just so tired," Misa whispered. "I know I'm pregnant with that monster's baby and I just feel like giving up. The world has gone to Hell. Why bother fighting against fate?"

Alex gaped at her love. She shook her head to clear the cobwebs. "I swore to nee-chan that I would always keep you safe. I swore to you, Mi-chan. Do you want me to quit now?"

Misa choked a tear, but Alex could see the pain on her face clear as day. Alex took Misa into her arms and held onto her as if she were the only person left on earth. Misa finally let loose and cried into Alex's shoulder.

The sun sank over the sea, plunging the tiny island of Ikei into darkness. The shuffling of undead feet mingled with the sounds of insects humming in the twilight. Alex held Misa as the smaller girl cried herself out.

"I'll get our futon," Alex offered as she broke the embrace. Misa smiled, though Alex knew there was no happiness there.

Dawn broke humid and hot. Alex reluctantly opened an eye to find Misa curled comfortably against her. She liked the short pixie cut she had given Misa. It seemed to add to her already cute, innocent features.

Just like an anime character, Alex laughed to herself. Too bad we can't just fast forward to the end credits. She pulled Misa closer and drank her scent. Misa squirmed slightly then rolled in such a way as to face Alex.

"Good morning, sunshine," Alex said with a kiss. "Feel better from last night?"

Misa smiled. "Not really, but I am willing to go with you."

"You'd better," Alex chided playfully. "Nee-chan would never forgive me if I came alone."

"Do you remember the last morning we spent in Osaka?' Misa asked.

Alex thought back. "Yes."

"I feel that way now," Misa confided. "All I see is death. I can't run - no, I don't want to run anymore."

"Remember what you told me when I said to leave me?" Alex asked. "Nani iu ten nen 'what the hell am I thinking'."

Misa choked back a laugh. "I also asked if you were an idiot." She lowered her head, her fringe covering her eyes. "I see what you are trying to do, but I'm not you, Ah-chan. I can't keep picking myself up all the time. I don't have any strength left for it."

"Then take mine," Alex said. "Let me carry you. All I want in this life - all I ever wanted – was someone who cared for me, who loved me. Now I finally found her, and she wants to give up? My daddy is rolling in his grave to hear such nonsense from the woman I chose."

Misa clapped her hands silently and chanted "kuwabara" a few times. She looked up to see Alex smiling at her. She took the hand offered. Alex hefted her lightly to her feet.

"Let's refill the drink bladder, re-pack the go bag and make for the Shimizu place on the outskirts," Alex said, the confidence returning to her hushed voice. "Once we're out in the rice paddies and down by the beach, we can see Them coming."

"It's getting from here to there that has me worried," Misa said. "There is still a lot of village between us and the fields."

Alex cracked a smile. "Dad taught me a few things while in he was in Afghanistan. First and foremost, always keep your head on a swivel and never stay in one place too long."

Misa smiled broadly. "Wakatta." She emptied the go bag. She then took the drink bladder into the kitchen and left Alex to repack.

Lemme see, Alex mused. We're going to need clean undies. All this food stays in the bag. The rest of Mi-chan's firecrackers in this pouch. Where's my knife…ah, there it is. What's this? Alex turned the heavy book over in her hand then flipped open the cover. College mathematics…there are signatures… Alex picked her brain on the more esoteric kanji until she settled onto the hiragana that followed. Saya…Takashi…Saeko… She set the book aside and stuffed more clothing into the main compartment.

Misa marched in carrying the full drink bladder. She handed it off to Alex. "Why did you unpack the book?"

Alex looked up from her task. "I needed to make room."

Misa walked to their wardrobe. Alex watched her dig out her old school backpack. Misa sat next to Alex and stuffed the math book inside.

"I am taking this with us," Misa declared. "Our former classmates went through a lot of trouble to salvage this. I won't be the one to lose it."

Alex smiled and offered a sloppy salute. "Yes, boss."

Misa chuckled. "You haven't called me that since the Outbreak at school."

"Are you feeling better now, Mi-chan?"

Misa nodded. "A little, I guess. I just needed to cry it out."

Alex finished re-packing the go bag. Misa stood and peered through the blinds. "The street seems deserted."

"We need to detour to the middle school," Alex said as she undressed.

"Why?" Misa asked. "It's in the opposite direction from the Shimizu house."

