Thanks for the reviews. Time for more story :).
Takashi took a deep breath as he began to prepare to move the blockade on the door. The fetid smell of death leaked through the seams, the stench overpowering his need for sustenance. Breakfast missed, and now lunch. Unless they got away from the dead soon, he didn't think he'd eat at all for the rest of his life. Rei was beside him, holding a handkerchief over her mouth and nose, he debated on following her example but decided he needed his hands free more than he needed his senses spared.
Kohta was standing at the other door, making as much noise as possible as they got ready to leave through the opposite door. Sound attracted the creatures, so sound would be used to attract them away from where they were really exiting.
"Hirano, this is getting old." Saya all but growled. "Your fat ass could make plenty of noise by yourself." She muttered as she banged a chair against a desk that was in the confusion of the mess blocking the door.
"But I can't make enough noise for five people." Kohta said, smiling at her. She was so smart.
"Do you want to get out of here or not?" Saeko asked quietly, coming over to their side of the room.
"And what does that mean?" Saya demanded, hands on her hips.
"It means if you want to get out of here without getting eaten, you need to help out instead of whining." Saeko said, hand going to her practice sword as the moaning outside got louder and the door began to bulge slightly.
A hand, mottled red and grey, veins bulging, burst through the screen of the door Kohta and Saya were manning.
Inuyasha was standing, watching, from the well house roof as the strange "American" used a broom handle to knock away a dead human.
"What is going on here?" He muttered to himself.
"Grandpa!" Souta shouted, rushing toward the opening of the gate.
"Souta, Kagome, stay where you are, I'll not come in." He shouted back.
"What are you talking about Grandpa?" Souta demanded, unlatching the temporarily cleared gate. "You come in or I come get you!"
Kagome's grandpa came through the gate so that Souta would shut it. "I found your mother..." Kagome's grandfather said, hanging his head. "She was one of 'them'." Kagome's heart dropped into her stomach.
"What do you mean 'Them'?!" Kagome demanded, leaving Souta and Gabrielle to guard the gate as she helped her grandfather to a seat just inside of the gate. "What are they?"
"I don't know, Kagome. I really don't know. They die, then they come back, it's like some bad movie. On of them bit me..." He winced as he showed her his leg, human teeth marks shown plainly on his leg, which dribbled blood. Kagome grabbed a clean cloth, pressed it against her grandfather's leg. "I'll be ok. You two need to defend the shrine until you can leave. Stay until it calms down, then leave town. Head toward the mountain or back to the Sengoku Era."
Inuyasha frowned, sniffing the air. He knew something was wrong with the bite on Kagome's grandfather, but he couldn't figure out what.
A commotion at the gate drew his attention away from Kagome and her Grandfather. "Die!" Gabrielle shouted as she shoved one of her twin kodachi through the eye of one of the walking dead.
Dead people apparently felt no pain. Hurting them elsewhere did no good, but damage to the brain sent them down permanently. He thought about how much he wanted the rest of the group with them. A group that knew how to fight together and how to survive.
He brooded on it for a while, watching his friend's brother and 'guest' guarding the gate. Looking out on the local area, he saw more coming, a lot more. Whether they were following Kagome's grandfather or following the noise that Souta and Gabrielle were making he was unsure of, but they were headed this way.
He jumped down and came up behind Gabrielle and Souta, Tetsuaiga ready in its' scabbard. He wondered if the demon sword would work against dead humans.
Edging close to the gate, he pulled the sword from it's scabbard, it didn't transform. Cursing profusely, he slammed it home and lengthened his claws, preparing for a bloody and vicious confrontation.
"Kagome, were are the jewel shards?" Inuyasha asked, turning slightly.
"They're in my bag, why?" She demanded, confused.
"I want to use them to bring the others." he nodded toward the main house.
"Ok. Go get them." Kagome said, pointing toward the door.
"Kagome, that won't work without support from this side." Gabrielle shouted, pulling her short sword from the skull of the dead girl at the gate and pushing her away at the same time. "Souta can you man the gate for a few minutes?" Gabrielle asked, turning her head to the side. "If you keep quiet, they should stay pretty scarce."
"You seem to know a lot about these things..." Souta said, frowning at the American.
"I've encountered them before, a long time ago. They are attracted to sound and the scent of blood. They are all but blind as soon as the brain stops processing visual information, which is as soon as they are dead. There's a period of manic activity just before death, watch for it. And all bites kill." She finished very quietly. "Damage the brain, sever the spinal cord, or decapitate and you disable or destroy them permanently. Heart, lungs, liver, guts, none of it matters. Sever muscle groups at the shoulder to keep an arm from moving, at the hip for legs, at the neck for complete mobility lockdown. They can still bite you until you damage the brain, so be careful of those that can't move, wear thick shoes and carry a melee weapon." She outlined it briefly as she demonstrated on a zombie for Inuyasha and for Souta. Kagome would be brought up to speed when she was done.
"So, grandpa... he's..." Souta began, stopped with a sob.
"Dead." Gabrielle said gently, nodding to Souta. "I'm sorry."
Souta shook his head, sniffing, then he looked at the hanyou, eyes sparkling. "Inuyasha, can you get the others here?"
"I can. But we only have a few shards of the jewel." He said, frowning.
"Bring those who you think will make the most difference in a close combat with little to no noise." Gabrielle counseled. "I'll lower the guards for those with the shards in the backpack. It'll only take a minute and then I'll be back at the gate, help Souta hold off the ones that show up until I'm done, then you can go get your friends." She said, grabbing her bag as she headed toward the well house again.
Outside,beside the house, Kagome pillowed her grandfather's head on her lap, tears rolled down her face as she watched him succumb to another fit of bloody coughs. "Kagome, survive." the old man managed between coughs. "Keep your brother safe and survive. When it's less crazy, evacuate." he coughed again before his eyes clouded over and he lay, breathless and still.
Yup. About average for an update. I've got the next three chapters planned out.
I've been told I bathe in the blood of my creations. -me