Rin watched the ticking clock closely. Counting each time she could hear the faint 'tick...tick...tick.' Beside her on the stove was a pot of soup she was making for Yuki, and on the other side, resting on the black marble island counter, was the remnants of chopped ingredients she had put into it. Without thinking about it, or taking her eyes off the clock, she picked up a piece of chopped celery and put it in her mouth. In the hallway, adjacent to the kitchen, she could hear Luka cursing under her breath as she once again tried to phone the little girl's parents.

It was strange. Yuki's parents would always pick up their cellphones. Yuki's parents held their daughter in high regard. Yuki's parent's looked out for their daughter's future. Yuki's parents kept their daughter well taken care of. Yuki's parents only sent their daughter to the best schools. Yuki's parents bought their daughter the nicest clothes...Yuki's parent's loved their daughter.

Rin sighed and took another piece of celery into her mouth, enjoying the crunch it made between her teeth. Finally the clock had reached enough ticks for Rin's liking. She turned to the stove, stirring the bubbling liquid a few times before turning the dial to 'off' on the burner. She opened a drawer to her left and pulled out a large, plastic ladel, and dipped it into the soup and poured the resulting contents into a small glass bowl. Once a lid was firmly on the pot, Rin grabbed a napkin, and a spoon, and carried everything into the living room.

"Yuki-chan, are you hungry?" She asked gently, setting the bowl of soup onto the coffee table. The heavily breathing child opened her amber eyes and looked up at Rin with a smile.

"A...little." She answered. With Miku's help, she sat up and placed the bowl onto her lap. The girl began to eat, slow and small spoonfulls of the liquid, blowing on it several times before putting it in her mouth. It looked like this was working on her fever a little.

"Hey, Rin? Can I have a bowl too?" Len asked, leaning forward on his elbows. Rin turned to snap something at him like "Get it yourself" but the look on his face made her pause. The colour was drained, his eyes looking at her in a fearful way...Like he'd seen a ghost.

"U-uhm...sure Len. I'll get it for you." Rin smiled at him and patted his flaxen hair as she passed back into the kitchen. What was that about? Len's expression had troubled her greatly and she ran through several reasons why as she ladeled another bowl of soup. Did it have something to do with whatever was on TV? She had noticed how it had gone to the test screen before someone had switched it off. What kind of broadcast was it?

Waltzing back into the living room, Rin handed Len his bowl before sitting next to him on the couch. Yuki was down to the last bits of her soup, looking better already. Good. Miku looked relived as well.

The four of them suddenly looked up as someone outside the front door was shouting and banging against it. Luka, coming from the hallway, snapped her phone shut and walked quickly to the door, peering through the peep-hole before unlocking the deadbolt. As soon as it was unlocked, the door flew open revealing several terrified looking individuals. Two of which were carrying a third on their arms. Neru. The blonde teen looked to be limping and the side of her T-shirt, and leg of her jeans were bloody and ripped.

Meiko and Gumi carried the girl over to one of the chairs in the living room, and sat her down gently, but still causing several hisses of pain. Kaito frantically locked the door behind him.

"What happened?" Miku asked in a panic tone as she approached the yellow eyed female. Neru smirked and waved one of her hands.

"Ah, it's nothin' to worry about." She said. Miku's brows furrowed, and Rin and Len shared a troubled look.

"Two of those things like Hiyama took bites out of her..." Meiko said, giving Neru a look. The blonde rolled her eyes with a huff. Wasn't a big deal. Just a little stinging. Nothing like Yuki's bite where her whole shoulder had been threatened to come out. The only problem was that her leg was feeling a little numb. Probably something that would pass eventually.

"What are you doing?" Luka asked her violet haired boyfriend as he and Kaito pushed the dining room table into the entrance hall and blocked the front door. He pushed his bangs out of his face and turned to look at her, and it was then she noticed how all of them appeared. Their clothes ripped in places, all of them a bit out of breath as if they'd been running, their hair frumbled and in Gakupo and Neru's cases, falling out of the hair ties.

"We can't let them get inside." He answered.

"What happened out there?" Luka asked, lowering her voice. Gakupo, catching this hint to keep the conversation private, took her to the side.

