It was hard, practically impossible to take their eyes off of Bill's now crushed, and torn apart body as he lay there lifeless. Fox had to do the unthinkable, he had to kill his friend out of mercy, euthanizing what was left of his life before being tormented for as long as his body moved. He had to fight just to keep from vomiting out of pure disgust from what he had done. Fox never would have thought he would take a life, especially the life of someone who was practically family.

After many minutes, he finally spoke. "We can't stay here. We have to find some kind of shelter before more of those things show up."

"Why bother?" Fay spoke quietly, still broken and distraught after losing her love. "We will all die in time…Nowhere we go is safe. We should just give in and save ourselves the agony of being torn apart, like Bill was…"

"We're together now!" Katt stood to the vulpine as she tried to comfort her canine friend. "We can take those things out, and we can leave the school."

"And go where?" Miyu questioned the feline as she looked to her in the eyes. "If they are in the school, what makes you think outside the school is any better?"

"Surely there are other people on the streets." Krystal gave her two cents as the group of friends started to become one circle, all debating on what their next move should be. "It's better than staying in here locked up with those things!"

"Krystal." The linx turned her sights to her blue vixen friend. "It doesn't matter where we go, or what we do…It's only a matter of time."

"I would rather fight than just give in!" Katt tried to argue, but it didn't matter.

"We will discuss it later. For now we have to find Slippy." Fox looked to his friends of followers. Katt looked to the vulpine quirking a brow.

"You mean…You didn't find him? Dead or alive?"

"No, we came here first."

"They were in history right? That's probably the best part of the school to be in when this plague went down."

"That's what we figured, that's why we came for you guys first." Katt wanted to be optimistic. She wanted to tell them they had come just in time, but of course that couldn't be said…

Fox looked to his merry men of zombie survivors as he rotated his body and eyes. Krystal and Fara may have been shaken up, but they were holding it together for now. Miyu and Fay on the other hand…Of course Bill's death was hitting her hard, and she still cried in Miyu's chest as quiet and muffled as possible. Falco and Katt were on edge, as they should be. The longer they stayed in this hallway, the more time they wasted, and let the dead gang up on them in numbers. And Bill…

The vulpine looked toward his dead friends' remains as he still hadn't moved. It's not that he expected him to, part of Fox was trying to find some kind of optimism in all of this. Even in death Bill helped his friends from beyond the grave. He served as a reminder of what would happen to them if they were to get bit, and what would happen if they wasted anymore time in this hallway.

"We have to move. Slippy, Amanda, and Luna were in the southern end of the school before this all went down. They probably figured out to go to the woodshop classrooms to make something. By now they could be wandering the school, let's try and group up with them." All of his friends said nothing, only giving small nods except for Miyu and Fay.

That's when Fox thought about the supplies he got off of the dead canine police officer. His hands rolled over the smoothness of the gun, as he pulled it from his pants. He kept his second one concealed, just in case…

"Falco." Fox turned to his avian friend grabbing his attention, and presented the weapon. "You have the best eyesight of any of us. Stay back and protect Miyu and Fay. Do not use this unless absolutely necessary. We have no idea what attracts them." Fox handed off the weapon giving emphasis to his words. It was a powerful tool to use against the dead, but if used in the wrong circumstances could cost them all their lives.

Falco breathed heavy as he reached for the weapon. He had never fired a gun before, he never had a reason to until now…He tried to calm his nerves as he took the weapon from the vulpine, rolling it in his hands slowly as it was heavier than he expected it to be. Of course it would be, this wasn't a game and it wasn't a toy. It was the real powerful force, the real thing.

"Okay…" Is all he gave back as he made sure to put it on safety, and tucked it in his pants.

"Follow me. Same plan as before, we have to keep moving and keep it tight." Fox gave the command as he led on, all his friends staying close to a certain extent. Miyu pushed Fay and herself near the end of the group as Falco watched every corner. Now he had a higher role in the group's protection and overall survival, he had to keep a cool and leveled head. But Falco didn't know if he could when all these corpses wanted his off his shoulders.

X

Luna breathed heavy, completely covered in blood as she gripped the axe also drenched in red so tightly. They had brought down so many of those things, those despicable dead hunters as the large welding room was littered with bodies. After the first few Luna had not been counting, she was too focused on trying to stay alive to treat this as some kind of sport or game. She was joined by her two amphibian friends as they looked to the fruit of their labor.

"We're already pretty low on nails Slippy." Amanda gave out loud as she reloaded her clip, ejecting the old cartridge and restocking it with a fresh supply. The green frog knew they had used a large chunk of their resources to stay alive, but that was the entire point. They had to do anything, by any means necessary to keep living in a world ruled amongst the dead.

"We used a bit less than half, and we took down over 40 zombies." Slippy had been counting this entire time, not because he thought it was fun, but out of sure curiosity.

"What now? That's only a small fraction of how many are probably left in other parts of the school."

"We need to leave, we have to find Fox and the others and hope they're alright."

"But where would we even begin to look for them?" Luna turned to them as she presented the question. A damn good question, they couldn't wandering around aimlessly and blind, not when the halls were filled with these monsters, stalking and lurking prey around every corner.