"I left my weapon bag and bokken there yesterday," Alex said. "I don't wanna have to rely on my steel and dull the edge."

Alex took time to wrap her torso in the sarashi.

Misa sighed. "You're right." She stood again and wandered back to the wardrobe. "We shouldn't forget this, then."

Alex took the proffered box. "Ah, the cleaning and maintenance kit. Good thinking, Mi-chan." Alex pulled her ACU pants on as Misa stuffed the kit into her pack.

Misa held her backpack for Alex. "I'll take the go bag, it's heavier than this one."

"Right," Alex said. "Because I'm the better fighter."

Misa smiled and nodded. "What are our chances?"

"Situation hopeless," Alex said as she slipped her button-down over her arms. "But not impossible."

Misa reached up to peck Alex on the cheek. "Come. Nee-chan will be expecting us shortly."

Alex stuffed her shorts and sport bra into the front pouch of the go bag, pulled her boonie low over her eyes and walked to the front door.

"Ready?" Alex asked as she slipped her sword into her belt.

Misa stood beside her, naginata in hand and a gleam in her eye Alex swore was not there a few seconds ago. "Hai."

Asuka paced the ramparts of the inner defensive ring encircling the ryokan. She barely noticed the sun as it rose to the east.

"Dearest," a voice called from behind her. "You've been up all night. Come inside and take a break."

Asuka turned to see Shaun striding up the short stair, a cup of something hot in his hand.

"Our girls are still out there, Shaun," Asuka said softly as she pointed to the smoking village to the southwest. "I can't sleep knowing they're out there. What if…what if…"

Shaun took her into his arms. The mug clattered to the wooded decking and rolled a short way off.

"I convinced the Sar Major to send Davis, Edmonds and Sharpe with me today to go and look for them," Shaun said. "We'll find them."

Asuka could not contain her tears. "Please don't come home without them."

Shaun smiled. "One way or another, they will come back with me. I promise."

Asuka followed Shaun and the Marines to the drawbridge. As the men prepared to depart, Andrea came running up, pipe in hand and dressed for combat.

"Wait for me!" she shouted. "I'm going with!"

Edmonds turned to face Andrea. He gathered her in his arms and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "I think you should stay here, luv."

Andrea scowled and placed her hands on her hips. "Don't you fucking dare patronize me, bucko."

Edmonds took a step back. "I wouldn't dream of it." he leaned in closer and waved his hand toward the ryokan. "I just don't trust the rest of this lot. They all think Liverpoo' FC is rubbish. Well, tha's just bollocks, tha' is. I need someone I can trust to keep 'em in line, see. Plus I need you to help guard the place."

Andrea narrowed her eyes and continued to scowl.

Davis stepped in. "I will keep a good eye on him, Miss Jensen. You have my oath."

Seemingly unconvinced, Andrea took a step backward. "I refuse to let another one die because of this."

"I don't intend to die," Edmonds said. "But it's me mates out there and I owe it to them to go out and get them."

"No one ever intends to die," Andrea said. "I just don't want you out there alone."

"I have these lads," Edmonds gestured to Shaun, Davis and Sharpe.

Asuka took the opportunity to interrupt. "Jensen-san, I have not had the pleasure of speaking with you. Would you join me for tea?"

Andrea looked at Asuka. She could tell Andrea felt the same fear and trepidation every time her man went over the wire. Andrea relented. "I don't like it, but..."

Shaun re-assembled the fire team, lowered the drawbridge and marched out.

"Ah-chan, I don't feel so good," Misa whined. "My stomach hurts."

Alex barely registered the words as she hacked her way through a small crowd of Them. Her fear, anger and hate boiled within her and all she wanted was a clear path to the school. I just have to get to my locker. I need my bag, now!

Alex spared a look behind her. NO! Misa! Where are you? Whether or not the words formed on her lips meant nothing by this time. It was enough to know Misa was gone; dead, eaten and consumed.

She came to a corner and saw him; the man who raped Misa, the man who threw their world into turmoil. Alex screamed in rage and whipped her blade across the top of his head, neatly severing the brain from the rest of his skull.

Panting and seeing only red, she marched on. Another zombie filled her vision. It was him again. The same man. Everywhere she looked, all she saw was the man who had taken Misa, taken their lives, taken their misplaced sense of security and turned into so much trash. Every corpse bore his face, his sneer, his contempt.