"After we left the park, we found the car had been stolen. Someone must have hotwired it...I dunno...So we had to run here. And I do mean run. Those things...things like Hiyama...they were everywhere, eating people," he made a face as he said this and ran his fingers nervously through his bangs, "We barely got through them to get here. It's not safe outside Lu-chan. It's better if we stay in here."

"But Yuki...I think something is really wrong." Luka whispered looking toward the little girl on the sofa. By the way the others were leaned in, she could tell that they were relaying the danger outside.

"We just have to make due. I won't let you step foot outside with those things running around." Gakupo's face became very serious, and Luka sighed, but nodded.

"Kamui-san?"

Gakupo turned sharply at the call of his name to find Yuki looking right at him. He softenned his expression as he faced her.

"Yes, Yuki-chan?" He replied.

"What happened to Kiyoteru-sensei?" At this innocent question, the purple-haired man's mouth tightened into a straight line. His eyes lowered to face the ground for a moment before looking at Luka. She gave him a quizical look as well. The room had fallen silent as everyone looked at each other, everyone wordlessly knowing what exactly had become of the sensei. All except for Yuki.

"Well...he...we had to...um..." Gakupo stumbled, trying to find the right words to explain what had happened.

Hours earlier

The violet haired male glanced upward to see his pink-haired lover ushering the children into the car and away from danger. Good. It was safer that way. Especially with Hiyama in this sort of state. What on earth could be wrong with him? Is he drunk? High? His pupils weren't dialated, nor did he smell of alchohol. It was like he'd gone completely insane. The other like him too. They were chasing people down in the streets outside the park.

"Kamui. A little help?" Kaito grunted as he continued to fight to keep Kiyoteru pinned to the ground. Gakupo turned his gaze back to the two.

"What should I-?"

"I dunno man, but do it quick! This guy's stronger than he looks." Kaito grabbed a fistfull of brown locks and smashed the young sensei's face into the dirt. It didn't deter him however as he continued to try and snap at whatever was close to him.

"Oh move aside you wimp!" Meiko growled, pushing Gakupo aside. Picking up a bat that one of the twins had left earlier, she twirled in in her hands and readied it just above Kiyoteru's snapping skull.

"Alright, Hiyama. You've got to the count of three to calm the fuck down." The brunette female, said with a squint in her brown eyes. Kaito looked up at her with a horrified expression. She wasn't really gonna...?

"One." She counted sharply. Neru, Miki, and Gumi all exchanged fearful looks.

"Meiko-chan, I don't think that's ne-"

"Two." Meiko interupted the violet haired male, causing him to fall silent. Her feet inched closer to the struggling man. He lifted his (now freed) face and with one small lunge, caught one of her boot's shoelaces between his teeth. She shrieked and swiftly kicked his jaw with her free foot. The string dropped from his mouth, and he turned his eyes up toward the young woman who held the bat high over her head.

"Three!"

None of the others expected her to follow through with it. Meiko may be a follower of 'tough love' but she'd never cross the line. The worst thing she'd ever done was hit Kaito in the head with a frying pan when he 'accidently' grabbed her chest. And even that hadn't made him bleed. Just...a little...dazed. So they weren't surprised when she hesitated.

But then in one strong lunge from the man, Kaito lost his grip on him. Turning slightly, the deranged male had a clear shot to sink his teeth into the bluenette's arm.

That is until Meiko bashed his skull in.

With a grunt, Meiko came down with the bat, no longer hesitating now that someone important to her was in danger. The bat made a sickening metallic sound as it broke the bone beneath the flesh of his scalp. Kaito leapt back, landing on the soft, lush carpet of grass as small drops of Kiyoteru's blood hit his face, and clothes. From behind her hunched form, Meiko heard the ringing of someone screaming in her ears. She released a shaky breath before straightening up once more, the bat lose in her palms. She could feel more than see the warm droplets of maroon coloured blood on her hands.

No one moved for a long moment, few pairs of eyes gazing at the limp body with the exposed brain.

"I...he..." Meiko whispered to herself, but having no idea where to go with her words. So caught up in this frustration, she barely noticed when shaky fingers wrapped around her ankle. Her quivering chocolate coloured eyes lowered to see the open-mouthed expression of the man she had allegedly just killed. Her heart hammered in her chest as she followed the bashed skull, to the blood trails leading from it down over his eyes and into his gaping mouth. He gave a loud moan that sounded like it came deep from his chest and Meiko shrieked as she kicked his grip off and backed away.