"Fox hadn't come for us in the time we we're fighting those things." Slippy speculated, trying to make an educational guess from the information he knew. "Taking these things down took about 40 minutes. That should have been enough time for Fox and the others to make it this far, given if they got out promptly before these things started swarming the halls."

"So what are you saying?"

"He probably went for Katt, Miyu, and Fay on the eastern side of the school."

"Even though more people would have been in that part?" Amanda questioned Slippy's logic as he went on.

"That's the point. Knowing there would be more dead, and less resources, Fox probably went after them first to make sure they would get out alive. He probably figured we could handle ourselves. At least for a little while."

"I sure as hell would think so." Luna finally began to calm down as she just looked to all the dead, trying not to hurl and took one of the rags to wipe away the blood that wasn't completely dried on her now.

"We can't get prideful. Our pride and our egos could get us killed if we aren't careful. We have to make every move logically, and precisely calculated."

"I know…"

"So what are you suggesting Slippy?" Amanda asked as the two made eye contact.

"We should make our way to the eastern side of the school to meet up with them. Let's go the long way so we can get there through the staircase to the second floor."

"Why would we do that?"

"I'm going to guess Katt and the girls figured someone was going to come looking for them after a while. They wouldn't run through the school to a different section if they knew the others knew they would be around the eastern part of the school. They would most likely try and outrun these things by going up multiple floors and classrooms."

"There also isn't as many students who have classes on the second floor too." Luna agreed with Slippy as he gave a small smile.

"Exactly, there wouldn't be as many dead and there would be more room to duck and dodge."

"You do understand though however…" Amanda paused as she got the attention of both her friends. "If we go the long way there is a good chance a lot of the dead are around there, and there isn't going to be any side routes or classrooms to run to. If we get swarmed we aren't going to make it."

"I think it's a better risk." Slippy tried to be brave as the two ladies looked to him with wondering eyes, how could anything so risky be worth the risk? "Anything we try to do is going to have some kind of risk. If we have to, use the Molotov and nail bombs."

"Okay…"

"Luna, take the lead and we'll watch every corner."

"Right." Luna grasped her axe tightly as they walked through the heaps of dead bodies all piled up. She couldn't help but stare at how much blood, how many guts and how many bodies were littering the once gray cement floors. She couldn't hold it anymore, Luna turned to her right supporting her weight against the wall, and let it all out.

It only took a moment, but within those few seconds she had spewed a lot among the floor. Slippy and Amanda only looked away as they weren't surprised. The frogs thought it was a miracle they didn't do the same. For some reason, Slippy felt calm, and in control.

"I'm okay…" Luna would wiped her mouth with one of other rags in her belt pouches. It had a fair bit of grease on it, but it was better than the infected blood of all the beings she killed.

"Let's move."

"Right." Luna held her axe tight as they slowly made their way around the entrance to the welding room, it was a good thing it was still daylight outside and the lights were still on. As it was a rather long corridor that connected the welding room to the rest of the school. She peeked her head out both ways, the cost clear as she led on. Slippy and Amanda came out one by one as they constantly checked the sides with their nail guns, making sure everything was quiet and clear.

They headed for the main building surprised there were no dead walking around just outside the main entrance of the school. As they walked through the double doors did they take in the horror silently, trying to be calm and keep a level head entering this deathtrap filled with freaks wanting to tear them apart.

The once blue floors with white walls of the school were covered in red, blood was absolutely everywhere. On the floors, on the walls, on the lockers amongst the sides and some even on the ceiling. For whatever reason this part of the school was empty, and their footsteps echoed in the quiet halls as they treaded carefully. There were only a few bodies, about a dozen in total that just laid motionless in various spots around the hall. Slippy made sure to watch these bodies carefully as he didn't know why they were motionless. Either someone had taken out these bodies or they were dead and not moving for another reason, perhaps a reason they have yet to figure out. Is it possible they were just resting? Or were they truly dead now?

Luna looked back to them as they saw the staircase that lead up to the second floor of the building, as well as also lead them to the eastern side of the school as Slippy gave her a nod. There was a bathroom and a small detention area in this part of the school as they turned the corner, the green frog watching them closely as the girls went on. Luna and Amanda ascended upwards as he swept the floors one last time for zombie activity. After everything was clear did he follow them closely behind.

The anticipation was just absolutely nerve-racking. These things could have been in any classroom, around any corner, or come could quickly behind them with little to no warning at all. The she-wolf had to be on her toes, as any move could be her last if she wasn't paying absolute attention with lightning reflexes to whatever may present themselves to her. There were only a few bodies lying around the second floor of this singled out hallway as Amanda was wrong, it seemed as though very few bodies, whether alive or zombie had made it all the way up here.

It was a special part of the school, as only two classrooms and about 50 lockers served this one singled out hallway. To the right were the rooms, and to the left a balcony view over the rest of the school. This special way did eventually lead to the eastern part of the school, where many other classrooms, lockers, and surely those dead freaks would be waiting for them. Luna looked down over the balcony, wishing she hadn't as she saw those things still moving down there, not aware of the three beings above them.

