Horse of the Dead

by Vimesenthusiast

Upon learning a few secrets he had never suspected about Genma, Ranma leaves his father in search of his mother. He finds her living with her sister and her family in Tokonsou City, and moves in with her. What kind of impact can Ranma, a boy who never fit in among civilized society due ot his dedication to martial arts, have when the outbreak occurs? Ranma/Saeko/Saya other TBD

2. Operation Pimp my Ride

I don't own High School of the Dead nor do I own Ranma 1/2. There just comes a time when trying to figure out something new and funny to say gets old.

I know this is insanely quick, but my muse for this story grabbed me by the throat and refused to let me work on any of my other stories until I finished it, but I still want to concentrate on my others stories. Chaotic Space will be out this weekend as usual. Lion of Light… I actually have an outline and will try, but alas cannot make any promises.

Some reviews I would like to mention specifically:

Farmer Kyle: Telling me I have typos doesn't do much, since I obviously missed them, if you can point them out that would be helpful. I also always try to get my prologue out of the way quickly, since I feel if it goes too long it takes away from the main story.

Ten-Faced-Paladin: I never liked how Rei turned from being with Hizashi and then started to cling to Takashi in his place without even really apologizing for choosing Hizashi over him in the first place. I know she was having issues with Shido at the time, but you can't blame all her issues on that. I have decided not to kill her off, but she and Ranma won't be getting along for a while as I think she has some major growing up to do.

Janissa: Actually ,those size are listed on the HotD wiki. If you think they're large, Shizuka's is a 108cm (J-cup)! It's not just me being a typical man, though as I said, this work will have full lemons, simply in keeping with the maturity of the original work.

Narsil: Good to hear from you my friend! Yes, understand your point about his curse, but I decided that I wanted to give Ranma more time to grow in a different manner than he did travelling with Genma, and I didn't want to introduce magic to HotD. This way Ranma has a lot of the Anything Goes basic skills, but none of the higher ones and instead has a different bag of tricks. I have decided I can't kill off Kasumi, I'm just not that heartless so she at least will appear in a cameo, though I am uncertain if I could work her into the main story. Your point about too many super-powered martial artists is well taken though, and my idea to have Ryu Kumon, Ryoga or another male appear is heretofore scrapped. In fact Saeko and Ranma are already so good that any zombie group numbering less than twenty would have to catch them in an enclosed space to be truly dangerous to them.

Tai Khan: I addressed the curse issue above, but if you feel up to writing your own version complete with curse go right ahead. Rei will not be a new Akane, she will still have issues with him, but she will gradually warm up to Ranma. The whole neko thing will still freak her out though. Ukyo though….hhmmmmm…. need to think about that one.

I have decided to leave who gets with who other than the people already set in stone up in the air for the moment, since it could go anyway at this point, though everyone's opinions were appreciated.

I am also using a new way to break up scenes in this chapter, so tell me what you think.

Chapter 2 Pimp my ride

Master Ein was up in what the masters of his school had called the Eyre, the personal quarters of the master since the school was founded, when he looked down from his balcony and saw a strangely shambling man making his way slowly up the stairs to the school. He frowned, drugs were an almost unknown here in the mountains, but that man definitely looked as if he was on some kind of drugs going by his jerky, uncoordinated movement. He frowned even more as the man seemed to stumble into the woods for a second and startle one of the local birds out of its nest. The man seemed to try and catch the little swallowtail for a moment then stopped and turned away toward where the noises of the schools daily practice could be heard.

Ein, shuddered a little, something about the man told him there was trouble coming. He moved as swiftly as he could, grabbing his eagle-claws on his way down to the main school and out the gate. He swiftly made his way down the stairs, waving the two guards to follow him.

They stopped and stared at the man, one of the villagers that Ein wasn't personally acquainted with, but he didn't think the man normally had gray skin, blank, dead eyes, oh and piece of his muscles showing from what looked like bite marks on his legs.

Ein wordlessly motioned to one of his journeymen who handed him his spear, and Ein pulled back and threw with unerring accuracy, impaling the man's head right through. The man kept on his feet for a few seconds, then fell back, whatever was driving his dead body giving out.

The two journeymen stared in growing horror, and not a little bit of fear, but Ein's mind was already moving on to the next problem. The School was self-sufficient, one of the reasons it was still popular, with its own small farms and a blacksmith and machine shop. That plus the fact that even once you entered the first gate the main school was up a very narrow path in a sheer stone face and easily defensible meant it was a fortress at need. The initial area was simply used for large lessons, since the area above were given over to buildings and farms. So they could simply pull back, but should they? They did have a duty to protect the people of the town below them after all.

"Ma-master, what does this mean?" one of the journey men guards asked.

A moment later however he heard more moaning, and saw several more shambling forms coming up the stairs. Ein swallowed, recognizing the mayor and one of his clerks who must have tried to escape to the Soaring Eagle School but then been turned by their earlier wounds. "Seal the school," he whispered, "pull all the students back up to the main school. We must see to ourselves and our students for now." The journeymen nodded and moved off swiftly, letting Ein to stand there and stare at the man who had once been a friend, now shambling toward where his students were still shouting and making the normal training noises. Ein bowed his head in sorrow, then leaped forward, his eagle-claws slashing forward. A moment later he ran up to join the evacuation of the lower areas, his purpose clear. Whatever else he would make certain that his school and the students under his charge were kept safe from whatever this was.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Tokonsou city was a city that had been planned almost from the get go. It sat on a tributary to a major river, and most its power came from water turbines up river. The river passed through town bisecting it, and the high school where Ranma and the others went was on the far western side of the city, and they had been trying to maneuver through the streets to Rei's and Ranma's house in the southern section for over an hour since Ranma had shut Shido up. That hour had been spent with the bus slowly navigating the streets moving around any trouble spots they could, trying to avoid clumps of traffic and zombie ridden hysteria as they could. This had slowed them down massively.

At the back of the bus Shido began to speak of his followers again in a quiet yet hypnotic voice. Ranma, who was pacing at the front of the bus like a caged animal, didn't notice too busy growling about his idiot cousin and what his mother was going to do to him if he showed up at their house without her.

Shizuka and Kyoko looked at him amused, finding it funny that such a massively talented and self-reliant young man like Ranma would be so terrified of his own mother. But they didn't really understand, it wasn't so much that he was terrified of Nodoka it was that he was terrified of disappointing her. Most of the time growing up he didn't really have anyone who would give him positive reinforcement, simply pat him on the head and say good job or be there for a hug. His father barely acknowledged his skills, always pushing him harder, never treating him as a son, only as a pupil. The idea of a mother had caught his attention because he had hoped to find someone that would simply care for him treat him like family should be treated. The fact that Nodoka had loved him and missed him before he even showed up in her life again was one of the brightest spots in his life. Disappointing Nodoka wasn't something he ever wanted to do.

Yet at the same time as he was worried about disappointing her he was also worried about her in general during this crisis. He knew Nodoka was tough, she was a decent swordswoman and was pretty strong for a woman of her stature, yet this kind of chaotic madness, with enemies coming suddenly and in large numbers, he didn't know if she could handle it. It hadn't just been the fact their house had weapons they could use that had him suggesting it as a first destination.

Yuuki, Saya and Kohta however, sitting further back than the adults (though that word meant nothing in the current crisis) did notice what was going on at the back of the bus and none of them were happy about it. "Shido's at it again," Yuki muttered shaking her head her arms crossed underneath her breasts, pressing them up and out in a way that caught Kohta's attention and she smirked a little at him. He turned bright red and turned away a little but his attention refocused on their conversation quickly. "I can only hear some of what he's saying but even that little bit and the tone is making my skin crawl. It's like hearing some kind of a cult leader or something trying to psyche up his followers. Like, like that Marylyn Manson guy in America I read about once."

"Like nothing," Saya scoffed, shaking her head. "That's what he's trying to do. 'Trust no one but the group, the group and my teachings will see you through, the group and I matter over everything, look to me for I can lead us through this'. We're seeing the start of the cult of Shido, he's not the first, and under the current circumstances probably won't be the last."

Kohta frowned, his glasses gleaming in a strangely disturbing manner, as one hand smacked the nail gun that rested beside him. "Should I take care of him now? It would only take one shot."

"Hmm," Saeko shook her head joining the conversation from the seat in front of the trio, "Don't bother, he's not worth the nail." Kohta frowned but nodded, even with his holdout gun he wanted to remain with the nail gun for as long as he could as it didn't make as much noise. Yet he was already down to his last clip with barely 15 shots remaining. Saeko went on, patting her bokken next to her with a almost hungry smile on her face, "Besides which, the moment he starts something myself or Ranma can finish it. Shido knows that too, he's not dumb enough to push things with us."

Saya nodded but still thought, maybe but killing the bastard now might save us a lot of trouble later. Despite this she wasn't about to suggest it. She wasn't quite ready just yet to be a party to cold-blooded murder.

Ranma growled again as the bus was forced to turn away yet again from the direction his house was in and he shook his head. "All right this isn't working, pull into a parking space somewhere where there's no zombies we need to figure something else out."

Or Ranma thought to himself, I at least need to get everyone here to a safe house before I go off on my own. He'd been watching the rooftops and had yet to see a single zombie up there. He knew he could cover the distance between here and his home in barely 15 to 20 minutes travelling in a straight line over the rooftops. Going by the roads it was looking to be an impossible job. That meant he would have to go and come back with as many weapons as he could carry, but that didn't matter. Besides, he thought, our home ain't exactly defensible. It abutted two others on either side, and the fence around it was wooden, not stone. He had seen how determined the zombies were, and even he didn't want to be stuck in one place like that and swarmed under.

