Sakura hears the click of the lock to her apartment door, and immediately after her door bangs open. She jumps, clenching her fist.

"Sasuke…?" She says aloud, looking at his panicked expression.

"We need to go. Pack your things." He orders, and she sees Naruto directly behind him.

"What do you mean? Where are we going?" She puts down the dish she is drying.

"What's going on?" Ino asks, coming out of her bedroom.

"I don't know; they're freaking out about something." Sakura approaches Sasuke. "What is going on?"

"The dead are coming back to life!" Naruto yells, pushing past Sasuke into the apartment. "We need to get out of the city; we need to get somewhere where there are a lot fewer people!" He exclaims. Sakura stares at him dumbly.

"Is this a joke?" Only then does she notice the blood spattered across Sasuke's shirt. "What happened?"

"Walkers. They attacked." He replies, grabbing her shoulders and guiding her farther back into the apartment. "Pack your things. Grab whatever weapons you have; you'll need them." His dark blue, almost black, eyes are rimmed red. His normally pale skin is even whiter than normal, and he looks…scared. Suddenly, she realizes with painful certainty this isn't a joke.

Sakura glances back at Ino, but she is already gone. She can hear the sound of drawers opening and closing in her bedroom and the zip of a backpack. Sakura sighs heavily.

"Okay." She turns back to go into her room. Naruto follows her in.

"We don't have much time. Grab some clothes, maybe a flashlight if you have it? God, I don't know. I'm not prepared for this." His voice is strained.

"Naruto, go into my bathroom and grab as many medical supplies. Band-aids, Neosporin, bandages, anything you can find." She pauses. "And my toothbrush and toothpaste!" He disappears into the bathroom. She considers for a second. "And grab my pads and tampons!"

"WHAT!? SAKURA!" Naruto protests loudly. Sakura chuckles, going to her closet and pulling down her red duffel bag. She grabs her jacket, an extra pair of jeans, and a few t-shirts. She then crosses to her dresser and grabs a handful of panties, a bra, and socks. From the kitchen, she can hear Sasuke rifling through the cabinets, and she figures he is grabbing food.

Naruto returns with her things, though he is holding her feminine items as far away from him as possible. She shoves them into her bag and glances into her closet.

"My bow…" She trails off before running over and unzipping her bag. She quickly slides the limbs into the riser and strings her bow.

"That's perfect!" Naruto exclaims. Sakura clips her quiver on her belt and slides her arrows in. She has eighteen arrows.

"Shit, we have to go!" Sasuke calls from the kitchen. Naruto shoulder Sakura's pack, and jogs into the living room-kitchen area. Sakura almost bumps into Ino, and she is astonished to see a handgun clipped to Ino's belt.

"Where did you get that!" Sakura questions. Ino merely smirks.

"Are you done? We need to go!" Sasuke says impatiently. Sakura and Ino follow the boys out the door. As they hurry down the stairs, she gets a whiff of an awful smell that immediately starts to burn her eyes. Sakura yelps as she turns the corner and catches sight of a…a thing just outside the building. The smell intensifies, causing her to bend over and gag, and its eyes are bloodshot. Skin is peeling off its face, and its jaw hangs wide open like the bone is broken. A horrible, raspy growl emits from its mouth as it shuffles quickly towards them.

Without any hesitation, Sasuke steps forward and pulls a knife from his belt. He smoothly buries it hilt-deep into it's eye, specks of blood spattering the grim line of his face.

"You…you killed him!" Sakura says. He glances over his shoulder.

"It was already dead."


seven steps to death


It is nearly nightfall when they can hear an approaching car engine. Sakura looks up from her book, one of the few items of leisure she had been able to grab when the world had begun to end. Kiba and Choji are down by the lake fishing with gear they had scrounged up last week, and Sasuke is sitting on top of the large white van with an assault rifle in his lap, keeping watch. Naruto stands up, switching off his old-school Gameboy. "Where's Kakashi?" He asks.

"He went to check the surrounding area." Sakura replies. Approaching footsteps signify the return of Shikamaru, Kurenai, and Asuma.

Except…Asuma isn't there.

Shikamaru drops a large duffel bag on the ground and immediately walks away into the trees. Kurenai's eyes are swollen and rimmed red. Sakura feels her stomach drop to her feet. "Oh god, no."

"Asuma…?" Ino says, standing. Tears are already forming in her eyes. Shaking her head, Kurenai leaves, taking the path leading down to the lake. Sakura draws in a shuddering breath and pulls her knees into her chest.

Not long after, Choji and Kiba return with the few fish that they managed to catch. "Kurenai is down there by herself. What happened?" Kiba asks. Everyone is silent.