The center part of the school looked so much worse, covered in blood and littered with dozens upon dozens of bodies, while they still slowly but surely roamed those halls. Any being still alive wouldn't be able to escape on their own, it was hopeless for anybody trapped down there in that part of the school.

That's when Luna froze up in terror as she stopped in place, hearing the screams and cries for desperate help. About 20 feet in front of the three was a classroom, and people still alive surely being devoured by the dead as many screams cried out in terror, and then were suddenly silenced. Luna looked toward Slippy for confidence and guidance, unsure of what to do of this looming threat in front of them.

"Listen to me." Slippy whispered in a hushed tone to not draw attention. "There's nothing we can do for the people in that classroom. The dead are feeding on them as we speak, let's move quietly as they are distracted to their frenzy."

Luna was threatening to break out in tears as she only nodded, and turned back around. Her legs quivered as she struggled to find the strength to keep walking forward. If they made any noise at all the dead would turn on them and they would have to fight. Any amount from five to fifty of those things could be in that room, and it could be all over for them. But if they made any noise at all, the slightest sound above a whisper could attract all the dead down below to them. It was a lose-lose situation, or in this case, a die-die situation.

After several minutes, she summoned the courage somehow to walk again without pissing herself. Luna took it easy, step by step as they got closer to the entrance of the classrooms. She made sure to take the lightest steps while also trying to cover as much ground as possible in a single stride. As they came across the classroom were her eyes glued to the scene. About 20 zombies filled the classroom all fighting to feed on the remains of about five students who hadn't turned yet, until now that is. There would be too many to fight at one time. If they were discovered, they would surely die.

She soon crossed the scene undetected as Amanda did as well, and Slippy followed as they somehow got across the class without being detected. Luna tried to calm down as the feat had been done, but they weren't out of it yet. About two thirds of the hall remained and more classes filled with potential zombies were left. They counted themselves lucky, for now.

Unfortunately their luck didn't last, one of the zombies of the classroom happened to come to the doorway as it turned its head toward the three beings, heading straight for them making its battle cry. They all turned in that direction as without pause Slippy fired a few nails into its brain, the body falling in a slump a moment after.

"Oh no, fuck." Slippy said aloud as he could hear the rest of the zombies getting riled up at the potential catch of another meal, another body to feast upon. A few more started coming out of the doorway as they charged the three teens.

"Run!" Slippy said as they didn't need to be told twice. Luna and Amanda ran through the hall, it didn't matter if there were more zombies in these other rooms or not now. They couldn't stay in place and they couldn't be walking, their lives were in the hands of the Makers now. That's when Slippy decided to make a stand, it would be risky. But there was no other choice.

After getting about ten feet in distance from the pack of dead killers. Slippy turned to face them, his expression filled with mixed feelings and emotions. His face held a defiant, anticipated, and nervous look as he reached for his belt.

"Burn in hell you bastards!" He had no choice. Slippy reached for one of his Molotov cocktails as he quickly lit the rag, and threw it at the zombies in one swift motion. They were all stopped in place, as the dead let out loud screams of pain and agony, just writhing around in the flames quickly enveloping their dead bodies.

"Go!" Slippy called out to the two women as for some reason they stopped in place, he fired upon a few zombies coming out as he ran to catch up with them. They were truly against the clock now, if they were trapped in the school when the fire alarm and the sprinklers go off, it would be that much more of a challenge to get out of the school. Or at least a safe place before the halls would become soaked and every step could be a slip toward death.

X

"What was that!?" Krystal asked out loud as they all turned in direction the loud sound. It sounded as if glass shattering and then vast amount of screams all of a sudden as the sounds scared the group of teens. They were in the eastern part of the school, however on the base floor as they looked toward the staircase.

"It could have been anything." Falco tried to fight against the sound.

"No. It could be Slippy, or at least more survivors. We have to go!"

"Wait!" Falco tried to stop his vulpine friend as he fearlessly ran up the staircase. His lack of thinking and recklessness was bound to get them all killed in time. As Fox ran up the staircase so did Fara and then Krystal. Soon the only one left down on the ground floor was Falco as he threw away his better judgment and went after them.

Fox ran up the flight of stairs, bashing a few zombies out of the way as the others soon followed him. These part of the halls were packed full of dead as they started to descend upon the teens. But he was able to bat and swat enough out of the way as his friends soon joined him in the zombie killing. As Fox, Krystal, Fara, and the rest joined him did they take more and more ground from the dead, until the last one landed abruptly on the floor truly dead.

"Where did that noise come from?" Katt looked around as no living being was in sight, and the sound was now gone.

"I think it came from the secluded hallway." Fox suggested as he headed that direction, the rest soon following him in his leadership. The farther they went into the halls, the more dead brains they bashed out of cracked skulls of beings who had turned. Krystal and Fara faced the bathroom as they each took out two, and rejoined Fox and Katt clearing the front. A being tried to ambush Fara and Miyu from the side classroom as Falco intervened, bashing its brains out and blood splattering across the door and the side wall perpendicular to the doorway.

