"Take this!" Naruto yelled out, swinging his hockey stick at the third zombie, slamming him into the wall. At that, Sasuke swung his bamboo sword and smashed the head of the student, killing him.
I sighed out in relief, putting my guard down for a little bit. "Finally." Honestly the entire time they fought I was afraid one of them would get bit.
At the same time I heard another moan from behind me. With a swift turn I saw the other victimized girl from before, the one that was bitten in front of Ino. The blond and I backed away slowly, me holding my bat ready as the once-dead girl rose to her feet, her head and arms drawling towards the ground. "Sakura..." Ino warned, hiding behind me in protection.
"She was bitten," I realized with a stern face. "Everyone bitten will come back up unless their head's gone." I tightened my grip on the bat's handle. "In that case," I ran towards the girl as her mouth opened wide, ready to bite me. Before I could smash her head with my bat, she caught it with her un-dead hand, taking me by surprise. 'What...?'
Gripping the end of the bat she threw it across the hall behind her, advancing towards me slowly. Well, there goes my hope. "Oh man..." I uttered in panic as she grabbed hold of my shoulders with an intense grip, holding me against the wall with a slam into my back. Using my arms and leg to keep her away, she was surprisingly strong, trying to get closer to biting any part of me. Head, neck, arm, wrist, anything with living flesh. "So strong," I winced, feeling death approaching me.
Before my arms gave out, I saw the girl get kicked to the side by Sasuke with a jump. With a swing of his sword he decapitated the girl from the neck with a swift hit. With deep breaths I tried to keep myself from sliding down to the ground. I really almost died just now, didn't I.
With a safe breath, Sasuke looked to me. "You alright, Haruno?"
I looked up at him, contemplating whether to give him attitude or thank him. But nonetheless I nodded in reply and Sasuke went to pick up my bat for me. Ino came to me and picked up my arm, helping me stand up straight again. "You okay, Sakura?" she asked with concern.
"I'm just fine," I actually answered, feeling the racing beat of my heart still. Searching for Naruto I found him standing by the door to the school staircase, holding his hockey stick in defence. "We better get out of here. Those things are coming up the stairs. They're pretty slow, but I still don't feel like sticking around any time soon."
"We could barricade the door," I said, holding my shoulder. It must've been wounded from that dead girl's grip, like she cracked a bone or something. Ino noticed from my hesitation to life up my left arm.
"There's no time," Sasuke said, walking up to us. "We need to find somewhere to hide first."
"Like where? This entire school is swarmed with them," Naruto argued, getting away from the door after closing it. But I doubted that'd do much.
"I know one place, though," Ino spoke up, getting our attention. "The girl's locker room."
"The, girl's locker room?" Naruto asked with an appearing smile. That idiot.
"You dolt," Ino scolded, hitting him for me. "Ever since last year's incident with the seniors' guys, the school created stern metal doors for the girls locker room. It's not much, but it'll take a while for those zombies to break through it if we barricade that from the inside. And besides, I keep some bandages in there for cheer leading. Sakura could use some," she said, motioning to my shoulder. I felt the guys' stare, and I looked down. "Well?"
Sasuke sighed, still holding my bat for me. "As against it as I'd normally be, I don't think we have too much of a choice at this point."
"It should just be here on the second floor, so it won't be that far," Naruto said with a finger to his chin.
"And how are you supposed to know that?" I said with a suspicious glare to the blond.
"Who cares! Let's just go before we run into any more zombies," Ino asserted, taking my bat from Sasuke's possession, as if he just stole it from somewhere. "I'll be taking this."
"You're not strong enough to fight with a bat," Naruto scoffed at the girl.
"I'm not fighting with it," she argued, pointing the bat at Naruto. It really was heavier than she expected, but she didn't show weakness on her face. She looked back at Sasuke with a pointing arm. "You, carry Sakura."
? . ? . ?
"Eh?" he and I said with the same expression.
"Why should I?" Sasuke said with a frown.
"Because, she's injured and won't be able to run very well with her shoulder," Ino bossed, stating the obvious. "Naruto can take care of the front in case we run into any of them on our way."
"Why me?" Naruto said with anime tears running down his face.
Ino held my bat over her shoulder. "Meanwhile I'll carry this for Sakura." She looked towards me. "Seriously, I don't know how you can carry this thing, let alone fight with it in that long skirt of yours."
I myself was about to protest, but I felt Sasuke's arms pick me up. He lifted me and held me close as to not drop me. "Let's just hurry. I really don't want to be around when those things reach the second floor." Without question, Naruto and Ino ran down the hall, Sasuke right behind them.
I stayed quiet, trying to keep listening for any more of those zombies. At least Ino was okay. I was glad we managed to run into her when we did. I might've injured my shoulder for it, but it seemed worth the life. We reached the girls locker room at the end of the hall, luckily without any run-ins with those things. Everyone else was probably busy trying to get down to the first floor. Ino tugged on the metal handles of the door. "It's locked," she glared, letting go of it.
"Not for long," Naruto said, picking up a key from a keychain around his hip hanging above his school pants. One of the keychains happened to be a real key, and he held it up to the door.
"Why on earth do you have that?" I pouted at him.