Gakupo took the initiative now, snatching the bat and delivering several more blows into the man's skull until his face was no longer recognizable and he no longer moved. He nudged the corpse with his foot several times before tossing the dented and blood-soaked bat to the side. Stumbling past the others he picked a napkin from the picnic table and wiped away the blood from his face and hands.

"B-but I...killed him..." Meiko whispered, staring wide eyed at the bat. Kaito pulled himself to his feet and made it a point to stay a far range away from the body as he rounded it.

"Obviously you didn't." Gakupo mumbled.

"But I felt hi-"

"He's dead now. That's all that matters!" Gakupo interupted.

"Dear God...w-what have you done?" Gumi shouted, tears falling from her eyes, "You just killed him!"

"I'm aware of what I've done! It's obvious of what would have happened had none of us done anything! Look at what happened to Yuki-chan!" Gakupo replied, stepping toward the girl in a furious voice. Gumi flinched away from him, and his face softened as he realized what he had done. He cursed under his breath and paced back and forth across the park's lawn. In the distance there were sounds of screams and possibly gun fires.

"We've got to get out of here..." Neru said suddenly, flipping open her cellphone and pressing a few buttons.

"What are you-?" Miki began but was silenced by a single gold-painted finger.

"Hey, Rin-chan? It's Neru...Yeah we're alright...Really?...Yeah, we hear them here too...uh-huh...alright. See you soon." With that Neru shut her phone and stuffed it into her vest pocket. All the events of today had been fun up until 10 minutes ago. Why the hell had things had to change? Now there was a dead man in front of them all, and not a one could prove that he had been assulting them.

"Neru-chan?" Miki placed her palm onto the blonde-haired girl's shoulder, which snapped Neru from her thoughts.

"I uh...called Rin-chan. Let them know we're alright. I think we should stick together for awhile." She said the last words after hearing some screaming and gunshots from the nearby city.

"Did she say anything about Yuki-chan?" Kaito asked, his face becoming morphed into concern. Neru bit her glossed bottom lip and nodded.

"She's not any better." She admitted, cupping her hands in front of her chest. Kaito took a deep breath at his answer and nodded.

"I agree with Akita-chan." Gakupo said suddenly, causing the others to look to him. He looked to be re-tying his ponytail, pulling the thick band carefully over the silky strands of rare coloured locks. When finished, he picked up the abandoned bat and let it rest on his shoulder.

"We should stick together for a while. At least until we know what's happening." The way everyone gave each other nervous looks told him that they all agreed to this. Silently, Gakupo dug into the pocket of his jeans and withdrew a set of car keys. He jingled them to catch their attention, and then nodded towards the parking lot.

"Let's go." He mumbled, turning abruptly. The others took up pace behind him, Meiko turning back once or twice to gaze at the dead man she should have murdered with that bat. Why hadn't he died the first time? What had kept him going? It was a mystery to them all.

Once reaching the parking lot, Gakupo was both surprised and angered to realize that someone had stolen his car. Hot wired it probably. Great.

"Looks like we walk." he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why the heck would someone steal your car?" the irritation was clear in Kaito's tone.

"Probably trying to get away from the rest of those things like Hiyama was. Say what you want, but that guy I hit back there was not Hiyama Kiyoteru." Meiko said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder. The others voiced their agreement.

"Where do you think those things went?" Gumi asked, scouting around for any other people. They seemed to be the only group around, giving the park's parking lot a new eerie feeling of dead silence. Not even the birds were chirping anymore. The sunlight beat down hard on all of them, but it was no longer welcomed as a nice day any longer. It felt as if it should be storming rain, black skies, and cold wind.

But the sun shone, bright, and cheerful, with puffy white clouds surrounding it. Very unsuiting.

"They probably followed people into the city." Miki replied, eyeying the road leading back into the bundles of buildings.

"Probably. Which mean we should be careful while we walk. Now c'mon." Everyone could tell from how he spoke that Gakupo at this point was not a very happy panda. No one had ever seen the samurai angry before, but they didn't want to risk arguing with someone with a black belt. Meiko stuck close to Kaito, and the three girls kept in a tight pack behind Gakupo as they trudged outside the park's gate. Out here the scene was brutal.