Fox smashed one last zombie standing, or limping in their way as he turned the corner to a surprise. In her blind rage, he crossed bat with axe against Luna as she reacted without even realizing who she was fighting.

"Luna stop it's me!" His bat now had a huge scar across its length as Luna finally realized what was going on. The two stood away from one another as it was so good to see a familiar face. Fox only counted himself lucky as he reacted quickly enough to block the she-wolf's strike, or else she would have cut his head in two.

"Fox…" Luna gave softly as she dropped her axe, and dove straight into the arms of her favorite vulpine at this time and began to softly cry. After death had come for them many times, it was so good to see a face not covered in blood wanting to kill you. He was surprised at first, but not truly as any of them could be the same way. They all thought the same things. How could they commit such atrocities? It was out of self-defense of course, but how would they ever forget? How could they ever move on and keep a positive and sane head on their shoulders? He just let her cry in his chest, slowly wrapping his arms around her trying to hush her cries.

As much as Krystal or Fara wanted to interject, as they also both wanted companionship and a handsome vulpine to cry with, they both held their tongues. Now was not the time to have a complete mental break down, and the more people who weren't distraught at this moment, the better.

Fox and Slippy looked toward one another, with small smiles as they cheered in their victory. They were all together now. Fox couldn't be more proud of his amphibian friend, taking charge and breaking from his peaceful ways to keep everyone alive.

"I knew you wouldn't leave us behind." Slippy was the first to talk as he stood close to Amanda.

"Of course not Slippy. We are going to make it through this, and the only way we can is together."

"Of course." Although it was a major accomplishment, defying death as they spoke. Now was not the time to stop and chat, they had to move constantly. They would always have to be moving, thinking on their toes. But that's when Slippy noticed…

"Wait where's Bill?" He asked and nobody answered. After a moment Slippy realized what had happened. He never would have thought Bill wouldn't be with them anymore.

"He's gone." Fox answered quietly as Luna looked to him with surprised, sobbing eyes as well.

"What's next Fox?" Slippy swallowed hard as he asked, the vulpine broke the eye contact. He looked puzzled and confused as he tried to think quickly. Now they were all together, just what could they do?

"We're all together again. Now we have to get out of the school."

"How do we know that's the best idea?" Falco interjected as he stopped watching the rear and gave his two cents. After being dragged through the school filled with freaks wanting to rip them limb from limb, he was done following blindly on a wild survivor chase. "You think it's any better out there? It's going to be 10 times worse." Fox thought it was strange, Falco was the one who wanted to leave at first, why would he change his mind?

"We can only stay in here so long. How long before we are cornered with no way out? What about our parents?"

"Fox, forget our parents right now." Falco spoke alone as the rest were astonished, blown away he could say such a thing about the people they all cared about the most, their very loved ones. "We have to focus on the here and now, we have to focus on us!"

"I'm trying Falco!" The two began to lose their temper for one another, as Fox pushed Luna away for the moment as they stood against one another. "We have to take this one step at a time! Now we're all together again, for now let's find a way out of the school."

"No one made you the leader Fox!" Falco pointed his finger toward his vulpine friend. "We are lucky we found the rest of our friends alive! You put all of our lives in danger on a bleak hope staying in the school when the smart thing would have been to listen to me and leave while we could! Now we are trapped in here with those freaks around every corner! What makes you think finding our parents will even be possible!? Not with fucking zombies walking around everywhere!"

"One problem at a time! There's no point staying here!" The two began to get very heated as some of their female friends tried to separate them.

"Boys this isn't the time for this!" Krystal pushed against Fox as Fara pushed against Falco, both glaring one another down.

"You wanted to leave us…" Katt stood to her avian love, or so she thought as the feline's face was in complete disbelief. "You wanted to leave us, to leave me behind to die!?"

"No! That's not what I meant Katt!"

"You fucking admitted it you idiotic asshole!" The feline's temper had to be contained by Luna as she pushed against the walls. She couldn't believe what her ears picked up. Falco wanted to leave his friends, and the feline to die to save his own skin. She had absolute faith in the avian that he would come looking for him. Faith clearly mistrusted as he would have ran away with his tail between his legs if it wasn't for Fox leading the way. Katt put together that if the group hadn't come, under Fox's leadership they would have eventually been pushed in by the zombies and eaten alive. If Falco had been leading the group she would be dead. And that made her all the more furious.

"Guys come on this isn't help-!" Slippy began to call out until he was suddenly interrupted by one of the zombified students gnawing on his extended right arm, as he let out a horrified and surprised scream at the top of his lunges. The group of teens had begun arguing and fighting so much with each other they let their guard down, and now Slippy was paying the price for it. Perhaps with his very life. The walker ripped and tore at the flesh from his arm, as his blood began to spill on the floor and sharp fangs ripped out muscles and veins.

Fox reacted the quickest as he cut down the zombie without pause, lobbing off its head as the severed part fell to the floor, and Slippy fell back against the railing holding his wound as Amanda caught him. The pain was so intense, he had never experienced such pain as fear spread through his mind of what would happen to him.

