Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with High School of the Dead, that belongs to Daisuke Sato and Shoji Sato. Who know exactly what we all want in regards to good zombie violence.

summary; On Z-Day, english exchange student Izzy was skipping class by hiding out in the astronomy tower on the roof. Little did she know, the world was about to go to hell...

'...' thoughts

"..." japanese speech

"(...)" english speech

Chapter 2 - Z-Day

~Recap~

Shaking, she fell backwards, her stomach in knots and already starting to feel queasy as the cold fear started to pierce into her heart.

Then the school's campus-wide intercomm crackeled to life and with wide, fearful eyes, she listened.

~End Recap~

"Attention all students!", the announcer started.

I froze, staring fearfully at the ground.

"Violence has broken out on the campus! Students should evacuate the campus according to their teacher's instructions!"

My lips were pressed together, and I was biting the inside of my mouth.

"I repeat! Violence has broken out on campus! Students should evacuate campus-!"

Suddenly, the broadcast broke off, ending in a loud squeal of the speakers. Confused, I looked up.

The announcer started screaming for help and I felt my lungs seize. 'They' were there.

The intercomm sputtered out again, and silence engulfed the school.

Then the screams started.

The school erupted in panic and I could just imagine the mayhem as everyone tried to get away. To escape.

Slowly, I moved backwards until my back was against the wall as I watched the city fall apart in the distance, sirens blaring and smoke rising all over.

Blood splattered the streets. Bodies everywhere. It was chaos. Like a war zone.

I sat down, my back still against the wall, and brought my knees up to my chest, hugging my legs as I shook in fear and tears gathered at the corners of my eyes.

I don't know how long I sat there like that, in shock, but the sound of a door slamming open was the only thing that jolted me even halfway back to my senses.

Standing up, I swayed a bit with nausea before walking towards my bag (yes, I had it up there illegally. so sue me) and shoving my hand inside I pulled out the first thing I touched - my umbrella.

Not very intimidating, I know, but it would do for now.

Quietly, I made my way over to the staircase. The roof was covered in 'them'.

For a second, I hesitated, then I saw three ALIVE students over by the edge. They were ALIVE.

My eyes widened and I could feel myself smiling, but knew it was only superficial.

Thinking quickly, I glanced left; the gate at the bottom of the stairs was closed, so it was clear. The problem was, 'they' were starting to gather nearby.

Those three were gonna have to move fast.

I started waving as big as I could, but the city in chaos had their attention.

"(Damn it!)", I growled. Then suddenly a formation of black hawk helicopters flew past, flying way too close to the ground and I frowned, turning to watch as I calculated their heading.

They were probably going to the nearby power plant, to try and keep it running as long as possible.

I turned back after they faded into the distance, I saw the group finally looking up towards where I was, and I started waving again,"(come on, already! Jeez!)", I hissed under my breath as they finally noticed me and I started jogging down the stairs to the gate to meet them.

The three teenagers charged across the roof with the one wielding a bat in front, followed by a girl with a broken broom handle wielding it like a spear and another guy who looked injured.

I waited as long as I could, then, taking a deep breath, I swung open the gate and faced the first of 'them' as they turned towards the sound of the chain-link gate opening.

Wielding my open umbrella like a shield, the spokes of the umbrella began snapping like twigs under the strength of 'their' numbers, and I only just managed to hold 'them' off long enough for the three to smash their way through the growing crowd and start running up the stairs, the girl of the group stopping to help me close the gate again.

But it was too late, there were too many of 'them' gathered. The weight of them all quickly stopped our efforts and we were pushed back, the gate falling open, forcing us to scramble backwards up the stairs.

As 'they' started pouring through the gate, I managed to get into a crouch and closing the umbrella, stabbed the closest one using the pointed metal tip, but when I tried to pull it out it was stuck!

I could swear in that moment I had a panic attack. I could swear my heart stopped. I started struggling as fear pushed me closer to a blind panic.

Suddenly a broken broom handle stabbed into it over my shoulder, blood splashing across my cheek and shirt, and then something was pulling me backwards, my hands slipping off the handle of the umbrella.

"Run!", the girl with waist-length orange hair shouted as she tried to deal with the one we'd both stabbed and been unable to stop,"hurry!".

I took a step backwards, shocked, and then the girl slipped and it took control, slamming her into the wall with her own weapon.

I gritted my teeth together as something inside me snapped.

She'd saved my life. I can't leave her!