Blood ran thick and dark in the narrow streets. Alex knew only rage and the thirst for revenge. Revenge on Them who had taken the world and destroyed it, Them who forced Alex to leave behind everyone she knew, loved and cared for, Them who consumed everything and left nothing. Them who had taken the only one she had left in this world.

Parasites. Take take take.

Now is the time to stop running. Now is the time to turn and face the dead and reclaim the world for the living.

"Ah-chan, I don't feel so good," Misa groaned as she clutched her stomach. "My stomach hurts."

Alex paid no mind. She was intent on clearing the way and nothing, it seemed, would get in the way. Misa felt the sick rise in her throat. She stumbled into an empty house and emptied her guts into the planters.

"Did you hear that?" Davis said as they approached the outskirts of the village near the school.

"That sounded like 'guilty'," Shaun said.

"Creepy, mates," Sharpe said. He primed and shouldered his weapon. "This whole thing give me the frights."

"And that means survivors," Davis nearly shouted himself. "We best get a fix on where that came from and get a move on."

Shaun and the Marines formed into a tight circle as they moved out of the fields and onto paved streets. Davis took point, Shaun and Edmonds to either side with Sharpe on drag.

"I keep hearing screaming," Shaun whispered. "Nothing distinct, but it's not physical pain, it's something..."

"Ewse?" Edmonds finished the statement.

"Yeah," Shaun replied. "Like the scream of someone who's lost everything."

Sharpe tightened the grip on his rifle. "I don't even want to think about it."

"Right," Davis said. "Prime objective now is anyone left alive. Sergeant, you think you could take one of these houses and make it a safe hideout until we clear the village?"

Shaun fixed his gaze on the first house he saw. "This one has a decent wall. Give me ten minutes to see what I can do."

"Agreed," Davis said. "Everyone inside."

Alex held her ground in the school playing field. No more running. They would come to her now. Her screams and shouts would call Them to her and she would deliver final judgment upon Them.

"GUILTY!" she roared into the stifling air. "ALL ARE EQUALLY GUILTY!"

And come They did. It was almost comical to Alex in her torment. Slowly shuffling along to their final deaths at the hands of a girl with nothing left to lose. Lambs to the slaughter, she laughed insanely as she danced among Them, her blade slicing through the air in raged wisps, rending flesh from bone.

She was crying now, her tears mixed with the blood and gore that coated her face and body. She hardly felt the sun as it beat down on her bare arms. When and how she lost her shirt no longer mattered. All that mattered now were death and revenge.

Alex dispatched the last zombie in sight. Spent, she looked around and saw no movement. She let her blade fall useless to the grass and collapsed on her knees. She had her vengeance and finally felt nothing.

The fire team fanned out and swept the yard. Token resistance was encountered scraping against the southern garden wall, as if the zombie were trying to get to the source of the shouting. Shaun dispatched it with a swift butt-stroke from his rifle and several vicious kicks to the head. He reconvened with the Marines.

"The house is clear," Davis said. "What can you do here, Sergeant?"

"I can make a temporary holding area that will keep Them out, but any survivors in here will need immediate evac to the ryokan. I don't put much stock in the wall holding for very long."

"Understood," Davis said. "Sharpe, get a hold of the Sar Major, let him know what we are doing. Ask him if he can spare Williamson and Nelson. The house will be marked."

"Aye, Corporal," Sharpe replied.

Shaun set to work with whatever was on hand bracing the wall as best he could. Davis and Edmonds stood watch at the gate. All the while, the shouting continued, until suddenly, it ended in a distinct finality.

"The shouting, it stopped," Edmonds said a few minutes later.

"Bloody hell," Sharpe said. "Stopped just like that, like someone clapped the mouth shut."

"Do you suppose the survivor is dead?" Shaun asked.

"Chances are good," Davis said. "Unfortunately."

Edmonds nodded grimly.

Alex let her gaze sweep lazily over the layer of corpses. She didn't bother to count how many lay dead by her hand. Without Misa, there was no point. She took her sword in hand, stood and slowly wandered toward the street. As she passed her weapon bag still propped against the goalposts, she laughed.

and laughed.

and laughed.