"Do you really want to ask that?" Sasuke said with the same face as me. Either way, Naruto managed to unlock the door thusproviding us shelter for now. So Ino and I decided not to scold him for this. If there ever came an hour of safety, then I'd scold him.
Ino turned on the lights in the cramped room, filled with walls of lockers. Naruto ran in first with his weapon, looking down the room with a careful look. "All clear!"
Heading in Sasuke set me down on one of the benches, Naruto head to close the door. Ino left my bat against one of the lockers and went to open one of her locks. "Sakura, do you have a change of clothes in here?"
I shook my head, my hand still on my shoulder. "You know I don't use the locker room." I held my head down, kind of embarrassed. "I keep my gym stuff in my locker downstairs and usually change in the bathroom."
Ino sighed in frustration. "I guess it can't be helped then." She turned towards Naruto and Sasuke with a stern glare no one would dare mess with. "You two guard the doors. Sakura and I will be in the back showering." She was suddenly up close to Naruto. "And you better not peak."
"G-Got it," he stammered with raised hands. Although he really enjoyed the thought of seeing the image. Perve.
"I'll watch him. You and Sakura go wash up," Sasuke told, leaning against the wall.
"Thank you, Sasuke," Ino smiled before taking me up and walking to the back. I've never used the school showers, and now seemed like a really weird time to start. Ino and I were both stripped of our school uniforms left on an outside bench as the showers started. The heart and steam began to spread, covering my sight slightly. I washed some of the dried blood of my arms and hair with my good arm.
"Ahh, it's so nice to be clean again," Ino said with a relaxing tone as she washed her long blond hair. "How about you, Sakura?"
Even though we weren't facing each other, I put up a convincing trying smile. "Yeah. It's nice."
Ino half-smiled. Our voices were shielded by the sound of the running showers, so we were able to talk. "I expect yours and the guys' plan was to leave the school for safety, right?" It seemed like an obvious plan when she said it. "Have you thought about what you're gonna do?"
I turned my head slightly. It ached my shoulder a bit, but I felt if I moved around it'd get back to normal eventually. "What do you mean?"
"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, scratching off some dried blood from her fingernails. "If the school's this bad, then how do you think it is out there?" My head jumped slightly. "No police came to the school yet. In fact, I'd say it'd be like we were free students, able to do whatever we wanted, or whatever we can, actually."
It gave me something to think about. "What are you implying, Ino?"
"Remember back in freshman year, how you always wanted to look for all the others who moved away so we can all have a reunion one day?" Ino asked. That dream, it reminded me of a lot. But it seemed really impossible at that time. Even now. Especially with this epidemic at hand. It was then I hoped that they were alright, too. The thought of any of our old friends turning into one of those things, I just wouldn't believe it.
"I had no reason to look for them then," I answered through the mist. "It's high school. I bet everyone had changed by then. Gotten their own lives and moved on."
"Well, now you have a reason," Ino grinned. "Normally people still alive in this situation would be looking for their loved ones. Family for example. In this case, you can use this situation as a way and motivation for looking for all the others like you wanted." I heard her chuckle behind me. "Gosh, just the thought of it taking a whole zombie invasion to bring the old gang together. It sounds absurd, doesn't it?"
I hated to admit it but she had a point. "I guess."
Silence followed as Ino stopped scrubbing her hair. "You know, in our little group as kids, I never did like half the kids in our group. We were the only girls, and those guys were always so annoying. But," she smiled. "But, do you know what my dream is?"
"What is it?"
"It's almost the same as yours, really," she said truthfully. "My dream is to have all seven of us together again so we can have another picnic in the park."
"Picnic?" I asked with a look. "That's it?"
"Yeah, don't you remember?" she asked, mocking me. I always said that to her and she's always tell me to bug off already. "Back in the day, we'd always hang out in the playground and eat lunch over the summer together. Then we'd all start singing some song we all liked." She chuckled. "Shikamaru always said I had a lame voice or something like that. The sad part is I kind of agree with him now. But, looking back, I get what you mean now when you say you miss everyone." She lifted her head. "But that's a dream for another day."
As I listened to her, I realized she finally saw my old point of view. But now, I had a new one. Besides, I learned long ago dreams never come true. "But right now, our first priority is to survive and get out of here. At this point, finding adult-authority help doesn't sound like the most assuring thing to me."
After our shower, Ino and I went outside to the bench where out clothes were. Putting on our underwear and skirts separately, Ino told me to leave my school shirt off first so she could bandage my shoulder. I felt against it and said that I should do it myself, but she told me that it was better if someone else did it for me. She said she rather she did it instead of Naruto or Sasuke. I was definitely against that idea.
"Okay, here's the bandages," Ino said, coming up to me, waiting on the bench.
Upon seeing me without my shirt, in the dim lights of the girls locker room she saw a noticeable feature on my back. I wasn't facing her, but I could tell she was looking at it. She walked up to me. I noticed her hesitating to touch my back. "It's okay. It's just a scar. The bandages won't hurt it."
Ino looked at me just as I turned away. Behind me was a long scar-like cut, the only blemish on my fair-skinned back. "Sakura, where did you get this?" she asked warily. "Was it from fighting the zombies?"
