Sasuke flinched slightly as he heard the familiar moans and snarls coming from the shuffling hordes of zombies. To his relief, they passed right by him, where he hid in an abandoned car. They could smell him and he knew it – unfortunately for him, he could smell them too, the smell was repugnant – they just weren't smart enough to figure out where he was so they simply walked around, having only one thought; food.

As he watched them, seeing their gruesome faces, ripped clothes, and hearing their wails, he couldn't help but pity them. No matter how horrid these people have been he really wouldn't wish a fate like this on anyone, though he couldn't figure out which was actually worse, being a zombie or a survivor. Both were bad in their own ways.

He hadn't realized how long had past as he had simply been laying there in the backseat of the car, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought, until there was the loud sound of clanging metal. Cautiously, he sat up, his eyes scanning the area around the car, and he couldn't help but chuckle when he saw a zombie had just run into a garbage can, knocking it to the ground and now was just staring down at it. He noted too that the sun was going down. The day was dangerous, but at night was Hell. Zombies preferred the night, so he had to find Suigetsu, quickly. When he turned back towards the other window, taking a final search before he left the car he saw the face of zombie staring back at him.

With a gasp he leapt away from the window in shock, while the creature began wailing loudly and beating on the window. To say he was annoyed would be an extreme understatement, if that thing continued then every zombie around would be swarming the car and he would never get out, so he took a chance and leapt out the other side of the car, and began running furiously down the street, his eyes scanning for danger as he went.

The good thing about zombies; they can't keep up. Running is a struggle for them, and if a chase lasts too long they just give up. Sasuke slipped into an alley, leaning against the brick wall, and allowing himself a brief moment of relief.

His relief didn't last long though because there was the sound of running feet then a voice yelling a few curses, and it sounded like Suigetsu. He turned and started to leave the alleyway, but before he could get far he saw Suigetsu run by with zombies chasing after him.

For a moment Sasuke just froze. But seeing that made him lose his cool, and he panicked.

"Suigetsu!" Sasuke screamed his lover's name as he tore through the empty streets in the direction he had just seen Suigetsu and the zombies go. He knew it was reckless and the more noise he made the more likely he was to end up dead but at that moment he was panicking and needed to find Suigetsu before he could be in his right state of mind again.

He was unaware of the eyes that watched him from the roof of the building he was running around.

At first he had been panicked, now he was nearing hysteria. "Suigetsu!" He screamed again.

"Sasuke," he heard a distressed voice reply. Not caring what might be waiting for him his running sped up. He found himself on the other side of the building to see his friend being surrounded by the zombies. It seemed some zombie friends had joined them because now there were nearly a dozen.

All rational thought left him and he threw himself forward into the mayhem, brandishing a gun in one hand while the other grabbed the heavy metal industrial flashlight he had and he started swinging it harshly at the heads of the zombies while shooting off rounds into others heads. Suigetsu too started fighting back now that he wasn't entirely doomed. Once the pair was safe they found themselves unceremoniously dropping their weapons and clutching each other in a tight hug.

"Suigetsu, I was so scared," Sasuke admitted breathlessly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Suigetsu kept whispering. Sasuke's lip trembled as he fought back tears. He had come so close to losing Suigetsu and it had hit him hard. Sasuke buried his face in Suigetsu's shoulder, his tears finally dripping down his face. Suigetsu didn't notice, but Sasuke did, a soft thumping sound, like footsteps, and heavy breathing and it sounded close by. How hadn't he noticed this until then?

Panicked, Sasuke looked up to meet the eyes of zombie standing right there, reaching out to swipe at Suigetsu.

"No," Sasuke exclaimed, spinning themselves around so he took the swipe rather than Suigetsu. A soft cry of pain slipped from his lips as he pushed Suigetsu away, his other hand shooting out behind him, smacking the zombie, making it stumble back; he then reached for his gun nearby on the ground, putting a bullet in its head.

He looked to his arm where he had taken the hit and he saw gruesome looking cuts. Damn zombies and their sharp nails.

"Oh god," he whimpered pathetically, bringing his other hand up to rest it gently on the wound. He tried to stop the shaking but couldn't and so in his frustration and weakness he yelled out, "Fuck," turning to a nearby wall and punching it furiously.

"Sasuke, calm down." Suigetsu spoke warily, placing a hand on the spiky haired boy's shoulder. Sasuke froze, and then slowly turned to Suigetsu, "Kill me, please," he begged.

"Hey, you and Shikamaru are figuring out that cure right? You'll be fine." Suigetsu said fiercely, not wanting to admit that Sasuke could die from this.

"Fine, whatever," Sasuke said, giving in quickly due to fear that more zombies might show up. "Come on, let's get back to the others," he ordered, taking Suigetsu's hand in his as he started back towards where he had come.

On their trek back to the High School they didn't meet up with any zombies, and they didn't notice the people following them. Well, Suigetsu didn't notice, Sasuke ignored them because they hadn't done anything yet and he was curious.

When they got to the High School the mysterious group still followed them and Suigetsu finally noticed them.

"Hey, Sasuke, there's people following us, right?" Suigetsu questioned quietly as he walked alongside his lover, feeling safe in the school because they knew there were no zombies inside. There was only one entrance open and only a human would be able to get through it.

"Yes, just be quiet and act like you haven't noticed," Sasuke ordered calmly. Suigetsu just gave Sasuke's hand a squeeze and kept quiet, showing no signs that he knew of the people following.

Just as he would if he were returning any other time, Suigetsu called out happily, "We're back," as they went down the last hall towards the art room where their group stayed. The hallway was suddenly filled with excited teens as they call came to greet Sasuke and Suigetsu. Voices echoed around them as people tried to speak over each other.

"You're both okay?"

"We were worried."

"Welcome back."

"Did you find anyone else?"

"Were you attacked?"

"Did you get more supplies?"

All at once these questions were shot at the pair, but they stayed silent, not answering since they were unsure of who asked which question, they wanted to inform them of the people that had followed them, and they didn't want to be talking over the others.

"Oh, Sasuke," Karin exclaimed worriedly, her eyes wide as she stepped forward, her hand gently touching the wound on his arm. He flinched slightly, but otherwise gave no response. Everyone was silent as they all stared at the wound, knowing exactly what it was.

"Hey, relax everyone," Naruto exclaimed loudly, laughing, "Shikamaru and Sasuke are close to figuring out a cure. Sasuke will be okay."

There were nods and words of agreement before everything was silent again. All that could be heard was breathing as they all looked each other. Finally, Sasuke spoke, his voice soft, as he looked over his shoulder, "There's a group that followed us here. Judging from the footsteps I'd heard there are about a dozen of them. I'm not sure who they are, or what they want, but they haven't done anything yet, and it doesn't seem like they're going to, so what are we going to do?" Sasuke normally wasn't one to ask for directions from others since he was the 'leader', but he wasn't exactly the best with people so he was open to suggestions.

Gaara just shrugged, his indifferent mask staying in place, Naruto's smile widened as he realized there were more survivors, Ino giggled excitedly at the thought of cute boys, Karin pouted at the thought of girls who might be all over Sasuke, Juugo stayed silent, seeming entirely uninterested, and Shikamaru was the one to offer up a solution,

"Why don't we just confront them? Ask them what they want?"

"Could work," Sasuke agreed, looking around the group. No one said anything in disagreement so Sasuke nodded, then turned around, walking towards where he thought the group to be hiding, saying faintly, "Come on then."