Shizuka nodded a little sadly reaching out and gripping his arm and he smiled at her and then ruffled her hair again before turning away. Shizuka looked over at him sadly, wishing she could do something more to help them, but she sighed and went back to driving, turning the bus around and making for a supermarket they had passed a few minutes ago. She hadn't spotted any zombies in the parking lot at least, though what it was like inside she wasn't going to think about.

Unbeknownst to the youngsters behind her Kyoko had also been listening to Shido and had come to her own conclusion of what needed to be done. As Ranma turned she leaned toward him and muttered "If we're going to stop we should start to think about doing something more permanent to Shido and his group, unless of course you want to try and separate Shido from them."

She asked that one a little hopefully, they were after all her former students. Yet she could see Shido's influence in them already, the way they looked at him and the way they looked at her and the rest of them like they were outsiders. The way the boys who made up the majority of his followers looked at her and the other girls at the front of the bus made her shudder (and want to stab their eyes out with a pen). Whatever Shido had been doing with them during the initial madness back at school had let him set his hooks into their minds and she was afraid that even if they gave the students gathered around him the opportunity to stay they would all follow Shido anyway.

More a dark ruthless part of her mind she had never even known she had before this all started had looked at the group in the back and realized that none of them had any skills, abilities or knowledge that the group in the front could use. Manpower was well and good, but what did they need manpower for in this environment that Ranma could not demonstrably supply better and easier. If they didn't have anything to add to the group's survival then they were a liability in this current crisis. And if this crisis was happening all over the world, then the best thing they could do would be to look out for themselves. A small, close knit and co-dependent group, with each of them contributing something to the survival of them all was the best idea. Of course out of giving advice she knew she was the weakest link in Ranma's team following that idea, but she had some knowledge that would be useful long term.

Ranma looked over at her and then cocked an ear to the back of the bus and heard some of the phrases that Shido was using about 'unity,' 'obedience' and 'destiny' and how as long as they followed him he would keep them safe. He growled a little and nodded again, looking at her gratefully. "I understand Kyoko-sensei, I'll deal with it."

Kyoko nodded, realizing for the second time that Ranma had become her bulwark in this chaotic and insane environment. The boy just seemed to have a knack for both surviving and fighting and in this new world those were two of the most important things.

Ranma laid a hand on her shoulder then moved back to the others murmuring the change of plans to them and asked, "Does anyone here know anything about quieting this bus down?"

Saya smacked her head for head irritably. "Of course," she exclaimed loudly, "I should've thought of that before." The others looked at her blankly and she elaborated. "At the moment there's a lot of noises, a lot of people running around shouting, fires, cars still moving around everywhere in the city, but come nightfall things will quiet down as people go to ground. That means the zombies who probably don't have to sleep" she looked at them all sardonically and Yuuki and Kohta laughed a little at her joke, "will still be out hunting for anything making noises. This bus makes a lot of noise and thus would be a liability after dark."

"But we can't just leave it," Kohta said patting the bags on the chairs behind him. There were four large backpacks and they were all heavy. Carrying them along would slow the group considerably, but they had food, water bottles, and a few makeshift weapons just in case for Kyoko, Yuuki and Saya as well as the holdout pistol. The stronger individuals among them couldn't be the ones carrying them as they needed their hands free.

Yuuki frowned thoughtfully and was about to say something when the bus stopped moving and Ranma looked out the window realizing they had come to a zombie free (for the moment anyway) parking lot. "Hold that thought guys, I'm going to go take out the trash."

"You need any back up?" Kohta asked slapping his nail gun again, "just say the word." His voice was a mix of helpfulness and hidden underneath that a real desire to do the dead he was talking about.

Ranma looked over at Saya who shrugged then back at Kohta and cocked his head, staring just a little

Kohta blushed a little under his glare and decided to come clean, his voice started out embarrassed then moving into anger, and even a bit of hate. "He, he just sort of sat by and watched as I got bullied ever since I started at the school. Sometimes he even encouraged it saying something about how 'the nail that stands out needs to get hammered down.' I'd like to introduce him to one of my nails now!"

Ranma smirked a little but shook his head, patting him on the shoulder. "In a situation like this we're going to get blood on our hands eventually," he said grimly. "People're going to be acting out as much as they can using this like an excuse, others are just gonna be paranoid and lashing out, and we'll have to defend ourselves. But I don't think any of us want to start doing that just yet, not unless we have to."

He looked over at Saeko looked back at him thoughtfully then nodded a little, understanding the hidden message there. Both of them knew that if push came to shove they would kill the entire group at the back of the bus without much remorse, but neither of them would do so simply because it would be too easy, because if they did they would be doing it because they wanted to kill them, not because it was necessary or in defense of their friend.

Shido and his group also noticed that the bus's stop, and most of them were looking out the windows wondering what was going on. Shido however knew something was going on, and that it wasn't anything he wanted. He hated the fact that he had no control about where the bus was going or the group up front, more he knew that they all represented far more in the way of assets short and long term than his group. His group might have numbers but that was all really. They were good cannon fodder, or in this case meat shields, but they didn't have any of the skills that he would need to survive in this current environment. It was for that reason that he had not made waves up to now, well that and the fact that Ranma terrified. How in the world a human could be that strong was beyond him. He decided to start off with a soft sell, realizing that if he tried to come on hard than Ranma was more than likely to smack him down. Unfortunately Ranma already had a smacked down in mind.

"Gentlemen," the former classic literature teacher said, moving towards the front of the bus down the aisle "why has the bus stopped here? Is there a place of safety nearby that we are going to be walking to now? I must say I don't like the fact that you are all making his decisions for all of us without consulting the whole. We must work together in this dangerous time to survive after all, and how can he do that if a small minority are making the decisions for us all? Of course if we are looking for leadership, the other Senseis and I are here and could provide it. I'm certain," he said, looking at the two gorgeous adult women, "We could work together to plan out the future of our group." He tried to keep his leer off his face and for the moment succeeded.

Ranma snorted a little and moved forward pushing past Shido then opened the emergency door at the back of the bus and gestured out. "We're not making any decisions for us all, just us. You and your group ain't welcome here anymore, you've been voted off the island."

The group at the back of the bus started to mutter and the blonde got up about to shout angrily but Ranma simply glared at him and he sat down frightened by the look in his deep blue eyes. Then Ranma smirked and said "Here's the deal." He pointed back at Shido who hadn't moved since Ranma brushed by him, merely turning to look at him and trying to keep his eyes on everyone. "See that guy, Shido-shit, all of us upfront don't trust 'em. We got different reasons, but what it boils down to is we think he's about as trustworthy as a snake, and we ain't gonna let him remain around us any longer."

One of the girls shouted at him "you can't say that about Shido-sensei! He saved our lives when the zombies began to attack!" The others began to clamor in agreement, some of them even standing up and shouting.

In reply Ranma slammed his hand against the metal of the buses back end, making a loud reverberating sound and actually warping the metal. "Shut it," he ordered. Looking at the front of the bus Saeko was already on her feet bokken in hand, and Kohta as well was ready for trouble with his nail gun up at his shoulder. "You all have yer opinions and we've got ours. But here's the point, we couldn't let you there ta die back at the school, but nor do we want ta bring ya along with us. You all argued about what we should be doing from the beginning, well here's your chance to go out and do what you want ta do."

Shido looked around injecting a real note of concern into his voice, keeping the fear he felt well out of his tone. "But surely there are safety in numbers? Shouldn't we all stay together? After all we are all students and teachers from Fujimi Academy. Would you throw us to the wolves with nothing to our names? Surely," he looked over at Shizuka, his hormones overriding his common sense for a moment, "the school nurse at least should come with us, after all we represent a majority of the students it is her duty to aid."

Shizuka shrank back in the driver's seat a little, shaking her head adamantly and Ranma growled, a deep rumble of a sound that sent a shiver of fear through Shido and all of his group while it sends a thrill through the girls in the front of the bus. He shook his head, his eyes dark. "Now see right there is why we don't trust him." He reached out and grabbed Shido by the lapels of his suit and lifted him off the ground. Even as Shido gasped Ranma turned and threw him out the emergency door to the concrete of the parking lot beyond.

Shido groaned in pain as he hit the ground ass first, not hard enough to break anything but his back and rear would be feeling it for a while. He looked up at Ranma with hate and fear in his eyes, though he was careful to keep those emotions off his face since he was in full view of his followers.

Ranma turned away from him to look at the other students including the blond trouble maker. "The rest of you can join him if you want, but if you stay realize that me, Saeko and the others are calling the shots here. We're the ones that got the bus, we're the ones that got the food and water, and we're the ones that fought off the zombies to let you assholes on board in the first place! Not a one of you have proven yourself to be worth anything right now ta us but trouble."

Shizuka frowned a little at Ranma's harsh stance but nodded sadly. In a world that was swiftly becoming one where survival was the name of the game having people around you that you couldn't trust at your back and that were also unproven in a crisis was something that would swiftly get you killed. She swallowed her empathy and simply sat there waiting for the order to start the bus moving again.

Tsunoda stood up and shouted "well I'm not staying around with you! You think you're all that just because you're tough! Well Shido saved us, he is a teacher, an adult and a better leader than you are!"