With a shake of my head, I replied with a no. I had the option of lying and saying that it was from one of the zombies, but I couldn't lie to Ino. "My mom's an alcoholic. One night back in the eigth grade, she went a bit berserk and, I got hurt." I explained it as if were nothing. Was that bad? To assure her I was okay for real, I turned around with a bright smile. "It's okay. It was a while ago, so don't worry about it."
With a still-unsatisfied frown, she began to bandage my shoulder. It was already feeling slightly better, so I saw no reason to bandage it. But if it made Ino and the others feel better, then I supposed it was okay.
Afterwards, the two of us walked back to the guys, fully clothed in our school uniforms. My hair was still dripping a little with water, but only because I refused to use Ino's hair-drier. I didn't like using them for whatever reason I had. Meanwhile I noticed the guys had kept the door barricaded with some tables and boxes. A few banging and groaning sounds could be heard on the other side, but it didn't look like they would be breaking in any time soon.
"Took you guys long enough," Naruto remarked, facing us with his hockey stick.
"Hey, we didn't question you about you having a key to this place to don't start scolding us," Ino said with her hands on her hips.
"Are you guys gonna shower? It'll probably be a while before we find another place with working water," I advised.
"It's okay. We didn't get a lot of blood on us back there," Sasuke assured, looking kind of relaxed. "Aside from that, is your shoulder okay?"
"It's fine. Ino took care of it" I said with a small smile. I had told Ino earlier to keep quiet about my scar to the guys. 'It was not something they needed to know' I told her. "Anyway, what's the plan now? Obviously we can't stay in here forever."
"We talked about that before while you two were in the back," Naruto spoke up, quite proudly actually. "Sasuke recommended we go to the school's old library."
"Isn't that on the other side of the school?" Ino asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, but it's almost the next best place to hide out in," Sasuke explained.
"How?" I pouted. A giant room with dusty books having been left untouched for how many years?
"For one it's on the first floor, so it's even closer to getting out of this place," Sasuke notified. "Naruto and I tried to call for help, but our phones don't work here in the locker room. Maybe not even on this floor."
"Plus he also said that the old library has a secret emergency exit that leads to the sewer," Naruto grinned. Why he was smiling about that I'd never know.
"The sewer," Ino repeated, sounding disgusted at the idea of going underground.
"Well we can't use the front door anymore," Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly. He had a point. "I don't even know if that old room has that underground exit. It was only a rumor I heard, but it's worth checking out. And the door to the place should be stern enough to be able to keep all those zombies out without us having to barricade it."
"And how do you propose we get to the old library?" I asked skeptically.
"Like I said, Sakura. The two of us planned the entire thing out," Naruto stated. "Having me around, we can get anywhere around the school through the air-ducts."
"That might be even worse than the sewers," Ino frowned.
"Just let me talk would ya?" Naruto snapped at the rivaling blond. "Before I was rudely interrupted, like I was saying before, we can go through the air ducts."
"Apparently the dobe knows his way around the school up there," Sasuke admitted, still leaning against the wall in his same casual manner. "Unfortunately there's no route in the air ducts that leads directly into the old library. The closest one to it will get us into a hallway nearby."
"The bad news is that since the hall is on the first floor, it's most likely swarming with more students who've been bitten," Naruto stated seriously. "We'll have to fight our way there."
"Is that the only way?" Ino asked. "Sakura is-"
"I can fight, Ino," I assured, taking the bat that's been left by her locker. "My shoulder's feeling much better, so I should be just fine out there."
"You sure?" Ino asked unconvinced. Even Naruto showed a hint of concern for me. I felt kind of sad Sasuke didn't have any reaction, but now wasn't a time to worry about emotions.
"Let's just go. The faster we get out of school, the faster we can get some help from the outside." Although, like I said, I highly doubt we can find any real help in this reality I call a nightmare. And how this guy knows his way up there is beyond me, but I'm not one to argue at this point
Using a ladder we found, Naruto climbed up and began to open a way into the large air ducts above us. "Alright, I unscrewed it." With our help we helped him set down the metal door. "I'll go in first since I know my way. Sakura you go next."
"Why me?"
"Because, your shoulder's injured so in case any zombies decide to follow we can protect ya," Naruto grinned as if it were supposed to be a good plan. We're in vents. What could he possibly do?
I kept my frown. "I hope you're not planning on farting up there."
"We're all not hoping for that," Sasuke agreed.
Naruto ignored our comments. "Sasuke you go in after Sakura."
"Hey what about me?" Ino retorted. "Why am I the last one? If a zombie did come up I'd be the first to go!"
"Not my fault," Naruto shrugged.
"IT'D TOTALLY BE YOUR FAULT!" Ino shouted at the guy.
"Hey I'm only being logical," Naruto stated calmly. "I'm first because I know the direction. Sakura's second since she can't do much maneuvering, so that'll mean she'll get left behind the farther back she is in the vents. Sasuke's third since he'd probably be able to provide protection in case something came up, even if he's wasn't all the way in the back."
"So why the heck am I last!"
"You're wearing a skirt," Naruto said bluntly from up on the ladder.
Wow, he had a point.
Ino blushed as her hands quickly went to her uniform skirt. "Well Sakura has a skirt too! And Sasuke's right behind her!"