"No Slippy no!" Amanda began to cry as Slippy tried to keep from bleeding out. She turned toward the vulpine completely desperate as tears broke in her eyes. "Help him!"

This time Fox would not hesitate. If he was going to save Slippy's life he had to react fast. Fox looked for everything and anything as he thought about what he could do quickly. That's when he saw the axe lying on the ground dropped by Luna. It was incredibly risky, there was no guarantee Slippy would live after excessive blood loss or from the shock his body would surely go into. But what choice did they have? Time was ticking fast before Slippy would die, and eventually turn. They had already lost Bill, Fox would not lose another!

Fox first took the toad's belt off quickly as he wrapped it around a bit higher on the toad's wounded right arm. He tightened the notches on the belt to create a homemade tourniquet to stop blood flow after completing what the vulpine was about to do. He quickly scrambled for the axe as he grabbed it tightly, and swung it over his head as he looked to Slippy with crazed eyes. Everybody gave crazed eyes to the vulpine as they figured out what he was going to do. Was he insane?

"I'm sorry!" Fox said as he swung down hard, right at the connection of the forearm to the elbow as Slippy let out a scream much louder than the first. Fox was trying to lob off the limb that had been bitten before the infection would spread through the rest of the toad's body. Fox swung a second, and then a third time as it finally came dismembered from the rest of Slippy's body, as the toad went into unconsciousness from massive pain intake.

"Are you insane!?" Amanda interjected as she was helpless to stop the vulpine's rampage against her love.

"I had to do something! If I had done nothing the disease would have spread!" Fox tried to defend his actions to his friends as they all said nothing. It made sense in a way, perhaps he cut away enough of the infection before it could spread into the toad. Though no was no time to pause, Slippy was bleeding tremendously and they had to react quickly to save his life from blood loss.

"Give me all the rags!" Luna called out as she took all of hers, Amanda's, and Slippy's rags from their belts that weren't covered in blood from the zombies they cut down earlier. Thanks to the tourniquet via the vulpine's quick thinking, it wasn't as bad as it could have been if he had just lobbed the limb straight off. However he was still losing a good amount of blood and quickly as well.

"What are we going to do!?" Everyone was beginning to panic, not only did they have a dying friend on their hands but surely more of the dead were coming for them after all the commotion and noise.

"Let's retreat back to the hall! The teacher's lounge is at the end!" They all did as Miyu said and headed back the way they came. Fox picked up his unconscious friend as Amanda covered the rear, a few zombies now showing themselves. She picked up her nail gun and fired a few more, making sure to gun down any and all of them present for revenge against what they did to her love. Luna led the way as she bashed the skulls of two zombies coming up the stairs, the bodies falling toward the stairwell as she looked down to see a few more trying to come up. The teens were now starting to get swarmed and surrounded on both sides, it wasn't looking good.

Luna used her quick thinking as she reached for a Molotov cocktail, and lit the end as she threw it to slow them down. It didn't matter how much noise they made now, she had to do something stop their relentless assault and cut their numbers down. She ran for the teacher's lounge as the rest of the teens had entered, as soon as she ran in Fox and Falco slammed the door behind them, locking it as they knew it wouldn't last for long.

"Falco, Katt help me move what we can in front of the door! Krystal grab the medical kit and help with Slippy!" Everybody followed his lead and went to work. The two men and the rest of the women helped stack many heavy cabinets, chairs, desks, whatever they could against the doorway to stop the dead from coming in. Slippy was swarmed with Amanda, Krystal, Miyu, and Fay to overlook his wound. He was bleeding through the rags, it wasn't looking good for Slippy's survival.

After a minute those who were stacking items against door looked to their handiwork, the door was completely blockaded and it would take some time before the dead would be able to permeate their defense. Fox looked back to Slippy fighting for his life, as his breathing was slow and shallow.

A few minutes later the ladies had done all they could, his cut was completely wrapped and bandaged up with all the medical wraps they had. No blood had pierced through yet, hopefully it woul stop and he would live. They had no idea what would happen to him though, and that made them worry. At any moment Slippy could spring up, dead and not himself to attack his former friends. He was a ticking time bomb, or so it seemed.

The vulpine found whatever soft cushioning he could around the room as he created a makeshift pillow for the toad, and placed it gently under his head. Hoping, and praying that he would be alright.

"What now?" Krystal looked to Fox as he tried to think. It was still daylight outside, but how could they leave now with Slippy wounded and unconscious? They would be down two people to guard whoever was carrying him as they tried to escape. And with who was in spirits enough to fight, that didn't seem like a feasible option.

However, what was Plan B? The longer they stayed in the school, the more dire the situation becomes. More and more beings in the school still alive would die, and in time it would be only them against a school filled with walking dead.

"We can't go anywhere while Slippy is unconscious. For now we have to wait and see if he wakes up."

"If? If he wakes up!?" Once again Falco disagreed with the vulpine's leadership and better judgment. Fox looked to him with harsh eyes as Falco was completely in disbelief. "We can't wait around to see if he turns and kills us!"

"Don't say things like that!" Fox would not have the avian disrespect his amphibian friend while he wasn't even conscious to defend himself. "Slippy will pull through! We just have to believe in him like we did before!"