The others all murmured and agreed, though one or two of them looked a little less enthusiastic, but they decided to stay with the larger group. The blonde punk led the way off the bus. Shido tried one more time to at least get some weapons or something and at that point Ranma agreed and tossed one of the bags that they had taken from the teacher's lounge and the power drill that Saya had used as a weapon. "That's the last handout from us yer going to get," Ranma said looking down at them, eyes hard. "From now on you'll survive or die on yer own. Either way it don't matter to me or mine." With that he shut the emergency exit door and nodded to Shizuka who started the engine up again and they moved off.

Behind them Shido stared angrily at the retreating bus his face for just a moment a mask of anger and rage, but thankfully none of his followers could see it and he had composed himself before he turned to lead them off. He would get his revenge, Ranma and the others would pay for looking down at him like that, he would make certain of it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The mood on board the bus was somber for a time, only Saeko, Kohta and Ranma being immune to the depression of the necessity of leaving behind so many students to get rid of one cancer. Eventually however Shizuka shook it off and asked "should we keep trying to get to your home Ranma?"

Ranma shook his head. "Nah, that's just not working. Anyone else live near here and want ta stop and see if ya can find yer folks?"

Saya shrugged. "My folks live on the other side of the river over the Onbetsu Bridge and I doubt my checking on them is very necessary." She scowled a little, having expected them or some of their men to show up while they were back at school and she wondered if they had even tired to come and find her or simply turned their attention to their own matters.

Yuuki shrugged, her breasts bouncing a little then she felt a spike of lust go through her at the look this drew from Ranma and she could feel her nipples hardening at the heated look in his face before he shook himself and concentrated on her face. She frowned internally, she knew he found her attractive, she had seen him look at her before, but something was holding her back and seeing their interaction she thought that might be his relationship with Busujima. Still, with the way the world was, maybe they could learn to share, or maybe she should set her sights a bit lower for a sure thing? "My mom works as a flight attendant so she's never home, and my dad left us years ago. One of her friends usually stops in and checks up on me once a week, but that's all."

Kyoko thought, well that could explain her attitude. Honestly, who would leave a teenager alone in a house by themselves for extended periods of time? "I of course live on my own Saotome-san nor do I have a significant other to worry about." Nor children, she thought, but rather than feeling an all too familiar pang at the thought, that knowledge only brought her relief in their current situation.

Shizuka nodded, not looking away from her driving. "My parents are both dead, and anyway I moved here from out in the country, all my extended family is still back there."

Saeko shrugged. "My father as you know is abroad at a kendo competition, Ranma-kun." Ranma nodded, Mr. Busujima had left a few days ago before all this began, and the two of them had been wondering if they should take advantage of his not being home to have another spar like they had on the first day of school, or possibly something else before all this began. "Where is your family Hirano-kun?"

Kohta shrugged. "My mom's in France at her job as a clothing designer, and my dad deals in jewelry, he's in Holland on business right now."

Saya scoffed looking across at him. "Why the hell is your life like some lead in an eroge game?!"

Shizuka giggled as the bus slowed to a stop at the directions of a policeman, who was working with two others to keep traffic moving at the intersection they just reached. That sight filled her with hope, since it was the first organization in this chaos they had seen thus far. She knew it wouldn't last but it still raised her sprits a little. "If this was a manga, your father would be the captain of a cruise ship or something."

Kohta chuckled. "No, that was my grandfather."

Saya groaned aloud at that, and the others all chuckled, but Kyoko brought their attention back to business. "We were talking about a way to maybe quiet down this buses engine, as it is getting into the afternoon this becomes even more important. Anyone have any ideas?"

Yuuki raised her hand a little hesitantly, knowing that she and Kyoko were the weak links of this group. Neither of them could fight very well, and neither had any real knowledge of fighting or surviving. They only survived because Kohta and Ranma protected them. Here however she might be able to be of some use as besides being the school's sex bomb, she could call herself it's leading petrol head with pride. She had been a member of the mechanics club since starting middle school and had been in that club ever since, despite the fact most of the club only saw her as fancy window dressing who wouldn't put out. Hey she might be a petrol head, but she wouldn't just sleep with someone just because they were a grease monkey!

"Well we install some sound dampening under the hood, as well as a cover for the engine and sound dampening pads, but of course we'd have to make certain everything in the engine was running in order, since you know anything being out of place, anything wrong in the exhaust system would funnel exhaust gases into the engine compartment which would make it significantly louder than it should be. I haven't been in this bus before so I don't know how it normally sounds but it seems to be a bit louder than it should be. Now, for a regular mechanic or a team that would take anywhere from an hour to five hours. For us, well that would depend on where we go to do the work and how good you all are with your hands." She emphasized the last word and enjoyed seeing the blush on Kohta's face, though was a little disappointed that it went right over Ranma's head.

Kohta nodded, still blushing. "Stopping at a car shop would also give us some more things we could turn into weapons you know, they for sure would have some more nails for me for example".

Ranma nodded. "Then does anyone know of a car shop nearby?"

The group spent a few minutes looking out the window and soon it turned out Kyoko did, her house was actually near enough she recognized the intersection the just passed. Unfortunately her home wasn't exactly defensible, being part of an apartment complex and on the first floor. She was actually terrified of going back knowing that the whole place could've been turned into a death trap very easily. But she directed the bus to the car shop easily enough.

The bus slowed as they came near their destination, seeing a lot of detritus and a few zombies on the outside. Ranma nodded grimly, having expected that. "Alright, here's the plan. Saeko and I will clear up the zombies on the outside first then we'll park the bus and shut of the engine right by the entrance to the garage. Kohta you get back up top like you were back at school and Saeko and I will make our way inside. We'll open the garage doors once we've cleared everything out, if you run into trouble call out and I'll hear ya.

"What about the rest of us?" Saya asked angrily. "What do you think we should be doing while you fight-freaks do what you do?" She hated not being in control, and she hated feeling like she was dependent on other people, hell she hated being dependent on her parents, so this was irritating the hell out of her.

Ranma looked at her then ruffled her pink hair affectionately. "Look, I like how game you are Saya, but let's face facts you don't know how to fight, and Yuuki and the two teachers don't either. Best to leave this to the ones that have been trained to fight okay?"

Saya pushed his head at the way angrily and turned to stare out of the window, unhappy that she had not really contributed a lot to group survival but Ranma seemed to sense this and added "Besides, I want you to start thinking long-term plans."

Saya looked back at him intrigued. "What do you mean long-term?"

"I don't know about you, but I don't see us joining any larger group and going along with anyone else's plans anytime soon, so what do we do after we check in with our parents and make sure they're okay? Do we stay with them or do we move on to someplace else? Is there any place nearby that we could fort up and settle down and what would that mean?"

"Or," Saeko added "would we be better served getting out of the city entirely and moving someplace into the countryside?" That was actually a good question, after all cities didn't provide their own food, which had to be shipped in from the countryside. More Tokonsou was self-sufficient in terms of energy and water but for how long? "Resources both short and long term need to be looked at."

Saya nodded, looking a little intrigued of the question and leaned back looking out into the distance thoughtfully as she brought out a pad and pen from the backpack she had been assigned from the teacher's lounge. Kyoko nodded as well and moved over to help her.

Ranma nodded then grinned at the others and he and Saeko led the way off the bus. They looked at one another and split up quickly, rushing towards a few zombies that had already begun to move towards the bus and the noise of the engine despite it having cut off. The two of them made short work of the ten zombies, then Ranma turned and nodded at the bus, and Kohta popped open the upper hatch and made himself comfortable there, looking back toward the road.

After that Ranma went to Saeko and picked her up around her waist and jumped up intending to enter from the windows on the second floor and clear the building from top to bottom. The window they entered by was open already, letting in a nice cool breeze into a small office set on top of the garage which was empty of zombies or people. It looked as if there hadn't even been a fight here, something that made both of the marital artists nervous.

Saeko took a moment to steal a bit of a kiss from Ranma being very careful to press her chest against his then moving off quickly. "For luck," she said enigmatically and led the way through the doorway. Ranma shook his head and followed. The hallway leading down to the garage was splattered with blood, and there was a body at the bottom of the staircase. In front of the door leading to the first floor. It was very definitely a body, living people had more head. More the entire body looked chewed on, with digits missing and the neck bitten into badly on one side.

The two looked at one another and all levity vanished and they moved forward with purpose, with Saeko in the lead for a moment. In close like this especially with the lights out was a very dangerous environment faces zombie in. Ranma reached around Saeko and pulled her back before she could move down the other stairs. His hands rested lightly on her chest right underneath her breasts and his thumbs began to move slightly against the bottom of her breasts as he whispered into her ear. "Let me go first here. Another one of the things I got from my neko-training is that I can almost see in the dark almost like a cat and my sense of hearing is better too."

Saeko leaned back against him for a moment simply reveling in his hunch. There was nothing truly sexual about it, but the action was hinting at more and she was looking forward to that more very much in the very near future. The battles thus far today had lit a fire in her and she hoped that there were other ways she could express that fire other than combat.

Ranma gently moved around Saeko and moved ahead with her following behind quickly. They opened the door and moved on into the hallway. On the first floor was the garage to one side, the parts backroom at the end of the hall and the waiting room and front desk on the other side. The front desk was open and airy with windows on its other three wall, and Ranma motioned that they should clear that area for now.