"Well Sakura's skirt isn't so damn skimpy like yours!"
"What'd you say, Uzumaki?"
The shouting went back and forth between the two blonds, and all I could do was watch with Sasuke.
"Three days, I gives us three days we can stay alive with these two," Sasuke said flatly with his arms crossed. I simply nodded.
Anyway we followed Naruto from behind, creeping quietly through the air ducts. I ignored the pressure I was adding to my shoulder by crawling , and I kept my bat under my arm as I dragged my defence weapon. Same with Naruto's hockey stick and Sasuke's bamboo sword. Then again he had a holster for it...
"Over here," Naruto said finally as we can to a huge space. Finally somewhere I didn't have to have my face up to Naruto's butt. We gathered around the air duct opening and looked down it through the metal strips. Below us we saw in a short distance a fair amount of mindless wandering dead students. Guess they were right about there being a lot of this floor.
"Okay, we're here. So what's the plan?" I whispered.
"The doors should be just down the end of the hall," Naruto told, trying to get a better look through the small entrance. "It's a pretty far run, but if we take 'em down quickly enough we should be able to get there in one piece."
"Who's to say those doors are open though?" Ino cautioned in a lower whisper. "No one uses it for a reason. What if the doors are locked?"
"Then we're screwed," Sasuke said simply.
"You mean you don't even know if the room's open?" I asked, almost yelling. But I did my best to keep it down to a harsh whisper.
"Well if we said that back in the locker room you two would've never gone," Naruto frowned, actually having been ahead of us for once. "And don't even thinkof going back to the locker room. By now the baracade around the door must've been taken down by those things."
I glared at the two boys. They set us up. They could've at least set Ino up and told me. "Alright, we'll go."
"W-What?" Naruto asked.
"You made up the plan, and we're agreeing to it," I augured with him.
"A-Actually, we figured you would both be too scared and you'd just stay up here while we fought the zombies down there until the coast was clear for you guys," Naruto sweatdropped, scratching his cheek.
"Idiot," I uttered, punching his shoulder.
Naruto groaned quietly, holding his shoulder with a face. "Yeah, punch me and not Sasuke."
While I ignored his remark, Sasuke spoke. "The dobe has a point though. It's too dangerous, so you two stay up here while we take care of things down there."
"We're going," Ino interrupted.
I nodded. "Yeah. There's way to many down there. We have to go as a group. And besides, Naruto's reverse psychology is horrible."
"Hey I put a lot of thought into that plan," Naruto whined.
"Yeah don't do that. Thinking really isn't your thing," I advised before turning back to Sasuke. "And we're going. Sasuke, you take the front and Naruto and I will take the rear. Ino, it's too risky for you to fight without a weapon so you just run and protect the center."
"Since when did you start taking orders," Sasuke said.
"Since you stopped including me in your plans," I smirked at him. Honestly, all my fears had gone away somewhere and I just had the urge for some excitement to take out my anger. After Naruto opened the vent, I jumped down and did a mid-air double kick to the zombies below for a clear exit. Naruto and Sasuke followed as well as Ino, and we took out the zombies close by. It attracted a lot of attention so Sasuke took the front and began running, taking down any of the student zombies in his way.
Naruto and I took the rear of the formation while Ino ran ahead. It was pretty easy but considering how much longer we had to run, I didn't know just how much we could keep up this streak. Eventually, just like I predicted, we came to a stop in an intersection of the hallway. Many more zombies were gathered here, and we put up our guard. Ino remained between the three of us for protection.
"This might be a bit much," Sasuke grimaced, holding up his sword.
"Should we just try and run past them?" Naruto asked.
"No, it's too risky. One of us could get bit, for sure," I opposed.
"So we just fight?" Naruto suggested.
"Duh," Sasuke said with a glint in his eye. "Sakura take the sides with me. Naruto protect Ino." He said it so quick that right after, Sasuke and I took off. We began attacking the ward of the zombies. Sasuke was doing pretty well with his kendo weapon. I on the other hand, although using only a bat, was doing pretty well. And my shoulder felt better than ever. I smashed heads one by one while using kicks to throw off others if too many came at once. I glanced every now and then at Naruto to make sure he and Ino were doing okay. I'd smile if I could.
Despite all the fighting, there were too many students coming at once. I began to wonder, if we were the only ones left in the building who were actually still alive - still human.
"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted. While I was in my thoughts I lowered my guard in my attacks. A zombie had enough intelligence to sneak up beside me, almost biting at my forearm. Sasuke had come just in time right before, swinging his weapon at him and smashing his head down to the floor. Now cornered near a wall, Sasuke held up his kendo stick in our defence, all of them coming at us now. Sasuke couldn't attack otherwise we'd risk getting bit.
'So... this is how it ends...'
"NO!" Naruto's voice shouted, zombies getting thrown here and there from the back of the crowd. I didn't know how he was doing it, but Naruto seemed to be at his best at this point. I could've sworn that the instant I saw him, his eye had an almost evil glint to them. Either way, his burst of energy attracted most of the zombies, but he was doing pretty good on his own.
Sasuke took this opportunity and took down the zombies in front of us. "You know, the dobe's doing pretty good for just a hockey stick."