"He was bit! You chopped his fucking arm off!"

"I did what no one else was going to do! I had to do something to try and save his life!"

"He's now just going to bleed to death!"

"Stop it! Stop fighting!" Krystal got between the two men who were arguing and fighting for dominance over leadership of their mutual friends. It took a moment, but after calming down, Fox then backed down.

"Falco." Fox started slowly, trying to calm his mind and his tone of voice to not attract any of the dead they have managed to avoid so far. "We can't just leave Slippy here like this, not after he risked his life to find us."

"Correction, you can't leave. The rest of us have our own free will Fox. And I don't want to sit here locked in a fucking room with no way out when those things find us!" Falco argued with the vulpine, making sure to keep his tone down in volume to avoid attracting more of those things on the outside. The only thing that stood between them and death was a 10 foot tall by 5 foot wide barricade of compiled wooden objects.

"Then leave Falco." Fox gave back as everyone, including the avian was appalled. They had already lost Bill, Slippy was critically wounded and fighting for his life. How could he just tell Falco to take off when they were already wounded from the loss of others?

"No one is forcing you to stay with us. If you want to leave, to forsake the rest of us and watch your own back, then go. I'm not going to force you or fight with you to keep you around if you want to watch out for yourself. But I am going to stay with Slippy." Fox took a pause as he looked to everybody starting at him in a semi-circle. He was sick of everyone giving him that same dumb stare. He didn't ask for this, he didn't ask for the burden of leadership to be thrusted upon his shoulders. He didn't ask to be responsible for the decisions that affected all of their lives.

"That goes for all of you!" He started off, still hushing his tone. "If you want to leave, then go! If you think you can do better then be my guest! See how far you get." And with that, Fox turned around to look over Slippy still unconscious. Falco, Krystal, Katt, everybody was left in a confused daze as they all thought and pondered over their fates. Both if they went out on their own, and if they stayed with the vulpine.

All the individuals thought about it quietly as all talking and hostilities came to a halt. Amanda and Fox looked over the unconscious toad as she looked to him with thankful, tear-filled eyes.

"Thank you." Fox only nodded as they went on to overlook the toad, doing anything they can do for him. But all they really could do had been done, the only thing that was left to was to pray, and hope he would pull through and be alright. Fox then took the liberty of going through what was in the teacher's lounge, to see if any supplies had been left to be scavenged and useful.

Various teens took a seat along the walls on the floor deep in thought. Each one wondered where their safety would be best trusted in. Their own judgement, or Fox's. For most of them Fox had done alright so far, he had kept everyone together and alive for the most part. They had been thrusted into a deadly and hopeless situation. If it wasn't for his leadership, many of them if not all would be dead.

But on the other hand, by staying here waiting for Slippy to either come around or die basically was gambling with their lives again. Many of them thought what would have happened if they had followed Falco's lead, and looked after themselves instead of hunting through the school for everybody else. Would they have gotten out? Would they have found help and lived? Or would they have been swiftly over swarmed and eaten alive? They would never know, all they could do was think about the here and now. Who did they trust more with their lives? Fox, or themselves?

Krystal, Fara, and Luna all sat within whispering tones of another against the same wall as they all pondered their survival probability.

"What do you two think?" Krystal broke the ice as she had Luna to her left, and Fara to her right.

"I think staying with Fox is the best." Fara was the first to admit her rationale. "There's no telling what would have happened if we went to the streets in that massive panic, without having come in contact with one of the dead. We lost Bill…but the rest of us are alive and together."

"I think you're right." Luna continued with what Fara was trying to explain. "If Fox wasn't leading everybody, it seems like everyone would have been for themselves. And if that would have been the case, the odds of any of us getting out alive on our own would have practically been zero."

"I don't know." Krystal thought about everything as she wasn't as convinced as her two friends. "We could have gotten to one of the cars…Maybe gotten to some soldiers on the streets, we would at least be mobile and not trapped in here like we are now."

"We don't know that for sure." Luna locked eyes with the blue vixen as they debated over the topic. "We could have very easily been swarmed with any of the zombies outside the school grounds as well. Hell even some that are nearby still in the school perimeter."

"I suppose." The blue vixen still wasn't convinced.

"Let's think of it this way." They both looked over to the fennec as she was about to lay out an example for the two. "There are 10 of us left including Slippy. How many other people are willing to leave and branch out on their own with Falco? Even if they did think the same as he does? Would you rather stay in a group of 7 or 8, or 2 or 3?"

"Yea that's a very good point." Krystal didn't like it, but she had to admit their odds of staying in the school, with more people in their group, was still better than going out there to face the unknown with a fraction of the size. She didn't like it, but her best odds of surviving was with a large group, and to stay with her friends.

"Do you really think Falco is going to leave?" Luna sounded concerned.

"He very well could." Krystal sensed the struggle on the avian's mind, in constant battle with himself on what his best odds of survival were. "It makes sense. Fox is practically leading us blind. We've gotten lucky this whole time."