Instead they moved into the room at the far end of the hall where parts and supplies were stored and found not one but five zombies moving around. The first one attacked them almost as soon as they opened the door but Ranma's ki claws sliced his head into splinters and the body collapsed to the ground. This was a sign of things to come but unlike the hallway outside where the light had been smashed this room was brightly lit so Ranma and Saeko split up hunting the zombies through the stacks and shelves of parts. Luckily there were only four more. Ranma looked at a makeshift bed set against the far wall, noticing the bloodstains on it and realized that one of the workers had been bitten and they spread it to the other workers. Ranma idly wondered how fast the plague had spread simply because people thought they could help those already bitten. He shook his head sadly as Saeko slew the last zombie. This was really a situation where being kind or trying to help your fellow man could literally kill you.

The duo left the store room and after a moment's silent communication moved into the welcome area, where they found three more zombies moving around. Saeko struck quickly, killing one of the zombies before realizing to her horror it was a little boy. Indeed two of the other zombies were little children. The third looked like their mother, and it looked as if the one of the children had been infected and simply spread it to the others somehow.

Ranma ignored the fact that they were children and rushed forward his ki claws out and slicing. A moment later it was over and he looked back at her and wondering why she had froze, and why she was looking so lost all of a sudden. It was a stark change from her normal confident, almost ecstatic appearance when faced with combat. "Saeko," he asked softly, "you okay?"

She didn't answer, simply staring down at the corpse of the child she had slain. He moved over and gripped her shoulders shaking her little. When that didn't work he pulled her into a hug gripping her ass hard and kissing her. That did the trick and she broke out of her stupor, moaning first in shock then pleasure into his mouth. He pulled back a bit and said sternly "Saeko-chan remember I know about having an inner darkness. It's just another part of you, and I think the full package is the greatest, most fantastic and attractive girl that has ever lived. If you're worried about it taking control, look at me, and I'll stop ya if ya go too far. Can you do the same for me, can you accept me?"

Saeko looked into her friend's eyes from barely an inch away, seeing the stark sincerity and his belief in her and nodded happily. "If you accept me, and will do that for me" she said softly reaching up to his head and running her fingers through his hair, causing those magnificent eyes to narrow and a deep rumbling purr to emanate from his chest, "then I will gladly do it for you."

Ranma nodded and leaned in to kiss her again. This one lasted much longer but was much more chaste. Soon however they broke off to move back into the main section of the garage. They found two more zombies in the garage area, one of them having been hiding underneath the car along one side of the room, the other by the door. Saeko lashed out slaying that one instantly and Ranma moved past he to kill the other. After that they checked every nook and cranny and then nodded to one another and moved off to open the garage door to let in the bus after making certain the door to the front waiting area was locked and barred.

Kohta had been nervous being left behind to guard the bus on his own but nothing untoward had happened only one zombie had appeared still moving towards the sound of the engine and he laid it out with a single shot from his nail gun.

Ranma moved around the bus and began to slowly push it into the garage. Even as strong as he was he could never have pushed something as heavy as the bus on his own if it didn't have wheels or even if it was in park, but luckily Shizuka had the presence of mind to put it in drive and he slowly pushed the bus into the garage.

The moment the bus was inside Saeko closed the garage doors and the rest of the group boiled out of it. Shizuka made her way over to Saeko and Ranma, looking them over for any injuries. "Are you both alright, any injuries, what did you all run into?"

She listened to their response with only with half an ear as she ran her hand over them searching for injuries under their clothing, taking a bit more time with Ranma than Shizuka, enjoying his muscles tensing and twitching under her touch before he pulled away looking as if he was going to break out into laughter. She smirked suddenly, her fingers wiggling. "Oh, is Kitty-kun ticklish?"

Ranma backed away swiftly, moving to place Saya, who exited the bus last, between them. "Guys aren't ticklish, it's just that I'm a little sensitive there is all."

Suddenly fingers dug into his side and he jumped away with a whoop, glaring at Saeko who smiled impishly at him. "Ara, that was rather fun."

Ranma pouted and moved further away from the two women who giggled to eachother. He then noticed that Saya was holding up a cell phone to her ear, listening to something on it. "I thought the cell phone service was down or overwhelmed, ain't that what Rei said?"

Saya glared over at him. "Baka, Rei only tried to contact her dad, a police officer, and to call the emergency line. Of course the emergency line would be swamped and her dad too, there's nothing wrong with the cell phone service." She frowned down at the phone. It actually wasn't hers, she had taken it from a desk in the teacher's lounge, knowing that they couldn't afford the time to search for her own, especially since it was in her shoe locker by the entrance where they ran into so much trouble while escaping.

Still it had allowed her to look at her messages and find out that her parents hadn't even tried to call her, not even once, and when she tried to call them she only got the answering machine. Now she was truly worried for them for the first time since this all began. She knew they were immensely capable both as individuals and with the resources they could call on, but could something have really happened to them? I can't worry about it right now, I have my own worries to attend to first.

"Hmm, in that case we could all call our folks couldn't we? Asked Saeko, though she herself was torn on whether she should, after all if he was in danger there was nothing she could do about it. In this case a bit of ignorance might be better than a lot of worry.

Ranma paled a little, moving away to join Yuuki and Kohta who had opened the front of the bus to look at the it's engine from atop a pair of stools, with Kohta clearly concentrating more on Yuuki's rear as she bent over to look inside at the engine. "Well, um, that's nice, er you two need any help there?"

Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "Ranma, you wouldn't be trying to get out of calling your mother would you?"

"Er, no, I, um yeah um, everyone else should call their folks first, yeah that's it!"

"Ranma…" Kyoko drawled, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses as she glared at him. "I understand you're worried about what she might say when you tell her Rei isn't with you, but you need to call her."

"Er, no look, I…"

"Ranma!" Her voice was much sharper this time, and she strode over with the phone in one hand and she grabbed his arm when he tried to get away, pulling him back. "Call her."

Ranma sighed, hanging his head. "Hai Kyoko-sensei."

Kyoko nodded, smirking a little at how he was utterly unable to disobey the female voice of authority. She shared a look with Shizuka who giggled a little and Kyoko moved away, heading over to join the others around the front of the bus. Already Yuuki was giving Saya a list of tools and parts she would need. Kohta had moved off, looking for tools they could turn into weapons.

Ranma despondently punched in the number for his mother's cell phone. Maybe she won't answer 'cause she doesn't know the number. This hope was dashed, and after a mere second of hearing Nodoka's voice on the other end he realized that knowing she was still alive was better than worrying, even knowing he was going to be yelled at.

His mother's voice issued from the phone, breathless as if she had been exercising or fighting recently, but with no pain or fear in her tone. "Yes, who is this please?"

"Mom, it's Ranma. Er, how are you doing?" he asked lamely, but really what were you supposed to say in the current circumstances. 'I'm happy you're not a liking corpse'? Or maybe 'Hey mom, I fought my way out of the school after it was infested by zombies, would you mind swinging by and picking me up'? Tears of relief began to appear in his eyes and Kyoko and Shizuka smiled at one another.

"Ranma! Oh thank goodness, I'm so happy to hear from you! Where are you, what's been going on, how is Rei and your other little friends, how are you all doing?"

"Um, well we're alright. We fought our way out of the school, we're holed up in a garage right now trying to do something ta the buses engine, we used a bus ta escape, to make the engine run quieter. We were trying to make our way ta the Miyamoto house. Yer not there are ya? I could get ta ya via roof hopping and come back quick."

"No, I'm not at the house, I hooked up with Kiriko, the two of us are on the freeway right now trying to keep the way out of the city clear with several of her fellow officers. After that we are heading over to a police station near the eastern edge of the city. It's supposed to be the emergency evacuation point, but it's been changed so often and the police higher ups don't seem to be able to take a plan and stick to it so I don't know." She paused for a moment and talked to someone else at the other end. "It's my son, he says they're fine! Of course!" She turned back down to the phone. "Ranma, Kiriko is here and she wants to talk to Rei, can you put her on?"

Ranma winced, he had hoped they could avoid this talk. "Um, well, uh, ya see…."

"Ranma…" Nodoka said, her voice becoming much harder. She could tell it wasn't something horrible, just something bad, but Ranma couldn't lie to save his life. "What's wrong with Rei?"

"Nothing's wrong with Rei, least I don't think so, she's just, sort of, y'know, not here right now."

"Why isn't she with you?" Nodoka asked calmly. If the two of them let their dislike for one another get in the way of them working together to survive in this madness I will tan their hides!

"It's not my fault! I was sleepin' when she decided ta leave because of that snake Shido, and then there was the out of control trolley and…" Ranma said becoming more frantic and waving his arms around pulling Saya and everyone else's attention away from what Yuuki insisted on calling 'Operation pimp my ride'.

Nodoka sighed and tiled the phone so both she and Kiriko could listen in "Why don't you start from the beginning."

Ranma sighed and did so. After a moment she could hear cursing coming from the other end of the line, not in his mother's voice so it must've been Kiriko, though he would never have thought she had that much of a vocabulary.

After he finished however, Kiriko spoke directly into the phone. "Ranma I understand it wasn't your fault and I'm glad you intend to meet up with my idiotic daughter again. I've never been told the full reason why she hates that teacher, I think it has something to do with one of my husband's investigations, but I don't know the extent of that." There was a sharp undercurrent of anger in her voice about being let out of the loop, especially about something that affected her daughter, but she reined it in. "Still running off instead of confronting the problem was foolish in the extreme, one she will have to explain to me when we meet up. Try to watch out for her all right, despite her idiocy she is still my daughter and your cousin okay?" Ranma nodded and answered in the affirmative and the formidable woman went on. "For now, try to get across the river. When you do, contact us again and we'll direct you to where we can meet up okay?"