There was blood. There were bodies. There were organs scattered across the pavement, and no not the instrument. Livers, kidneys, brains, lungs. It made the squimish pack of girls want to puke. Kaito tried to avoid looking at it altogether. Meiko and Gakupo kept their eyes on the road ahead, though they would wince after having to step over someone's corpse with a giant hole in the side of their face. The brunette even whimpered a bit when she accidently stepped on someone's hand.

The sounds of gunshots and screaming became louder and more distinguished as they neared the city. Mixed in were the sounds of sirens. Firefighters, police, and ambulances. Smoke was seen billowing up from several of the taller buildings.

Their city wasn't large like most cities in Japan. They had a few taller buildings, but they weren't more than three or four stories high. Mostly it was more of a large town with fancier and more modern buildings than most. They had the local park, and several schools around the area. All in all it was a quiet place. Peaceful. Until today of all days.

They walked in silence, growing ever paranoid over little sounds and movements. Gumi had to slap a hand over mouth after she screamed when Neru suddenly sneezed. The events of the day had all of them rather jumpy. The fact that they were the only ones on the road didn't make it better. As they reached nearer to the city, they saw more and more movement coming alive. People running. Dogs chasing after their masters. Cats, squirrels, and even rats scurrying about. As a man tried to run past the group, Kaito grabbed him by the collar.

"Let me go, man, are you crazy?" The man shouted, tugging on the bluenette's wrist. Kaito help tighter.

"What's going on? What's with all the chaos?" He asked and the man in his grasp stilled.

"It's dooms-day in there. There are...I...I think they're corpses...You know like the living dead. They're eating people. The police are going mad trying to kill them. But they won't die."

"Doomsday?...Are you telling me that there are zombies walking around?" Gakupo shouted in disbelief.

"How long ago did this start?" Kaito asked, ignoring the other man. Gakupo gave him a hard look from the corner of his blue irises.

"A-about three hours ago...We didn't even see it coming. There was just one attack listed on the news...and then another...and another...and soon it was live reports and people getting sent to the hospital for bites and...I managed to get my wife and kid out in time...I gotta go see if they're alright. So let me go."

With that, Kaito released the man, and he took off running in the direction they had come.

"What now?" Gumi asked.

"We go see about the others." Neru stated as if it were obvious, "We've got to make sure they're alright."

"Agreed." Gakupo grunted, shifting the bat from his shoulder and into his hands. If they were going into the city to get to Luka's home on the other side, they were going to need to be prepared. Especially if what that guy had said. But Gakupo was still skeptical. He'd never believed in ghosts, or vampires, or whatever else didn't have a need to exist. So the living dead walking around didn't seem very plausible to him.

Well...until they reached the city lines.

The place was crawling with chaos. As if the very source of things evil came across the peacefull little city and dubbed it too perfect and poured a whole bucket of blackness onto it...and it's a big bucket.

There were shops with broken windows and doors. Shards of broken glass, papers, random belongings, tattered clothes, yen, chunks of broken boards and cement and even...human bodies littered the streets. Throughout the place there were screaming people running in different directions, confused on which way to go in their panic. Children who'd gotten seperated from their parents wandered around with tear stained, and frightened faces. Stray animals were barking, meowing, or whatever kind of noise they made.

The group took in the horrible sight, the colour draining from their faces. They had to walk through this minefield? This minefield which apparently had the enemy lurking about with maps on how to avoid the mines? That's what it felt like.

"Let's go! Stay close!" Gakupo shouted over his shoulder before he took off running. Kaito quickly grabbed Meiko's hand and followed close behind. The three girls behind them weren't far behind them. The sound of their shoes hitting the pavement were barely heard over the noise of the chaotic city. As they passed through the streets they could spot places on fire, police and amulances racing off with their sirens blaring, and lets not forget horrified citizens. But the most prominent noise...the one that was ringing in every single person's ears that day...was the moaning.

The moans from the groups of walking cannibals roaming the streets at their slow but intimidating pace. Just the sound of it made the hairs on every part of your body stand on end. The moans were deep from the chest, and dragging, and they sounded...hungry.

As the group of friends rounded another corner, their skin crawled as the sound got louder. Just ahead were a trio of people rounded around a downed citizen, nawing on her flesh and moaning as her blood dripped down their rotting jaws. It was at this point that Gakupo realized he shouldn't be so closed minded. His breath hitched as the trio turned sharply towards the fresh group of victims. They slowly stumbled to their feet, that low gutteral moan dragging from their mouths.