"But that won't change if we left the school. And right now Slippy is in no condition to travel." Fara argued as they kept pondering the decisions in their minds and talk.

"But how long can we wait?" Luna questioned. "A few hours? Half a day? A day? Fox has to know that as well. Slippy may very well die. We have to get him some kind of medical attention while we still can."

"We can't do that." This time Krystal intervened, in favor of the idea of staying. "They'll kill him once they see he got bit." Krystal stopped as she looked to her toad friend, still fighting the battle for his life. "Slippy has to fight off whatever this is on his own. That's all we can do for him."

"Who do you think would leave with Falco?" Fara changed the subject. "I don't think Miyu or Fay would go with him."

"He wouldn't want them to go with him. It's just another back he has to cover and protect. Katt would be the only one who would go with him and even she probably won't." Krystal gave as she could sense the feline's thoughts. The idea that Falco, someone she cared about so deeply was going to leave her for dead was sickening. She would have went to hell and back to find Falco alive and get him out the same. But he was willing to forsake her, and everything the two's relationship was for his own feathers.

"I can't believe he would just leave everyone for dead to save himself." Luna was disgusted as she peered angrily at the avian.

"It makes sense." Krystal couldn't' believe she was defending Falco. "There was no way to tell and no guarantee any of us would be alive. It was either get out while you can, or take a risk going deeper into the school for someone you don't even know is still alive."

"Regardless, our best chance at surviving this is to stay together. Fox has done alright by me, I'm going to stay." Fara finally concluded.

"I will too. I trust his judgment over my own for my wellbeing." Luna had come to her conclusion as well.

"Well…I guess I'll play follow the leader, for perhaps the last time." Krystal sighed as she too had decided to stay.

"I want that gun Fox gave Falco, we need to try and persuade him to stay." Fara hinted before they ceased their conversation.

On the other end of the room, Falco and Katt sat next to each other but a good distance apart, looking in opposite directions. Falco looked to the door as he spoke.

"We should do it."

"Are you fucking insane? Go out of the school with two or three people? Pass."

"It's better than sitting here waiting for those things to swarm down on us."

"If you want to go Falco, go. I don't care what you do now."

"You don't mean that." Falco turned to face the feline. He knew he had messed up admitting he was willing to leave her to die, but surely she could see the reasoning behind it. They had no idea what would happen or what they were getting into. Why trust chance when you can trust your instincts?

"Oh I do Falco." Katt was not buying it, as she turned to face the avian, her face completely livid. Her words stung like venom as she spoke. "Leave if you want, I don't give a shit what happens to you. After everything we had went through together…And you were so eager and willing to leave me behind...The only reason I still tolerate you is because our relationship is not worth getting us, and everyone else killed over."

"Katt." He tried to give her a supporting hand, but the feline quickly swiped it away.

"Don't fucking touch me. Don't talk to me unless it's necessary. From this point on, we survive side-by-side. But that is it." Katt excused herself as she stood up, the only one of those sitting down as Falco was just left in the dust. He didn't know what to say or to think. He knew he had messed up, he could only hope his feline companion would forgive him in time.

Katt looked toward Miyu and Fay sitting in another corner of the room by themselves. Neither of them were talking, Fay had calmed down to an extent but she still shed small tears here and there. Amanda hovered over Slippy as he was still alive, still breathing, but also still unconscious. She looked worried and stricken with grief, the feline could only hope their friend would pull through.

Katt figured she would go see what Fox was doing, as he had gone through many of the cupboards and storage units, looking for anything and everything.

"What did you find?" She asked still whispering looking at the pile he had amassed. He had anything from tap and scissors, to other supplies such as glue, a couple of stored water bottles, a flashlight, and so on.

"I found a few backpacks that got left in here from the teachers. They had some supplies like scissors, pieces of clothing, and things like that. I double checked and there are no more medical supplies in here. Got some water for anyone who's thirsty."

"What's in the Tupperware?" Katt asked, her mouth slowly salivating at what could be inside the plastic food storage container. Fox gave her a dismal look.

"It's some noodles and sauce, and I found a few breadsticks as well a fast food sandwich in the fridge. But that's it." Fox swallowed as he said the words, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one heard him. If everyone had heard about food, they would have swarmed him for sure to try and get a share of what could be their last meal.

Katt looked over her shoulder as she whispered. "There isn't enough for everyone is there?"

"No, but we should share so everyone has something at least. We've all went through a tremendous amount, and we all need to keep up our strength."

"What about Falco? Should we give him some even though he might leave? What about that gun he has?" She didn't trust the avian as he closed his eyes for now.

"We will." Fox spoke confidently as the feline looked back to him. "It's the humane thing to do, whether he stays or not. He should also keep the gun, I have a spare, and he'll need it if he goes off on his own."

"You are way too nice Fox."

"It's the right thing to do." He smiled to her as Katt gave one back.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"You can help pack some of these supplies." Katt only nodded as the two worked side by side. She thought it was astonishing, he was able to smile and stay optimistic. After all of this, after all they had done as she looked to him with desiring eyes and kept her sights low. Now that she was officially single, and the market of potential mates has been severely limited due to a planet wide pandemic, he looked very attractive.