Ranma answered again in the affirmative and Kiriko handed the phone back to her sister. "Well there you have it my son. Neither of us blame you for Rei's issues, the only thing you could have done would be to kick him and his group out before that and you couldn't have known she would react like that. Now, if you can get to the house you are free to take anything you want alright?"

The way she emphasized the word anything told him what she meant and he nodded and answered in the affirmative. "Good, take care of yourself my son, I love you and hope to see you soon."

Ranma teared up a little more at that. "I love you too mom, and don't worry, we'll see ya soon." At that point he hung up and turned to Saya who had walked up to him during his conversation on the phone. She merely looked back at him, sighed and held out her hand for the phone, deciding to try to contact her parents again.

He nodded, handing it over and ruffling her hair before moving over to Saeko and Kyoko, who were waiting to help Yuuki remove a busted piece of the engine. She looked quite different now that she wasn't trying to emphasize her sexuality. Her hands were already covered in oil, she had a streak of soot on her cheek, and her previously almost spotless uniform top (albeit with several buttons undone to let her breath given the size of her breasts) was splashed with oil and sweat.

Ranma leaned in toward Saeko and Kyoko, whispering "I'm going ta head off fer a bit. I can reach my house easy going over the roofs from here and be back in under an hour with weapons and anything else I can grab."

Saeko and Kyoko both frowned but nodded. Kyoko even told him "Take your time, maybe scout around a bit and see if you can find Rei and Takashi if you can. I don't think we will need you here, and Yuuki said it would take maybe an hour, maybe two to silence the engine as much as we can, and Kohta is busy trying to see what weapons he can make from the tools here." Ranma nodded and he kissed Saeko on the cheek and ran off up to the open window on the second floor.

OOOOOOOOOOO

While Yuki continued to lead the others working on the bus Ranma set off swiftly over the rooftops, keeping an eye out for Rei and Takashi but not seeing either. He frowned angrily seeing the amount of chaos down on the streets as he zoomed over the rooftops. Below him he could see a large group of yakuza thugs gunning down every zombie they saw and every person not of their group, taking whatever they wanted from the bodies and the stores on either side of the street.

He shook his head even as he jumped from one side of the road to another and one of the yaks looked up quickly enough to try and take a shot at him. The rifle bullet whizzed by behind him and he gave the man the finger midair, then touched down on his target rooftop and continued swiftly even as shouts of shock and surpsie went up behind him.

Not fifteen minutes later he reached the neighborhood where the Miyamotos lived. Here he found no living human, lots of dead bodies and a few zombies, but he didn't search any of the houses. He hoped the families in the neighborhood had gotten away, but he wasn't going to search around for them. He touched down in his family's backyard, then quietly as possible opened up the backdoor. He moved into the kitchen and found a note saying much the same thing Nodoka and Kiriko had told him over the phone. He then made his way up the stairs towards the room he and his mother shared for everything but sleeping, since he slept on the couch. There Ranma rummaged in his personal backpack, the one that he had arrived here with and pulled out several items.

The first thing he pulled out was armored gloves and boots. The gloves were not gauntlets, but tough leather gloves that covered his hand halfway up his forearm with leather. Then on top of the leather were pieces of armor on the fingers and back of his hand, all of which were made to protect his hands and fingers but allow him to retain a full range of movement. The boots were leather on the bottom, allowing for silent movement, but the top and calf region were armored. He put them on moving around a little and making certain they didn't clink or make any other noise that could give him away, having realized that against the zombies the ability to move silently was more important than armor. Thankfully he wouldn't have to make that call, as the metal and leather moved silently as he flexed his fingers and did some kicks. Once again he decided to spend some time learning the umi-sen-ken, something that he had been meaning to do for months but other things had taken precedence.

The next thing he drew out was a weapon that had been a gift from the master Ein, and while he didn't really enjoy using it all that much, he was extremely proficient with it. The weapon was an extremely modified version of a meteor hammer. Apparently one of master Ein's predecessors was a master blacksmith and greatly enjoyed making strange and unusual, some would even say insane, weapons. This was an example of his art. The two weights on the end were each different. One was a heavy metal ball about the size of Ranma's fists put together. The other was a metal pole, but a small indentation on the bottom of the pole where it connected to the chain made a curved blade pop out of it, transforming it from a blunt to an edged weapon.

The chain too was different, being made of a carbon fiber chain that had holes along its length. When the chain was flicked in the correct way, those holes were suddenly filled with spikes, which made the entire chain, into a giant saw. Ranma hadn't tried it out in that mode against any living target, but the damage he had done to the Soaring Eagle's target dummies had been both impressive and appalling. More, the chain had something in it that sucked a bit of your ki away when you welded it and in return could be lengthened or shortened at a mental command, which had been one of the major selling points when Ranma was gifted with his choice of weapon from the school's store. Ranma had never really expected to actually use it for real, since he always thought that anyone who was dependent on a weapon to fight simply using a crutch, but given the current circumstances, well, a weapon like this would be very useful.

Next he looked over and saw that his family's honor blade was still in its place on the wall. The blade was straight, with only a hint of a curve to it, the blade was gorgeous, the lines of chikei and nie mixed, showing its enduring strength and its age. On the bottom of the hilt was the makers mark, showing it was a true Masamune blade.

The blade had been in its sheath for years as Nodoka could not bear to even look at it, feeling the dishonor of Genma and her marriage to him keenly, knowing her ancestors, all of whom had wielded the blade in honor, would look at her and find her wanting. That had changed when Ranma had shown up and she saw how well he turned out, and she and Kiriko had both felt that Ranma had proven a worthy addition to their clan, and that Nodoka's divorce had wiped much of the stain of Genma away from her. Nodoka was unhappy that he showed no preference for the blade but understood his feelings on the matter.

Still, she told me to take everything with me, and I assume that means our family blade too. With that thought he sheathed the blade and draped it over his shoulder. With that done he ransacked the rest of the house for anything useful. This search turned up some medicine bottles, Ibuprofen and other over the counter medicines, all of which he stuffed into his backpack. He grabbed another backpack and filled it with clothing from Rei's room (not caring if it matched or anything like that and showing a preference for jeans), some clothing from Kiriko's room that might fit Kyoko (though not Shizuka, Ranma wondered idly where the hell she got her clothing from anyway), and several dozen boxers from his own room. The boxers, like most of his clothing, had been a gift from some of the martial arts schools he visited, seeing as he only ever really had three sets of clothing on his training journey with Genma. That done, he looked at the clock on the wall and frowned a little, seeing that raiding the house had taken more time than it had to actually reach it.

Sighing he decided to make one run around the neighborhood to see if he saw any sign of Takashi's mom, good or bad before heading back to the others. But she's a elementary school teacher, he thought grimly, so she might never have gotten out. He shuddered a little at the amount of chaos a zombie infestation/attack could cause at an elementary school, with all its kids being too small to defend themselves and so few adults in comparison to the children. Still he knew Takashi would want to know if she reached home, and with that thought jumped up to the roof where he left his packs and the family sword, then began to make his way over to the Komuro household.

OOOOOOOOOO

Back at the garage Yuuki had continued her work on the engine with the aid of Kyoko, Saeko and Saya. Shizuka on the other hand had taken the phone after Saya was finished with it, not having been able to contact her parents, in an attempt to get in touch with her friend. This took a while as she couldn't remember her friend's phone number, but after a time, and after even longer spent punching it in, Shizuka wasn't really at home with cell phones (or anything tech related) she was finally able to punch it in.

Her friend, a SAT police officer in their sniper division named Rika Minami, answered the phone immediately. "Shizuka! Oh my god girl, how are you doing, where are you, my place?" She knew it was Shizuka as she didn't have other friends, and her fellow officers wouldn't use her private number like this. She turned away from the phone and seemed to speak to someone for a moment, something about a target or something that Shizuka couldn't catch.

Shizuka was simply glad to hear her friend's voice. "I'm fine Ri-chan, I'm with a group of students, they were the ones who got me out of the school safely. There's Kyoko-chan you remember me telling you about her, there's Kohta-kun, he's really good with shooting things, Yuuki, she's working on doing something I don't understand to our bus's engine, and Saya, she's really smart, she was the one who grabbed this phone, there's Saeko, she's the one who saved me, she's really strong and she fights using a bokken, and then there's kitty-kun."

Rika smirked a little and somehow that came through in their tone when she replied to this flow of information. "Well it sounds like you're with a good group, thought kitty-kun… isn't that the boy you've been telling me about, the one who acts like a cat? The one you called, and I quote 'yummy'? Isn't that an amusing coincidence." She teased.

"Moh, Ri-chan, it's not like that." Shizuka replied, blushing a little as she whispered her reply, turning away from the others. "Besides, he's a student so there can't be anything there, and I think he's interested in Saeko-chan."

"I really don't think that matters much now Shizu-chan." Rika answered, her smile back in her voice as she purposely didn't mention which issue didn't matter. "Listen, I don't have much time until I have to go back to work, I'm over at the international airport protecting the perimeter from zombies. They're lifting out VIP's now, and then they'll start on regular people. What are you long term plans? Remember that I've got a lot of guns and stuff at my place, so if you need a place to hold up, feel free. If we get ordered out of here or they shore up the defense enough they don't need me I'll head into the city and try to meet up with you."