"Asuma didn't come back." Sasuke finally speaks up from atop the white van.

"Oh." Kiba mutters. "Well…we should cook these. We can have them for dinner." He glances at Choji. "You're the best at cooking, Choji." Kiba says. Choji smiles softly, staring down at the ground.

Shikamaru and Kakashi come out of the trees together some time later, after the fire has been started, and Choji has begun to cook the fish. Their expressions are dismal, and Sakura can't help but think that maybe things won't get better. There has been no mention of a cure, and it had been more than a month since the dead had started coming back. Things seemed more hopeless by the day.

Sasuke slides off of the van, and Kakashi takes his place. Sasuke approaches where Naruto and Sakura sit and kneels down. "Kakashi's pretty broken up over this." He says.

Sakura rubs at her forehead. "Asuma was his friend." She points out. "After what happened with Rin…"

"Be quiet, you don't want him to hear." Sasuke cuts her off.

"Yeah…we aren't even supposed to know…" Naruto trails off. "Maybe I should go try to cheer him up—"

"No." Sakura and Sasuke say in unison. Naruto wilts.

"I think he just needs some time." Sakura glances up at Kakashi briefly.

"I don't understand how it could happen to Asuma. He was always so strong…"Naruto wonders aloud.

"It doesn't matter how strong you are when a horde of hungry walkers is coming after you." Sasuke replies, leaning back. Sakura rubs her hands up and down her arms, trying to get some warmth. With them as high up in the mountains as they are, the chill is quick to permeate the area once the sun sets. She isn't exactly sure what they will do when winter comes and snow starts to fall. She doesn't like to think that far ahead.

"I'll light a fire." Sasuke offers, noticing her movements. She smiles gratefully as he gets up to collect firewood. Lighting a fire can be dangerous, but when it comes down to it, it's preferable to freezing to death. Once the sun truly goes down, Sakura will have to retreat to the tent that she and Ino share and hide under the blankets.

They have several tents set up with two to three people per tent, and they each have their own sleeping bag and pillow that they'd found at some point in their scavenging. It's a bit crude and primeval, but they get by on what they have. Luxuries are scarce and a good night of sleep is even scarcer. She doesn't think Sasuke has slept properly in days.

While Sasuke gets the firewood, Sakura wanders over to her tent and digs into her things, finding her red flannel shirt. She unbuttons it and pulls it on, trying to ignore the fact that it—actually, none of their clothes—hadn't been washed for quite sometime. She didn't have much time to grab things from her house when she left, only thinking to bring her bow when she saw Sasuke's gun hanging at his hip.

As she returns to the spot she previously occupied, Sasuke comes out of the trees with the firewood and uses his lighter to light dried brush before tossing it in with the sticks.

Kurenai resurfaces before full dark and climbs up onto the van with Kakashi. Sakura can see them speaking quietly with each other, but she can't make out any of their words.

Asuma isn't the first person they've lost, and she doesn't think he will be the last.

Darkness is upon them quickly, and Sakura can feel her body starting to grow tired. She always feels more fatigued when they have an encounter with walkers. She shivers, scooting closer to the fire and pulls at the sleeves of her flannel shirt.

"Do you think we'll need to run into town tomorrow?" She asks, glancing up across the flames at Sasuke. His angular face is accentuated by the flames. He shrugs.

"Maybe. I doubt the other group was able to get much food before…" He trails off, glancing away.

"We probably could use more gas in the cars too." Naruto speaks up, meeting Sakura's eyes. She sighs.

"Yeah." She pauses. "I wish I knew if my parents made it out okay." She looks up at Sasuke. "Do you know anything about your parents or your brother?" He stiffens, his jaw clenching.

"No." He replies, his voice terse. He obviously doesn't want to get into the topic.

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep. It's been a long day." She gets to her feet, brushing the dirt off the back of her jeans.

"Good night, Sakura!" Naruto exclaims, grinning brightly. Sasuke lifts a hand in a wave, and Sakura turns to head towards the tents. Ino and Shikamaru are cozied up together, and Akamaru is digging in the dirt off at the tree-line. She waves to Ino.

"I'll be in soon, too." Her roommate says, snuggling closer to Shikamaru. Sakura smiles softly.

Sakura crawls into the tent, collapsing onto her sleeping bag. She curls up on her side, staring sullenly at the tent wall. The day had been exhausting—raiding in town always is. She is asleep in minutes.

Several hours later, she wakes up to Akamaru barking. She squints her eyes in the darkness, brushing it off before she hears Ino's ear-piercing scream.

"WALKERS!"