"Yeah..." I said, still holding my bat and smashing one of the zombies who came up at the side. However one of the zombies, probably a senior, came to attack our front. Sasuke went to smash his head, but this one managed to grab onto the end of Sasuke's weapon, just like with what happen to me before. Raising Sasuke's weapon, he was lifted off the ground in a panic. "Sasuke!" I screamed, hugging his waist and trying to pull him down before any zombies could bite into his shirt. Sasuke eventually let go of his weapon and he fell, me holding him from behind to keep him from collapsing.
However the both of us were without a weapon now. The one holding Sasuke's sword fell back, but another zombie came at us with quick speed. I hugged Sasuke with my arms around the back of his neck as we shut our eyes to await the worst. But then I heard blood splatter. I felt it. I didn't feel any pain, so I opened my eyes, expecting to see Sasuke half dead. However what I saw was just as worse.
"AAGH!" Ino yelled out, the zombie biting deep into the crow of her neck. I watched her blood rain down in an inhumane amount. Death starred into my hollow green eyes as my grip around Sasuke fell numb.
"Ino..." I said dead. Sasuke and Naruto starred in disblief as well. As if the world fell into slow motion, my only true high school friend began to drift down towards the floor, blood still falling from her open neck. Other zombies began to come towards her, but at that instant my teeth gritted against each other, and I felt myself stand up.
I grabbed my bat, my pink bangs covering the sides of my eyes. "You..." I said deadly.
"Sakura," Sasuke said warningly, still sitting against the wall.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" I screamed out, charging at the hoard of zombies about to gather around Ino. In a frenzy I took out the remaining ones in the hallway intersection with no mercy. They weren't human. They were monsters. And now, I was about to loose one of my friends to them.
"Ino!" Naruto yelled, running over to us.
Sasuke had come to Ino, seeing her weak fatigue as he tried to sit her against the wall. "Watch Ino. I'll get Sakura, okay?"
"AHHH!" I yelled out, swinging my bat my hardest against the tallest of them, the same one that almost killed Sasuke and me. There weren't many left around that we really had to necessarily deal with, but I just kept on going. It was as if I had just lost control of myself totally. I couldn't stop. Not after, not after...
"Sakura!" Sasuke's voice called, running in front of me. Instantly I stopped running and he pushed down my bat to my side, taking grip of my shoulders right after. "Stop it, just, stop it," he said firmly, shaking me slightly. I looked up at his face, and much to my surprise, I saw a hint of sadness. Disappointment? I couldn't tell, but it was a familiar emotion I never thought I would've seen on Sasuke. An emotion I, haven't seen in so long.
But shortly after, Sasuke pulled me in, hugging me the same way I had hugged him before in the fear of dying. His was gentle, though. The hold comforted me, bringing me back somehow. "What did I do..." I mumbled into his school shirt.
"Guys," Naruto's voice spoke. I could hear Ino's faint breathing. "We better hurry to the library while none are around too close. Ino needs help."
Breaking the hug, Sasuke and I hurried over to where we were needed. I helped get Ino into Naruto's arms to carry while Sasuke quickly fetched his kendo stick. We ran down the last of the empty hall towards two giant library doors. I pushed them open, using all of my strength to do so, though I think Sasuke helped. The door creaked open and we hurriedly rushed inside. The library was lit dimly by the tall glass windows near the high walls of the place. Shutting the door just as fast with with just as much effort, we locked it. Hopefully that would be enough to hold them out.
"Thank heavens its over," I breathed out.
"Now for her," Sasuke reminded as we faced Naruto. He set Ino down on the ground. Her breathing was hoarse as I saw her skin pale.
"Ino," I gasped, rushing to her side. I took her cold hand, feeling her cough a bit. Blood seeped through her open mouth, as she struggled to open her eyes.
With a hazed-looking vision, she turned her head towards me on her left. Blood dropped from her lips as she urged a smile. "Sakura..."
"Yes, Ino?" I asked, holding her hand with both of mine. I knew that she was going to die. No matter how much I hoped and prayed that she'd live, she wouldn't.
"There's something I want you to do for me..." she said, her voice hard to hear with all the blood. "I want you... to kill me..." At that moment my world froze. My fake smile was still plastered on my face, but it slowly faded away as tears built up in my eyes. She... she wasn't really asking that of me was she...? "Please... do it." Sasuke's eyes closed as Naruto looked away.
"B-But..." My eyes teared up even more. My vision became a blur as I tried not to let them fall. I refused to blink.
"But nothing, Sakura..." she said quietly with the same smile plastered on her dying face. "Smash my head with your bat... or else..." She coughed out more blood. "Or else... I might hurt you guys..."
I couldn't hold it in anymore. "INO NO-!" Naruto gabbed my shoulders forcing me back as Ino began another coughing fit, blood splattering out of her mouth. Naruto kept me away as I tried to break out of his grip. I watched in horror Sasuke walk up to the blond girl. "No! Ino no! Don't die! DON'T DIE!"
Sasuke raised his bamboo sword, looking down at his old friend. Emotion was void of his eyes, but he hurt just as much as Naruto did. Their pair couldn't compare to mine. "No..." Ino frowned, looking up at the Uchiha. "I want Sakura... to kill me..."