"Oh, um, I think we're trying to meet up with some people, and then we're going to try and get across the river, we want to check on all the kid's families, after that I don't know what we'll do. Kitty-kun and the others will probably make their own plans rather than become part of a larger group." Her voice had changed slightly from her normal spacey tones and she went on more seriously. "Kitty-kun and Saeko are our unofficial leaders and both of them aren't the kind who would willingly follow someone else if they thought they were wrong. And this whole thing is going to get worse before it gets better, so watching out for our own small group will take precedence. Ranma takes his promises seriously, and he promised to take care of us all, and he couldn't do that if he has to hand over our security to someone else.

Rika's eyebrows rose in surprise as she took a pull from her cigarette, taking time out of her conversation with her friend/lover (though they kept that part a secret, since Japan wasn't very friendly to those with alternate lifestyles, not that that mattered anymore, society as a whole would never be the same again after this) to point out a zombie for her partner as she thought of how to reply. While on the one hand she didn't like the idea of her friend and this group staying separate from an organized, lawful force, under the circumstances it might actually be safer. "Well, I'll still try to meet up with you. You remember that little place by the docks, the one with the fantastic ice cream and the great view of the port? If I can get away I'll meet you there." She breathed in deeply not wanting to say this next part, but she knew it needed to be said. "But if I don't show up in a week, you're going to have to move on without me whatever your long term plans."

"Don't say stuff like that Ri-chan" Shizuka said, making her voice as cheerful as she could. "You're too tough for these zombie thingies to get to you. I'll see you soon okay?"

"Heheh. Alright, I'll see you soon Shizu-chan, love you."

"Love you too Ri-chan." With that she hung up the phone then looked up as the door to the hallway opened, and Ranma stepped through carrying two backpacks and a sword over his shoulders.

The others looked at him, wondering what was in the bags, noting the strange chain weapon wrapped around his waist and his armored gloves, but Saeko's eyes were drawn by the blade over his shoulder. "Hey guy an' gals," Ranma said, smirking and exchanging a grin with Kohta, who had also noticed how badly they were outnumbered by the fairer sex in their group, "No sign of Rei and Takashi, but I grabbed some changes of clothing that might fit ya Kyoko-sensei, and maybe Saya-chan too, though I don't know." He paused there, taking the opportunity to stare at her chest, "It might be a little too tight for ya, they're Rei's ya see. Oh I also got some medicine from the house for ya Shizuka-sensei."

He tossed the two teachers one of the backpacks then turned to Saeko, formally bowing and presenting her with his family's blade. "My mom said I could use this, but I know myself and my skills, and I think you can use this blade far better than I could Saeko-chan."

Saeko reached forward curiously and pulled the Miyamoto family blade out of its sheath, then gasped as the quality of the blade became apparent. "R, Ranma, I can't take this!"

Ranma straightened up, a wry grin on his face. "I want ya ta take it Saeko-chan. I ain't a swordsman, I ain't as good as ya with a blade, and I've got my own weapon anyway." He patted his new belt, causing the fine chain to rustle a little. "Please, ya need a better weapon than yer bokken, and this katana will see ya through." He blushed a little, leaning in to whisper, "Take it Saeko-chan, given our, um our relationship it's rightfully yers anyway."

She looked humbled for a moment and bowed thankfully to him. Then she moved off to examine the blade more closely, going through a kata and getting a feel for it. Ranma moved over to the others throwing a friendly arm over Saya's shoulder, "so how does the building project?"

Saya blushed a little at the act, taking a moment to revel in their closeness then shook his arm off making a point of huffing irritably. She didn't go too far however and when he again put an arm around her she didn't complain. "As you can see" she said a little snidely "it's going okay. Yuuki knows her stuff, and the rest of us have provided enough strength and hands for most of it but none of us are really good mechanics. The engine will still make some noise, but it will be a lot quieter than before, and we added some makeshift armor too."

Indeed Ranma could see that. The exit on top of the bus had been reinforced, the windows had been replaced by metal sheets inside, the large tires had been pumped up with more air and several other tires had been put onboard along with several pieces of equipment. Most of it wouldn't be useful to them, but if they met any other groups then they could use it as a trade. Saya had thought of that, realizing that money and the economy were just gone now, and a system of barter would replace it quickly.

"So where do we go from here" Yuuki asked looking a little irritated. She had really hoped that they could figure out a way to completely silence the engine, but this garage just didn't have the parts for it. No matter where they went they would still be making a lot of noise. Still, she had proven her worth to the group in this project regardless of the outcome, which was good.

Ranma shook his head, grinning encouragingly at her while Kohta patted her arm. "You tried your best Yuuki, that's all you could really do. It's not your fault that we couldn't completely 'pimp' out this ride, you made it as good as it could be for now. If we have to leave it for any reason at least we'll know we got as much out of it as we could." He looked around at the group. "On that note, I think it's time we get out of here, I saw a group of looters heading this way, and there are a lot more zombies out there now. And we still have to cross the river somewhere. Does anyone know a bridge we could get across?"

Shizuka nodded, raising her hand like she was a student asking a question. "I think so, but it might not have been repaired yet. It's a one lane bridge about, u…. about forty minutes drive normally from around here."

"Sounds good Shizuka-chan," Ranma said, giving her two thumbs up.

"Wait" Saya said. "Before we go, did you see any computer stores around here meathead?"

"Yeah I did Pinky, it's about two blocks that way," he said pointing out the garage door and across the street outside. "Why?"

"Because I want to get a laptop of course," She replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's part of the whole thinking ahead thing you asked me to do. Now come on let's go, you'll have to carry me of course, I wouldn't trust you to get the right kind."

She walked off heading to the hallway and the stares beyond and Ranma shrugged. "Ok, you guys get the bus moving, Saya-chan and I will find ya in a bit." With that he moved to follow the pink haired girl and the others started to scramble onto the bus, with Shizuka once more taking the driving seat and Kohta moving quickly to his perch up in the topside exit. They had filled a whole bag with nail clips and he had enough ammo now to hold off a company of zombies so was a very happy camper even if they hadn't been able to figure out how to make any long range weapons from the tools in the garage.

Yuuki took a seat right below him, not at all incidentally letting him see straight down her shirt. Despite the fact that she thought she didn't really need it, Yuuki was too used to using her sexuality to enforce her importance on others, more when Kohta or Ranma looked at her she didn't feel as dirty as she normally did. If Kohta wanted to look at her tits she was fine with that idea so long as he kept protecting her. Eventually she might be fine with more, but currently was taking a wait and see attitude for that. She was wondering if she should throw herself into the match for Ranma, but despite the fact she knew he found her attractive Ranma had been rebuffing her advances for a few weeks before all this and she wasn't certain that that would change in the current crisis. More she didn't want to go up against Saeko if she was the jealous type and the swordswoman had quite clearly staked her own claim on Ranma. So it might be better, safer for her and for the group dynamic if she set her sights on the gun otaku who had originally protected her back at the school.

Of course her ability to analyze things like that would have survived all of her 'friends' back at school, but it was something that came naturally to her. But she knew when to push, when to use her sexuality, and when not to as well as who to target for the least or most amount of disruption and problems. Before she had used her skills for her own defense and amusement, now it was even more important.

As Shizuka started up the bus Kyoko looked over and saw Kohta looking down ogling Yuuki and frowned a little but shrugged it off. She suspected what the girl was up to, after all she had seen Yuuki use her wiles for the past few years to get her way with men. She knew that there was a brain in that head, it was just that Yuuki went out of her way to cause reactions good and bad. Kyoko herself had already determined that none of the men in their group, not even the now absent Takashi, needed that kind of reinforcement to continue to protect the rest of them, and hoped that Yuuki would see that soon too.

When Shizuka started the bus the only noise was a murmur and everyone congratulated Yuuki as they pulled out of the garage, running over a zombie as they turned onto the main road.

0000000000000

Ranma caught up with Saya as she began to pace in front of the open window and she turned and smacked her hands together, "Come on, we haven't got all day, chop chop meathead, let's go."

Ranma growled a little then decided to get a bit back at her and instead of turning around so she could get on his back grabbed her around the waist and lifted her into a princess carry, the hand underneath her very deliberately on her ass.

She squeaked in shock then blushed heavily and smacked him on the chest. "Watch where you're hands are baka!"

"You promise ta stop callin' me names and orderin' me about like that and I'll change my grip Pinky," Ranma retorted, blushing only slightly as his tomcat instincts came out to play. They had been coming out more and more during this crisis, with him in combat mode almost all the time. Ranma jumped out the window to the next building over and began to move from one building to anoth in the direction he remembered seeing a computer store.

"Tha-that's stupid, no way! I refuse!" Saya said still smacking his chest ineffectually, blushing up a storm.

"Then my hand stays where it is," He said then unable to stop himself gave her rear a gentle squeeze marveling at the feel of it through her school uniform's skirt.

Saya eeped at that and her blush became nuclear and she stammered. "All, alright, I'll stop calling you names, just, don't do that." Her voice trailed off, a part of her wondered if she really wanted him to as she felt her body begin to react to being so close to Ranma, her breasts pressed against his chest and his strong, sinewy hand on her rear.