"Shit.." Gakupo cursed as they limped toward them. He readied the bat in his hands and rushed toward them. They needed to get by, and damn it if anyone got hurt because he didn't do anything. But the bat...it was already dented and nearly broken from the violent way he had killed the sensei earlier.

But this needed to be done.

He motioned for the others to follow behind him down the close allyway. The creatures continued their slow and timed pace, only seeing the food set before them that had no way to go but through them. As Gakupo inched closer, one reached out and took hold of his sleeve; the violet haired man was surprised at how much of a vice grip this thing had. It tugged, but Gakupo twirled, taking the thing with him and sent it flying into a nearby garbage can. The other two seemed to have no remorse, or care, or even acknowledgement of their fallen comrade, and it made Gakupo's stomach lurch. He readied the bat and with a round house swing, konked the two enemies head's together. One toppled to it's feet, and the other one steadied, and lunged at the samurai.

"Look out!" Miki shouted over the noise. Gakupo was already a step ahead of her, jabbing the end of the bat (much like a bayonet) into the thing's chest, halting it's attack. With the momentum from the thing's lunge, Gakupo managed to fling it over into the first zombie who had clamored to it's feet. Like a bowling ball it crashed into it, sending both of them to the ground. Gakupo stood over the fallen zombie in front of them, and with one hard swing, bashed in it's skull, clearing the way for the others to run.

"Go! Go now!" Gakupo shouted. He and the other jumped over the destroyed zombie and continued down the ally way. Reaching the mouth, they paused to awe at the sight of hundreds of abandoned cars, plus more signs of horrific debris.

"Get off me you bastards! Let me go!"

"What was that?" Kaito asked, turning toward the ally way from which they had come. It only took a second before Meiko suddenly pointed back.

"They've got Neru!"

Gakupo turned swiftly. The two zombies he had let live now had Neru between them. One zombie held her arms, the other her legs. To their horror, the group watched as the two creatures simultaniously took bites out of her. Neru released a blood-chilling scream as she felt teeth sinking into her waist, and leg. She struggled violently to free herself from the grasps made of iron to no avail. The only time she was dropped was when Gakupo swung his mighty weapon and knocked the zombie holding her arms away. She fell to the ground, only to be picked up again by Miki and Meiko. They tugged her away from the other zombie before Gakupo ridded the world of it's existance.

"Aw...damn that hurts!" Neru hissed. Miki and Meiko propped her up in their arms, working as a team to carry her along as they started off again.

"You'll just have to deal with it a few more minutes until we get to Luka-chan's house." Kaito assured her. They were so close now. Just a few more blocks out of the city and then a five minute run toward the house.

The team was lead by Gakupo and Kaito (who had found himself a small lead pipe), followed by Gumi, and Meiko, Miki, and Neru taking up the end. The two males easily took down the small packs of monsters on their way toward the city limits and were almost relieved when they saw the lights of the townhouses in the distance...

And here they all were, crowded inside this small living room, with a sickened child and a stubborn Tsundere who were both growing worse the more the clock ticked. Miku stuck close to the little girl, softly petting her now sweaty black locks. Neru was still concious at least, but the numbing in her flesh was almost unbearable.

The television remained stuck on the news network, the group taking in so much violence through the screen. People screaming, people running...people dying.

It was too much for any of them to bear. But it was the importance of the matter. One by one they dropped off like flies as it neared deeper into the night. Rin and Len took to bed in their room. Kaito and Meiko took the guest room, and the rest decided to stay downstairs. Miku couldn't leave Yuki's side when she was near close to dying. She could see it in every shattered breath the girl took. She was going to die. But she wasn't going to die alone. Not like this.

But even so...everyone needed to sleep sometime. But no one...no one...could have guessed the horrors they would wake to in the morning.

AN- I'm really enjoying writing this story...which makes me think I'm a little sadistic xD

By the way, have you noticed how when I posted this story, a lot of zombie stories started popping up? xD
Nothing bad about it, I love zombie stories! 8D;;;

I just like the feel of the more...classic "Night of the Living Dead" zombie, ya know? ;w;

THE ZOMBIES ARE COMING!