Sasuke glared down at the foolish girl. "Why? Why do you want to put Sakura through all that-"
"If you kill me..." she said hoarsely, her eyes becoming foggier and foggier. "She... will come to resent you," she breathed out, feeling her moment coming soon. She said that though so quietly so that only Sasuke could hear. "I don't want her to hate..."
Sasuke felt his grip on his sword but shut his eyes, and threw the weapon across the floor. I watched in tears as Naruto and I wondered what just happened. Sasuke turned around, facing us. He looked dead straight at me with a serious stare. And somehow, I knew just what he wanted me to do. "No, no I won't kill Ino!" I hung my head, letting the tears drop. "I won't...!"
"Please, Sakura," she said, almost trying to sound at peace, despite her just about to drown in her own blood. "I don't want to turn... into one of them..." I imagined Ino, as one of those zombified students. Turning on us, killing us. She didn't want to hurt us. And she said that already, didn't she. "I'm begging you Sakura please," she said as humanely as possible, begging me to do the evil deed as tears formed into her own blue eyes, whose color was already beginning to fade.
I stood up from Naruto's loosen grasp. I walked over to the coughing Ino and picked up my bat, already stained with her spilled blood from her coughing fits and from her bite wound. My souless eyes starred down into her hers, our eyes were practically the same.
"Thank you," she mouthed, unable to speak anymore as she took her last dying breath.
My tears still fell. "I'm sorry," I chocked with my raised bat. Sasuke and Naruto looked away as I brought the bat down. The smash echoed throughout the library, the Yamanaka girl now deceased. Her blood didn't splatter over me as I expected. She had already lost so much maybe? I did it with my eyes closed, because I didn't want to see it. "She's gone..." I chocked again, still holding the bat over her. "Guys...?" I began to sob.
The two ran up to me as I turned around and dropped the bat, falling into Naruto's hug. I began to cry and sob into his shirt, completely loosing it. Meanwhile Sasuke went to get some kind of cloth to cover Ino's broken head with. Nothing else could be heard for hours as I cried. I had done so until I found myself asleep. Ino...
"You know, in our little group back then, I never did like half the kids in our group. We were the only girls, and those guys were always so annoying. But," she smiled. "But, do you know what my dream is?" "What is it?" "It's almost the same as yours, really," she answered truthfully. "My dream is to have all seven of us together again so we can have another picnic in the park." "Picnic?" I asked with a look. "That's it?" "Yeah, don't you remember?" she asked, mocking me. "Back in the day, we'd always hang out in the playground and eat lunch over the summer together. Then we'd all start singing some song we all liked." She chuckled. "Shikamaru always said I had a lame voice or something like that. The sad part is I kind of agree with him now. But, looking back, I get what you mean now when you say you miss everyone." She lifted her head. "But that's a dream for another day."
Honestly, I actually considered looking for everyone, like Ino suggested, just so that we could have that picnic in the park like old times.
But now, that would never happen. Ino was dead now. All seven would never happen. I learned a long time ago that dreams would never come true. Dreams were just for daydreaming, just for thinking 'what if', 'What if's' that could never become reality. My dreams had just about the same odds as saying that I wished I had magical powers.
"Sakura," Sasuke's voice spoke, calling me out of my sleep. Opening my eyes I felt the sore feeling of my physical body. My shoulder was aching and my neck felt stiff from my sleeping position. I was sitting against the library desk with my head leaning forward. I snapped it back, rubbing it. Sasuke was kneeling in front of me, offering out a plastic cup of water. The lighting was dim, so I could be wrong. Sasuke actually being polite to me? "Sakura, wake up."
I rubbed my eyes with my other hand, feeling some dry moisture around them from crying earlier. "Sasuke...?"
"Here, drink this. You need it," He said, turning away as he extended his arm. Looking down at his hand, I took the cup and drank the much-needed water. I wanted more, but I didn't question and I set the cup aside. Sasuke went over and plopped down next to me against the library desk. "Feeling better?"
"Sort of," I answered, seeing the shadow of Ino's dead body in the distance. Her head was covered by a blood-stained cloth, but I quckly adverted my eyes to my feet. "Where's Naruto?"
"Asleep somewhere in some chairs he tried to make into a bed. I've been keeping watch."
He didn't sound tired at all. "What time is it?"
"7:00P.M. But it's getting pretty dark outside," he said, glancing towards the windows behind, hovering over the bookshelves. "It's best we rest while we have the peace. We need it."
I just kept starring down at my feet, deep in thought. Based on what Sasuke said, he must've been 'keeping watch' for a while now. "Why don't you get some sleep. I'll keep watch for now."
"No way," he said with a look. I expected he would've said 'I'm not trusting my life with you' or something witty like that, but I could tell he was keeping that remark to himself. Remembering our previous events with my loosing it, I wouldn't trust my life with me either.
"Then I'll just look around," I said lifelessly, getting up to my feet. I heard stiff cracks in my legs. I must've been out for a long time as I stretched.
"For what?"
"Just books. I'm bored." Not even. I will never be bored again, not after today. I heard him about to get up, but I stopped him. "Just let me be alone for now, okay?" I said quietly. I didn't know if he heard, but I continued walking, and he didn't follow. All I had on my mind was Ino and the look on her face before I killed her. I killed her. I fought those zombies before and smashed their heads, but I never did it to someone still living, let alone one of my own friends.