Ranma's nose twitched, smelling Saya getting a little aroused but he shook it off, knowing now was not the time to take this any further. he kept his own arousal out of his voice and made certain that he held Saya far enough up his body so she couldn't feel it as he shifted his hand under her to the outside of her thigh. "There was that so hard Saya-chan?"

She mumbled something unintelligible, unconsciously burrowing into his chest as she tried to calm down. They soon came to the computer store and Ranma set Saya down gently, keeping her close. "Follow me close Saya-chan," he murmured as he they entered the store, cursing the fat the store had an automatic door with a merry little beep going on when it opened.

Saya nodded and followed him in. They found four zombies inside all clustered around the doorway and they charged forward as the door opened but Ranma leaped to meet them, hands and feet flashing, and they swiftly fell, their heads gone, crushed or knocked off entirely. After that they found another zombie near the back of the store but it died even faster, but Ranma stayed close as Saya began to search around.

The pink-haired genius browsed through the store, her mind hard at work wondering which laptop she should take. She wanted something durable, it didn't have to do much but it had to have a long battery life and a fast internet connection. She had a lot of things she needed to look up, and the internet was still up for now but who knew how long that would be? Hell, who knew how long the city would have power? Thankfully this store seemed to have a wide variety of laptops and she eventually chose the Panasonic Toughbook 31 laptop. While a little heavy for her tastes normally, in the present circumstances it was perfect. She nodded at the locked storage cabinet underneath the one on display.

"Can you break tha…" she didn't even get to finish as Ranma knelt and shattered the glass with a single punch of his armored glove covered hand. He spent a few second to remove the glass so that she couldn't cut herself then stepped back and impatiently waved her forward. She grabbed the Toughbook box she wanted, then grabbed another, ripped it open and grabbed the battery from it. She did this two more times then opened the computer's box and tore out the protective cardboard packaging, stuffing in the extra batteries instead.

With the done she handed the lot to Ranma. "We're done here."

Ranma turned, and knelt down, letting her clamber up onto his back. She decided to get a little revenge and pressed into him hard, her breasts flattening against his back. "lets go Ranma," she whispered in his ear, blowing into it a bit.

Ranma shuddered in reaction and turned to stare at her, and the look in his eyes before he shook it off made her breath catch in her throat and her body tingle. He turned away, a grin appearing on his face. "Sure, just hang on okay?" A moment later she was glad she did as Ranma rocketed forward, barely letting the door open before he was outside. Ten zombies had made their shambling way toward the store, but before they could charge them Ranma jumped forward off the ground, his feet smashing into the head of the lead zombie and using it to jump up to the roof and away.

Within five minutes they caught up with the bus and Ranma jumped to land on top of the bus's roof, grinning at Kohta before motioning him out of the way. Kohta moved down the ladder with an answering grin and Ranma handed Saya down then jumped in himself.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Since he had napped earlier that day Ranma ordered the others to conk out now while he stayed awake as Shizuka drove the bus through the city, coming upon more and more people, fires and zombies as they moved through the center of the city toward the river.

They came to an intersection that wasn't deserted rather quickly however and Ranma looked out a little angrily at the amount of carnage that he could see. People from all walks of life were running around screaming while a few seemed intent on gunning down everyone they could see zombie or human, much like the yakuza pack he had seen earlier. However unlike before these crazies didn't seem to come from a single walk of life like everyday salary men (and a few women), a person dressed like a grocer and another like a cook were blasting away with a mix of guns at the zombies and anyone else they saw, ripping into cars and stores and stealing everything they could.

He watched as a few of them pulled a young couple out of a car and one of them gunned them both down when the woman tried to pull out a tazer, then watched as the same person turned and gunned down a zombie before turning back and rummaging through the dead bodies.

When a few of them turned their attention on the bus Ranma gleefully took that as an excuse. Uncoiling his weapon from around his waist he looped one end, the hidden blade end around his shoulders and began to twirl the other end, letting a bit more of the chain out of his hands every revolution, feeling the drain on his ki as the chain lengthened at his mental command. As the men tried to run forward his hand rose and the end shot out smashing into the man's face and sending him backwards in welter of gore, his skull crushed. With a sharp tug Ranma sent the chain into the air and then flicked it around twisting it just so to make the small blades pop out all along its length. The two men who had just raised their weapons gaped for a second, then died as the rope, which would have impacted their chest and maybe simply curled around them instead sliced into them and away, leaving their guts to fall out behind it. Ranma flicked the chain again, making the blades retract and he tugged the chain back towards him as it started to run out of momentum. He looped the chain around him again slowly, its length going back to normal, his eye hard as the bus kept going through the now silent intersection, as the rest of the crazies backed off turning away to go after easier targets.

He looked up as Saeko reached out from her seat to touch his shoulder, and she nodded understandingly at him. Ranma reached up and touched her hand gently, then wordlessly moved to stand by Shizuka, looking out the windscreen as they continued to move.

Soon after that they reached the river bed and followed along the road set up an embankment from it towards the bridge that Shizuka remembered. But when they neared it they found the bridge locked up and blockaded by cars and zombies. Shizuka groaned aloud wondering how they were going to get across, and Yuuki muttered "I wonder if we could go back and make this a hydrofoil or something? Big enough tires on it and maybe we could get it through the water?" She said this last in a tone that implied even she didn't think it was possible.

"Wouldn't work" Saya replied frowning a little as she looked at the mess in front of them. "The engine block isn't waterproofed along the bottom, we'd sink and the engine would stop working and we'd be stuck there."

Ranma looked out at snarl of traffic on and around the bridge, seeing the number of zombies on it as well as the number of people running away from them. He couldn't quite see the other end but he figured that there was probably a police cordon there. He felt that was sort of like trying to stop the flood after it had already hit the city but it was still a good idea to try and stop the spread of this epidemic. "If we can't get across" he said slowly "where would Ray in Takashi go to try and get across?"

None of the others had an answer for that, and the bus continued forward, looking for a side road to turn around at. However the nearest place they could turn was right at the backend of the traffic jam, and they watched in horror as more zombies suddenly came out of the apartment complex on the other side of the taffic jam, rushing forward to aid their weight to the zombies already attacking the people there.

"Turn us around," Ranma said softly, "get us out of here." Shizuka nodded a little fearfully and put the bus in reverse, turning the bus around as hard as she could but before they could move further Saeko, who had been looking out the side window, shouted "wait look down there!"

Down below them along the riverbed was a speeding bike, with Rei and Takashi on the back of it. Takashi was the one controlling the bike while Rei was on board behind him. Kohta began to wave frantically at them from his perch and Rei noticed and waved her makeshift spear back, pointing them out to Takashi, who turned the bike to make their way up the embankment.

The people on board the bus were so happy to see their friends they didn't even notice that an out-of-control car was barreling down the side road straight towards them. The first they knew of it was when Ranma, warned by his sixth sense somehow turned and gaped then shouted, "Look out! Car incoming, everybody grab hold of something!" He reached out and pulled Shizuka to him, diving down into the indented staircase leading out of the bus, shielding her body with his own.

The car, the driver having been bitten by one of his children in the back who had been Zombiefied, slammed into the front of the bus destroying its engine and pushing it onto an angle and shattering the front windscreen, sending glass through the bus. Shizuka gasped as she looked over Ranma's shoulder, knowing that would have killed her if he hadn't pulled her to safety. The momentum imparted from the impact slammed the bus back into the snarl of traffic around the bridge, crumpling the back end too. The people on board the bus cursed, shrieked or yelled during all this but thanks to Ranma's warning the worst injury was Kyoko slamming her forehead into the windowpane hard enough to cut her skin, but not enough to give her a concussion. Kohta had hung on like a monkey to the ladder at his position at the top hatch and his arms would be feeling it for a while, but that was all.

As soon as the bus stopped moving Ranma shouted "everyone out, go out the back this thing might blow at any second!" He ddin;t know much about engines or mechanics but he had seen enough action flicks the past few months to know that at least.

Yuuki nodded grimly already able to smell the engine oil. She grabbed Kohta's legs, pulling him down sharply not even noticing as his head banged along the ladder then shoved several bags of nails and other things into his hands before grabbing up the two packs Ranma had brought from his house and jumping out and away from the bus. Kyoko did the same, grabbing several bags from the teacher's lounge, living behind most of the stuff they had taken from the garage while Saya grabbed up the box with the laptop in it before running after the older woman. Saeko jumped out carrying the katana Ranma had given her and another bag of miscellaneous things while Ranma grabbed Shizuka and picked her up princess style and raced out after them.

The missing duo had at this point come up behind the bus and looked on shocked and horrified at the sudden reversal of what had been a relatively serendipitous reunion as everyone jumped out of the bus, racing over to the embankment to take cover. And not a moment too soon as the buses engine exploded as Ranma skidded down the slope still carrying Shizuka, who was torn between fear and simply enjoying the sudden ride. The explosion went on for a few minutes, and when it was over the entire front half of the bus was just gone, as was the car that had run into it and it the zombies inside. Unfortunately this large noise attracted dozens of zombies from the traffic jam and bridge and they all turned toward it, making their way toward Ranma's group.

Rei and Takashi had taken cover as well and as the explosion ended looked at the others with wide eyes. After a second Takashi essayed a small smile and said "Um, hi guys?"

They all looked at him and then back at the bus still a little shell shocked at how quickly their fortunes had changed. Yuuki on the other hand wasn't shocked she was pissed. She stood up shouting at the top of her lungs, "What the bloody fuck! We spent two hours trying to change that engine casing and make that bus into a fucking fortress, and a single thing happens and it goes boom! Fucking cock-sucking zombies!" She kept on cursing and everyone else stared at her mesmerized as her curses became more inventive then switched to stare worriedly at the zombies coming forward from the congested area.