The boys behind me had started yelling, and, without even thinking about it, I grabbed the discarded baseball bat and charged forward, swinging the bat with all my strength and screaming.

It was quiet again.

It was hours later and I was sitting against the wall again, the blood-splattered bat still clutched in my fingers in a death-grip as I stared listlessly up at the sky, just watching the clouds roll by and feeling the wind.

The girl, who I learned was named Miyamoto Rei, was blathering on about 'why? Why is this happening?' and her boyfriend, Hisashi the injured guy, was trying to calm her down.

He was being surprisingly calm despite the situation... and his wound.

I knew what would eventually happen. But I remained silent as he went about making some kind of light source like he would actually still be here by nightfall. It was even his idea to barricade the top of the stairs with tables from inside the astronomy tower.

Lucky I know how to pick a basic tumble lock.

Hisashi started coughing up blood and I looked away, cringing.

Rei was panicking already, in denial, saying he wasn't going to die.

He asked the third guy, Takashi, to help him. To help him die before he turned into one of 'them'.

Then Hisashi up-chucked a LOT of blood and before I even realized what I was doing, I was standing next to Takashi, holding out the bat to him.

He looked up at me and our eyes locked. We were both scared shitless and he didn't want to do it.

But I didn't think it would be right if I did it, so I wordlessly nudged him with the bat.

Behind me, I could hear Hisashi struggling and Rei yelling.

Then finally,"DON'T DIE!", she screamed and I turned to look as Hisashi went still. He was gone. Dead.

I felt the bat slip from my hands and I looked back in surprise at Takashi to see him holding it now.

Silently, he stepped past me as Rei yelled at him to stay away. That Hisashi was fine.

For a while, I didn't move as the two argued behind me. I didn't want to see.

I stared at the cloudy blue sky and hoped, wished, that this was still all just a dream.

Sure, I'd killed that one earlier, but that was to save Rei. That, and I didn't know the guy.

But Hisashi... I'd talked to him 'before'. Before today. He was a nice guy, with family, friends, and a girlfriend. I knew him as a person... and seeing him die like this...

I closed my eyes and remembered what my Dad had told me. Over and over since I was a child.

~Flashback~

I was four years old and, like every other little kid, I was afraid of the dark.

My Dad stood in the doorway of the room I shared with my older sister, listening as she complained about the hallway light stopping her from being able to sleep.

Then, when she was finished, he walked up to me and said.

"Face your fear, and you'll find the courage to push past it"

~End Flashback~

From then on, I'd slept with the light off. All the monsters that only the run away imagination of a child with a father who believed you should know about the darker parts of the world as soon as possible could produce.

Eventually, I got used to it. Facing my fears had made me stronger.

Right then, I decided. This was it. This was the world now, and I'd better get used to it fast.

Fight or die. Either way, adapting here and now is essential to surviving this new world.

I opened my eyes and turned.

'Hisashi' had stood up and we all watched him warily, Takashi pulling Rei towards me where I took her hand in mine, grim determination on his face and mine.

The two best friends faced off, one now deceased and the other determined to survive and protect the one he cared about.

I forced myself not to turn away.

"This isn't happening", Rei started to whisper beside me and Takashi stepped forward, raising the bat.

I forced myself not to blink or close my eyes.

"This really is unbelievable", he agreed,"so unbelievable that it's stupid".

"Face your fear, and you'll find the courage to push past it"

"And yet... it really is happening!". Takashi ran forward, wielding the bat, and then 'Hisashi' was gone too.

... this is the world now.

One full of blood and violence...

End Chapter

~Sneak Peek~

After Hisashi died, I climbed up further onto the astronomy tower roof to give Rei and Takashi some 'privacy'.

Really though, I just wanted to see if I could block out Rei's whinny, denial-filled voice.

I mean seriously! Sure, panic at the beginning of something like this is understandable! But JEEZ woman! ENOUGH is ENOUGH.

~End~

A/N: Hello peoples! Thanks to everyone for reading! As promised, here is the blood and gore! (Though not as much as I'd hoped, it WILL get more messy soon though!).

A special mention goes to Shatter-k-3 (who was the only one who reviewed) and is now getting a special one-time-only present because of it - which you will all find out about later!

Please remember to review, add to your story alert, and/or add to you favs.

C ya later,
Milley02

(Plus, for those who wanted to know, I got the lines for the intercomm speaker announcement at 08:32 into episode 1 of the anime(uncensored version) with eng subtitles)