Was I weak...?
As I wandered the isles of bookshelves of the dark library, I remembered one day from freshman year, one of the first few days of school. Sasuke and I were wandering around after classes, and we stumbled upon this old library the school closed off for some reason. Either way I always liked this place. I hid something here even as a keepsake for old things. Everything in his library was old.
Finally I found the right shelf and the right book. Strange how I remembered. Pulling it out, I stood up and flipped through the dusty yellow pages and found its bookmark. It was an old photo, a bit dented at the sides but still clear nonetheless. It was an old picture of me and the old gang. Seven. Me, Sasuke, and Naruto. It was us three who started it all. And our other friends who had moved away: Shikamaru, Neji, and Kiba. His puppy Akamaru was in the picture, too. Ino was beside me in the scene. We were outside Konoha Elementary in our school uniforms. I missed these times, and I felt myself smile faintly down at it.
I heard footsteps at the end of the bookshelf, and I saw Sasuke come up with his hands in his pockets. I guess he did follow me after all. "Yeah?" I asked emotionless.
He walked up to me, glancing at the photograph. "I see you found this old thing."
"I wanted to see if it was still here," I told, looking at the yellowing picture. Ino's secret dream, to get everyone together again. "Sasuke?"
"Hm?"
"Why did we drift apart?" I asked wearily, starring down at the photo. "Me you and Naruto. We were so close in the beginning of everything. And now we just... disappeared from each other somehow."
Sasuke contemplated my question, careful with his words. "I don't know, really... I guess we just found less things in common. We grew up."
"Do we really have to grow up?"
"After today, can you really say we're normal kids?"
I gave a small scoff. "I guess not, but..." I closed the book placing it in the shelf and folding the picture to keep. "I just really want to go back right now. Having nothing to worry about, all of us just playing together." I looked at Sasuke. "Would you want that?"
"I don't see why not at this point." Anyone would want anything else at this point. "Why?"
I sat down against the bookshelf, still starring at the photograph. Sasuke sank down beside me. "Ino asked me about what we were going to do once we got out of the school." I glanced at the Uchiha at the corner of my eye. "What were we going to do?"
Sasuke looked upwards, trying to recall the previous moments before all this madness. "When I first woke up in that nurses's office, all I could think about was getting you and Naruto out of this place, to somewhere safe." He paused with a scoff. "I wasn't really thinking of anything then."
"That's a shocker," I teased.
He ignored that. "Do you wanna know now? How I knew all this was going to happen."
"It might help."
Sasuke tried to recall his 'dream', if it ever was a dream. "After I fell during class, I thought I woke up. School went about normally for me, but then at 1:00, everything went for the worse. Those zombies came and overtook the school." His eyes hardened. "Naruto was one of them..." I felt my breath hold. "And you ended up like Ino." He gripped his hands into fists. "That was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen... Then when I woke up in the nurse's office and found out it was all just a dream, I remembered that was exactly how the dream started. Waking up in the nurse's office and seeing it was a quarter to 1:00."
"And you tried to keep that all from happening..." I realized.
"Can you blame me?" Sasuke asked looking at me with a now calmer face. "I wasn't thinking straight for once, just grabbing you and Naruto out of class. I lost it then. I just wanted us to leave and... I don't know."
"That's what happens when you go crazy," I confided with a small smile. Naruto went crazy before, fighting those things. Made me wonder what went through his mind to loose it, but we all went through it today... Just today. "If I were still five, I never would've expected for any of this to happen to us."
"No one would," Sasuke imparted, taking a breather. Suddenly a creak echoed through the library, spooking Sasuke and I. However it was followed by a crash and a 'ow' from a familiar knucklehead we both knew. I sighed in relief as Sasuke did the opposite. "That idiot," he grumbled, rubbing his head.
"We better go check up on him. He might think we've abandoned him or something."
"Well-"
"Come on," I interjected, going to the source of the crash. And there laid a few knocked over chairs and Naruto, sitting on his bottom while rubbing his head from impact with the floor.
"That's the last time I make a bed out of rolling chairs," he muttered upon seeing us appear. "Oh, it's you guys."
"Your fall freaks me out half to death and that's all you have to say?" I playfully scolded, walking over and helping the poor boy up.
"I see you're back to your old self," Naruto smiled at me. "You better?"
"A little," I affirmed with a slight nod.
"So, what's the plan now?" he asked, rubbing his nose.
"That's exactly what we were about to discuss right before your little awakening disrupted the peace," Sasuke remarked.
"As if we'llever find peace again," he muttered in a scoff. "But seriously, what're we doing?"
"Well I don't know," Sasuke frowned, getting tired of repeating questions. "It's up to you guys, I guess. You have any business you need to attend to? Checking up on other people or what?"
"Your parents?" I said as if it were obvious.
"They're off on business somewhere in America, so I don't have to worry about them at the moment," Sasuke assured. "And you two?"
"I live on my own. So in this case I'm kinda lucky I don't have to worry about anyone at my place," Naruto confessed, rubbing his head. "What about you Sakura? You worried about your folks?"