Her sides hurt with laughter. It was all for nothing. The blade held true in her hands, striking down everything within reach. She hadn't needed her bokken at all. The whole exercise was wasted and in the end she lost the only one who mattered to her in the world. And for what? A piece of wood and a length of silk.

Where is Alex? Why did she run off like that? Didn't she hear me when I called to her?

Misa crawled from her hiding place. Her stomach hurt worse than usual and she had been sick several times. She glanced through the gate and saw her chance. On the street, she encountered a lone walker. She raised her naginata over her head and brought the blade down, splitting its skull in two.

Misa struggled under the weight of the go-bag trying to pull the weapon free of the zombie. It stuck like glue and the way the target staggered did not help matters. Taking a huge risk, Misa planted her foot in the monster's chest and heaved with all her might to free her blade.

The sucking sound made by the steel as it reluctantly pulled free caused Misa another round of nausea. She returned to her initial hiding place and retched once more.

She peered through the gate once more and watched in silence as They were drawn to someone shouting like a maniac up the lane. She crept toward the street, readied her naginata and stepped quietly back toward the pavement.

Fear and panic crept into Misa's mind as she feared the worst - for herself and for Alex. Misa had no idea where Alex was or if she was even alive any longer.

Gyousan aru de, she thought as a sizeable parade of zombies shuffled past. Must be following the shouting.

She trailed behind the last of Them as it shuffled to the middle school. Misa watched it stumble up the short stair she had taken so many times to visit with Kuroi-sensei. Misa ducked behind a car parked on the curb and watched as it disappeared from view.

Then she heard the laughter.

Her mind broken, Alex picked up her weapon bag and wandered back into the village. The form moving toward her barely registered. Alex lifted her blade over her head, though there was no strength left in her arms. She made a half-assed dash and let her blade fall clumsily downward.

The clang of steel on steel and resultant shock shook Alex to her soul. That's odd. Bone doesn't make that noise.

"Ah-chan! Otento san, Ookini!"

Alex blinked twice, her fog of anger slowly parting to reveal a face she thought she knew.

"No!" she screamed at the apparition. "You're dead! No! No!"

Alex did a quick about face and tried to run from the ghost that now chased after her.

"Stop! Wait, Ah-chan! Nani shiton?"

Misa waited for the horrendous laughter to stop before she looked over the car. Satisfied she was alone, Misa crept from behind the car and walked up the street, silent and cautious.

"Shikkari sena akan de," she whispered to herself. "Gotta keep it together."

Then she saw a ghost. It looked like Alex, but shuffled like a dead thing, a sword dangling loose in its hands. Horrified at the blood-soaked apparition in front of her, Misa raised her naginata into a defensive posture.

At once, her fears compounded as the Alex-thing raised the sword over its head. Misa had barely enough strength to deflect even this clumsy blow, but it was enough to tell her that this creature was Alex, alive and conscious.

"Ah-chan!" Misa cried with joy. " Otento san, Ookini!"

Alex blinked twice. Misa could see her eyes regain some of their lost luster as Alex tried to focus on her face.

"No!" Alex screamed at Misa. "You're dead! No! No!"

Alex did a quick about face ran from her. Misa held out her arms to try and grab at Alex, but Alex was simply too quick.

"Stop!" Misa screamed as she set off behind Alex. "Wait, Ah-chan! Nani shiton?"

Davis watched the whole spectacle unfold. He heard the laughter then the shouting. He barely recognized Alex as she came running past him and Edmonds and into the front yard, Misa trailing a few meters behind. He was helpless to stop Alex collapsing in front of Shaun as Misa dropped to her knees beside Alex and emptied her stomach.

"Sharpe!" Davis shouted. "Alert the Sar Major! We have the Phillips daughters!"

T/N: more gratuitous Kansai-ben!
"Mou, Aru kare hen" translates out as "I can't walk anymore."
"Wakatta" informal way of saying "understood"
"Gyousan aru de" translates to "There's a lot of them." In this instance, a lot of Them.
"Otento san, Ookini" roughly translates into English as "Thank God!"
"Nani shiton" translates as "What are you doing?" In this instance, Misa is very confused about why Alex attacked then ran away.
"Shikkari sena akan de," tranlsates to "Gotta keep it together."
a sarashi is a length of cloth wrapped about the torso. It is a symbol of traditional Japanese masculinity. Alex is using it to both bind her chest and to prove her protective value to Misa.