Katt said no words, as Fox felt something surprisingly and looked to see she had wrapped his tail around with hers. He said nothing as he showed a light blush, as the feline smiled to him and went back to work, pulling her tail back…for now. After a few moments everything of use had been packed, and Fox turned to Katt holding all the food they found.

"Everyone." Fox called out getting everybody's attention, as he approached a counter by the side. "We found some food. There isn't much…but there is enough to share." Surprisingly no one argued, nobody rose up immediately fighting over what there was. They all came one by one for their shares, which was only a tiny bit of a sandwich and a small handful of pasta noodles, and a small break off of garlic bread. They shared the four water bottles between them all, and by the time they were all alright there was less than half of one left. They ate in silence, all thinking quietly with thoughts that were so loud to them, yet no words to share between them all.

"What should we do Fox?" Fara finally asked as she broke the silence, and all looked to the vulpine for an answer. He didn't speak right away, as Fox tried to collect his thoughts. Again the burden of responsibility was dropped on his shoulders. He spoke diligently, yet with caution at the same time.

"We can't do anything right now until we find out what happens to Slippy." The vulpine looked to his friend who had fallen in a slumber-like subconscious. "Let's give it a few hours, let everyone rest up a bit before we plan our next move. If nothing else, we can carry Slippy with us."

"Isn't that risky?" Miyu interjected as she was worried. They were all worried, flat out terrified for their lives.

"No matter what happens, we have to stay together. We can talk about it, and try and come up with a plan. Both for if we decide to stay in the school, or if we try to leave. No matter what we decide, we have to come up with a plan and take initiative."

"So you don't know what we should do?" Krystal asked as she read in between the lines. Everyone looked fearful as he spoke, trying to keep their hopes up.

"No." He said plainly. "But I have an idea…"

"Which is what?" Luna asked.

"There is a room at my house. I've never been in it, but my dad told me to only go in if it was an emergency. If there was some kind of planet wide conflict like a war or something."

"So you think something is in that room to help us?" Fay asked as she brought imagination into everyone's mind. Falco perked up his head as he was finally interested in the conversation.

"Whatever is in there, it's probably our best bet of surviving if," Fox took a pause as he looked straight to the avian, holding his metal bat between his legs upright "if we leave the school."

"What's the other option? To stay in the school?" Katt asked as the vulpine looked to his wondering friend.

"Yes. If we stay in the school, over time we could possibly eliminate and kill all those things wandering the grounds."

"I don't see how that is a good strategy." Krystal pondered out loud.

"When the outbreak started to spread through the school, it was spread first by a being who bit a teacher through the gate. The gate may still be latched, which means nothing, no zombies or people can get in or get out of the gate."

"So you're thinking we hunt through the school to kill all these fuckers, and over time the school could be our own safe haven." Falco figured out the vulpine's plan as they locked eye contact.

"Yes. And if we hunted through the school, there should be enough supplies throughout the grounds to last for quite a while. Anything from clothing, medical supplies, water, to things such as weapons and food. Cafeteria's alone are supposed to store enough food for months."

"So the basic cut and dry plan to this option is: We kill all the zombies throughout the school, and, assuming the gate is still locked, keep it locked so no one can get in or out. We eliminate the threat from the inside while keeping more out." Krystal pieced it together.

"Exactly." Fox gave her. "We would have to be diligent and careful, there's no telling how many of those things are still wandering around. But that's the basic plan. Kill them all, and then stay put."

"What do you believe is the best option?" Another question came to the vulpine as he let out his held breath and sighed, holding his puzzled head as he thought. Everyone looked to him, everybody wanted an answer that was sure proof, with no possibility of failing and anyone else dying. But that's the beauty about life, everything is by chance.

"I don't know. Either option is going to have its own risks and rewards. " Fox simply gave as he looked around the room to all his friends. "I have no idea and can only guess what's in that room at my house. But we have no idea how many of the dead are still wandering in the school. Whatever we do, we do together and we stick together. We can discuss it more, but for now. We should all get some rest. Try and sleep for a few hours before we do anything. I'll take watch and keep my eyes and ears peeled for activity."

No one said anything, they all nodded in silent agreement and adjusted to try and get comfortable. Some were leaning against bottom cabinets while others laid on the tiled flooring. As much as Fox was right, would they get any rest at all? After all the horrors they've committed? After all the death that had marked them today? They didn't know, but they had to try and regain some energy and strength.

Fox looked outside the window through the blinds, to see many of those things still wandering around outside. It was only a matter of time before they would have to act, and do something. Those things would find them eventually, the only thing that was left was to decide what to do. Do they stand and fight to try and create a safe haven in the school? Or take a chance and leave, to face whatever was on the other side of the gate.

Fox stood up as he gathered all the supplies together in a corner. From everything in the backpacks and belts, to all the weapons they had collected so far. Fox looked to Slippy still unconscious.

He was hoping for the best, and also preparing for the worst.

X

Author's Notes

Another HUGE decision left to you guys. Should they stay or should they go? (Song reference OP). Think about it and debate!

Regards – Zythxx