My parents? Truth be told, I just lived with my mother, whom I really didn't care enough for to want to go check to see if she was alright. My dad's dead according to her. Wish he wasn't, though. Might've made my childhood a little better. Nonetheless I lied. "My mom's on vacation, out of the country. Some kind family thing overseas."
"Then I guess chekcing up on parents isn't a factor in any of our cases," Naruto said as if it were a problem. Actually it was. We still had no were to go. Even worse, we had no where we wanted to go.
"Remember back in freshman year, how you always wanted to look for all the others who moved away so we can all have a reunion one day?" Ino reminded.
"I had no reason to look for them then," I answered through the mist. "It's high school. I bet everyone has changed by now. Gotten their own lives and moved on."
"Well, now you have a reason," Ino grinned. "Normally people still alive in this situation would be looking for their loves ones. Family for example. In this case, you can use this situation as a way and motivation for looking for all the others like you wanted." I heard her chuckle behind me. "Gosh, just the thought of it taking a whole zombie invasion to bring the old gang together. It sounds absurd, doesn't it?"
My, motivation...?
"I know something I want to do," I spoke suddenly, surprising Sasuke and Naruto out of the blue.
"Well spit it out already," Sasuke mutered, cold hands inside his school pants pocket.
"The others," I said calmly, taking out the picture and showing it to them. "Let's go find the others."
"You're not serious are you?" Naruto asked, looking up close to he picture.
"Well I'm not joking," I pouted at him. "For so long I've wanted all of us to be together again, but I never had the motivation or the reason and will to find everybody." I clutched the picture between my fingers. "But now, I really want to find the others. I want to make sure they're okay." I noticed Sasuke and Naruto exchange unsure glances. "Come on you guys. I know you all used to be great friends back then."
"That was then," Sasuke reminded.
"Well now's now. I finally have the motivation to find them. I want to know they're alive." I was firm with my voice, trying my best to persuade them.
Neither of them answered for a while. "And if they're not?" Naruto risked, knowing it was probably a bad idea to say that in front of me. Questioning if they were alive was something that threatened my very sanity.
Nonetheless, I kept my stare. "Then that's that. I don't want to keep wondering. I want to stop thinking 'what if'." I glanced down. "All my life now I knew that dreams were just for day dreaming. Getting everybody back together was my dream before, but now it's not." I raised my head. "I'm making it my goal now, something I'm actually going to work for and not just wait around praying and wishing for. I want to find the guys and make sure they're okay." I turned my back on the two. "And besides, if you don't agree, then I'll go on my own."
"Basically you'd be committing suicide," Sasuke reworded, crossing his arms.
"Sure," I shrugged, trurning my head with a normal expression. "I've got nothing else to live for."
They guys starred up at me, wondering if I was bluffing. I seemed like the type to bluff, but right now I really wasn't. I seriously had nothing else to live for, so why not try to find everyone? Either way, I knew I'd get killed out there if I went it alone with just my bat. So secretly I was really hoping Sasuke and Naruto would go with me on this. This was my test, to see if they've really changed. If they've really... stopped caring. And if they stopped caring and decided not to go with me... then I guess this was it for me."Well...?"
Naruto responded with a sigh, crossing his arms behind his head. "Geez, Sakura's always been bossy sometimes but now this is just crazy." A sneaky grin appeared on his face. "But I'm in. I'd love to see the look on Kiba's face when he sees how much I can do with a hockey stick now."
I smiled at my blond friend and looked to Sasuke, the one left. "Sasuke...?"
He starred at my eyes, a sign he was actually thinking about it. I learned that quality of his after a long time. "I'll go," he started. "Only because I'll be alone to fend for myself if the two of you leave. Chances are I'll run into some girls who managed to survive this hell and cling to me in response." He did his old signature 'hn' thing that annoyed me so much in childhood. "If I knew that was going to happen I'd rather get bitten by those zombies."
"He said yes!" Naruto cheered for me.
"I said nothing," Sasuke glared at the boy.
"But you never said 'no' in that entire speech so you're going!" Naruto said in victory.
"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke turned, refusing to admit anything. But I smiled, watching Naruto and Sasuke argue together nonsensically just like the old days. They, actually agreed to go with me and look for the others. They haven't changed after all, have they.
I looked over at Ino's corpse, and somehow I still managed to keep my smile. "Looks like I'll be working for you dream, Ino." I closed my eyes with a small chuckle. "We'll find everyone and have a picnic, just like you wanted us to."
"Just admit it!"
"Go away, dobe."
"What? Heartthrob Uchiha too afraid to let out his feelings?"
"I'm warning you."
"Wanna fight!"
"You're even more of an idiot than I thought."
"SAY THAT AGAIN!"
Here's chapter 2!
And thanks for the three reviews! I probably should'veupdated sooner, though. My bad.
Ino's gone now. I'm sorry to those who disapprove of that decision, but it's a part of the plot. Hey at least I let Ino die in a cool way. Well, in my point of view anyway.
Anyway in Chapter 3, the gang is finally going to attempt to leave the school. Will they make it out? And what will they find on the outside of the campus walls? Oh and review again so I know how I'm doing. This is my first zombie-fic so what am I missing? Ah whatever. Later!
Until next time! Bye!