Saeko and Ranma however were looking at them eagerly, wanting to vent their own frustrations on a target.

Kohta moved forward and tried to calm Yuuki down saying "Yuuki, come on

Yuuki rounded on him angrily, "Shut it, I'm not done yet!" She heard movement behind her and turned to look at the zombies but instead of falling back in fright she reached into the bag that she had lugged off the bus and pulled out the holdout pistol taken from the teacher's lounge and fired at the nearest zombie. "And I don't want to hear anything from you!" The thing went down without ahead and she gasped, the sight of it falling to the ground dead at last finally knocking her out of her rage.

She fell back even as Ranma and Saeko both laughing a little charged forward spreading to either side of the charging zombies, Saeko with her blade held at a strike position straight at shoulder height and with Ranma beginning to twirl both ends of his modified meteor hammer with about three feet of chain and the ends to play with on either side of him.

Takashi and Rei brought up the rear, making certain that they weren't encircled, but really just watching as the two main fighters went to work. Kohta took out a few zombies along the edges, having fully restock his nails, but really it was beside the point.

"I bet I kill more of them than you do Saeko-chan!" Ranma said gaily, one side of his meteor hammer lashing out to crush a zombies head as it came within range.

"Ara, and what would this consequences of this bet be exactly?" Saeko answered, moving swiftly to the side, her new katana bisecting a zombie trying to get around their position.

"I'm sure we'll think of something!" Ranma shouted, and that was the last word that was spoken for a time. Ranma lashed out with his weapon's ends and his legs, crushing three zombies all at once before he used the chain to block the questing arms of another, twisting and slicing the things legs out from under it before rolling forward and crushing its head with the other side of his weapon, grimacing as a zombie grabbed his forearm, but a quick twist activated the blades in the chain, slinging out and killing two more zombies before getting stuck in one. He then looped the other end around another zombie and used his grip on the chain to flip himself into the pulling it with him and then lashing out again and again with both ends of his meteor hammer, before looping the chain around his chest in midair using the blunt end and three feet of the chain in one hand while he used his ki claws in the other, snarling happily.

Saeko wasn't so feral or random, but she was just as deadly. The Miyamoto family blade sliced through zombies almost as easily as it did the air, and she moved in a whirling dance of death, dodging zombies left and right as her blade flicked out ending their undead existence.

The two fighters worked in tandem and with rather wild grins on their faces slaughtered over 30 zombies in under a minute. The duo turned back after little while, motioning the others to start moving away from the pile up and the pile of zombies they had created. Rei and Takashi led the way and the group retreated, following a few minutes by the two fighters.

Ranma fastidiously cleaned his face from zombie goo nodding at the others. "That lot is going to keep attracting zombies, and while I don't personally have a problem with that we still need to find a place to fort up for the night." Ranma said looking up at the sun which was going down. Saeko nodded, a little irritated that they had to leave having enjoyed herself immensely. I'll need new panties after this. The ones she had on at the moment were utterly drenched, and she looked over at Ranma who looked over at her, his nostrils flared and she realized with a jolt that he could actually smell her arousal. His eyes became a little brighter, as he looked at her, letting her see the desire in his face before he turned away, and she smiled. "Does anyone know any placed nearby where we could hold up? Oh, and Rei" he turned to her "your mother is going to have words with you about going off on your own."

"You got in touch with my mom?!" Rei asked. "Wait, what do you mean she's going to have words with me?"

"Heh, yep yer mom is with my mom, they're heading towards a police station on the other side of the bridge but my mom didn't know which one neither did yours apparently. The police are trying to set up an evacuation point, but it kept on changing so they couldn't tell me which one. There was even someone talking about using the school instead of the police station for it, but yer mom is going to rip you a new one for going off on your own."

Rei nodded gulped a little, "you, you told her about me going off alone?"

"Yes," Ranma said maliciously, "I did. And since I had ta listen first-hand to their irritation with that idea you get to take the blunt of it when we actually find them." Rei growled a little but nodded and Ranma went on. "I have no idea what yer problem with Shido-shit is, but if ya had told me about it, or even asked fer help I woulda kicked him off the bus even sooner than I did. Hell, ya could have done it yerself with Saeko-chan backin' ya. I don't want ta know now what yer problem is, but ya can't just run off on yer own like that, not with the carzy ass shit happening now. Ya stay with the group and ya tough it out whatever the problem is, understand? I ain't facing our parents and telling 'em I let anything happen to you got it?"

Rei gulped, and nodded again, not meeting his eyes. In retrospect running off on her own rather than facing Shido down had been really stupid, especially after Ranma's show of force. "I, I understand. Its just, the very sight of that bastard, and, well, I just couldn't stand being around him anymore and it made me act stupidly okay!"

She glared at her cousin, some of her normal fire back, but then she gasped as her pulled her into a rough hug. "We all do stupid shit sometimes cos, just don't do it again okay? Whatever yer problems, we're all hear for ya now okay?"

Rei struggled for a moment in his arms then gave up and just nodded. Maybe, maybe I should share what happened between me and that creep, its not like his father could do anything more to my family among all this. She vowed to do a better job of thinking things through from now on, and maybe not jump to conclusions about her cousin as much. "All right you big lump, I understand now let me go will you!"

Ranma did so with a grin and began to lead the way away from the traffic jam and the numerous zombies still moving among it. While this side conversation had been going on, the others had been debating on where to go.

Ranma tuned back into the main conversation when Shizuka piped up "oh I know where we can stay! I have a friend who lives near here," she said looking around just then realizing where she was.

Yuuki grinned at the huge breasted nurse. "Is this your boyfriend's place we're talking about here?"

"O-oh no, nothing like that," Shizuka said, waving her hands wildly, taking a glance over at Ranma who had moved to stand by Saeko looking back at the fights still going on by the bridge. The only indication he was listening was that he had cocked his head towards the others. "This is my, um one of my girlfriend's place. She gave me a key a few weeks ago since she's been busy over at the airport.

For a moment Kohta thought of Shizuka dressed up in a French maid outfit cleaning the place for her friend, but then he frowned. "Is it an apartment or a house? Does it have a good view?"

"Oh yes, it's a mezonet apartment, and it's nearby so we can even walk there pretty easily. The row of apartment has its own fenced off area, oh and she has a car that's built like a tank. Its huge, like thiiiiiis big!" She said holding out her hands and bouncing in place in a very pleasing manner to every male there. "And it's quite nice inside, great kitchen and a huge bathroom and everything!"

All the girls perked up at the phrase bathroom, and even Ranma, fastidious given his cat-like nature nodded. "Takashi go on ahead on the bike and see if this place is a great as she says it is, Shizuka-chan go with him to give him directions, the rest of us will follow." He pinned his meteor hammer in place around his waist and reached over to grab the two heaviest bags as the others prepared to get moving again.

"Aw," Shizuka said pouting a little "I wanted to go with you kitty-kun."

"Sorry," Ranma said shaking his head. "There's a reason I don't have a drivers license. Let's just say that moving vehicles and I do not get along."

Rei nodded firm agreement about one, she had heard how he had been sent in for his driver's license by Nodoka a few weeks after he arrived. Rei felt it was just an attempt to get him to stop roof hopping, but it hadn't worked. Instead, he had driven two of the driving instructors to resign in terror with his tactics and insanely quick speeds. It wasn't so much that he couldn't drive; it was that he was a danger to everyone and everything else on the road. Put him alone on a road with no obstacles and in an indestructible care he would be fine, anything less, even in a situation like the one they found themselves in now, was just asking for trouble.

Takashi nodded agreement and started up the engine on the motorbike again while Shizuka climbed aboard behind him still pouting. As soon as they were moving however she began to enjoy herself and pressed herself against Takashi's back in a very distracting manner enjoying the wind in her face. The others moved off after them, Saeko at the back and Kohta and Rei at the front with Ranma loaded with as many bags as he could carry, Saya carrying her laptop, and Yuuki carrying one bag and Supporting Kyoko, who, now that her adrenaline rush had died, was wobbling on her feet dazed by the pain from smacking her head into the side of the bus.

The sun was very nearly down by the time they arrived at the house, but thankfully it was just as Shizuka had described. The apartment was one of a trio of two story apartments set into a row overlooking a bend in the river, and it did indeed have a high stone and metal fence around it and only one entrance. On the road in front were spaces for cars, but only one car remained there now, sitting alone yet dominating the area.

Yuuki looked at it and nearly salivated at the idea of working on it while Kohta simply stared at the piece of military hardware with something approaching lust on his face. Shizuka smiled happily. "See, it really is pretty nice huh?"

However after a moment they saw movement inside from a few zombies, and Ranma and Saeko exchanged a glance. "The rest of you follow us in, Saeko and I will go in first.

Ranma led the way with a small grin on his face in his hands wide not even bothering to unhook his weapon while Saeko simply smiled a little manically and followed him blade at the ready while the others nodded and as the two fighters charged in lugged their packs inside and firmly closed the gate behind them. Thus ended the first day in their new world.

---

End chapter

As always read and review, and like I said, don't expect more chapter for this story for a while. Tell me how you liked Ranma's weapon and how i wrote out the last fight there. Also, how do zombies actually fight? do they just try to grab and bite or what?