(AN: Basic Info: I do not own Highschool of the Dead. I do not own any of the characters from this fantastic series. I am merely a chubby Otaku who likes Zombie movies, anime, stories, comics, and of course the Max Brooks Zombie Survival Guide. Much Love for ya: LF)

Brand New World

Chapter – 3 : Running With the Devil

I live my life like there's no tomorrow
and all I've got, I had to steal
Least I don't need to beg or borrow
Yes I'm livin' at a pace that kills
Oooh, yeah
(Ahh!) Runnin' with the devil (Ahh-hah! Yeah!)
(Woo-hoo-oo!) Runnin' with the devil
I'm gonna tell ya all about it: Van Halen

(Saya's dream – Shopping Center – Home Stays Bedding Store – Kohta's Bed)

The sounds of soft moaning grew louder. She knew that everyone else could hear what was going on, but she was so far past the point of caring that it didn't even matter to her. Her finger nails found his back and raked across it leaving red trench like marks.

"Kohta, please…" she whimpered in delight.

"I love you… I love you Asami," he whispered.

Saya shot awake and looked around for a moment before breathed out a sigh.

"God, why did I dream something like that? Why on Earth would I dream about being Asami and making love to Kohta?" she thought as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

She looked down to see Kohta sitting up in bed. She wasn't sure if he was sitting up and still asleep, or if he was awake and keeping watch. Her eyes stayed on the way he sat there facing the roll down gate. She watched him for a few more moments and realized that he must still be awake. She smiled softly and began to crawl out of bed. Once out she walked toward where he was sitting and noticed a half empty bottle of Mountain Dew by his feet.

"Trouble sleeping?" he asked.

"Not really, but it looks like you are," she answered.

"Someone needs to keep guard," he replied.

"It doesn't have to be you by yourself. Why don't you go ahead and get some sleep. I don't mind to keep an eye out," she said.

"Thanks Takagi… I'm really kind of tired," he replied.

He handed her the Luger her mother had given her, and then laid back on the bed. He began closing his eyes and let out a relaxed sigh.

"Wake me up if you need me," he said.

She watched him drift off to sleep and studied him for a few moments. While he was overweight it wasn't to the absolute extreme. She did give him a hard time about it, but it was because she wanted to stay distanced from him. She shook her head and looked toward the gate.

"I wonder why I'm even worrying about him. I know he's important to us, and that he's kept us alive, but really why? Why am I so upset that Asami kissed him, and why would I even dream about him like that?" she thought.

She let out a long sigh and simply kept looking toward the gate. The outside of the gate was complete and total darkness, but it was outside of the mall that was bothering her. She could hear the moans of those things as they stood outside. They had been quiet inside, but still the occasional shout and the gun fire from the other day had brought a multitude of them. The shopping center wasn't the best place to plan on living the rest of their lives. Eventually they would have to find more food. Even with only a few people inside they would eventually run out of canned goods from the grocery store.

There had been a home and garden store they passed, and there was the possibility of growing some food on the roof of the shopping center.

"Growing our own food would help some, but is this the kind of life we want? We would be stuck inside of this shopping center for the rest of our natural lives, or at least until enough of Them gathered together to break through the doors and come inside. It would make so much more sense to get out of here and find a safer place. Especially if we begin to consider the idea of repopulation," she thought.

She looked toward Kohta and the thought of children began to cross her mind.

"Stop it. Stop it right now. I can't start thinking along those lines, and I know it. It would be cruel to bring a child into this, and besides would I really want it to be Kohta's if I did?" she thought.

She looked back at him and the idea wasn't repulsive. She knew that part of the reason it wasn't was simply because of how strong and resourceful he had proven to be. Still, having kids was something she didn't want to do for a long, long, long time – if ever – and she would want it to be in a much safer place where they wouldn't have to worry about Them.

(Shopping Center – Left Wing Entrance)

The older man pulled at the handcuff that was keeping him chained to the entrance door. He tried to make sure he didn't lean back too far, because doing so would make the crash bar disengage. He looked around to see if that crazy bitch, as he had taken to calling her, was around anywhere. She seemed to still be missing, so he continued to try and pull his hand out of the cuff.

"Come on, just a little more," he whispered.

He gritted his teeth as the metal bit into his skin and muscle. It was hurting like a son of a bitch, but he could feel his hand moving down. He felt it move down his hand and then it stopped. He looked up to see it caught on the thick muscle of his hand where his thumb sprouted off. He folded his thumb in even more and pulled hard. There was a wet snap as he did and he wanted to scream in pain, but he was free. He stood up and started walking toward the end of the hall, and as he did he heard a gate closing. He looked ahead to see the crazy bitch closing the large roll down gate that separated the East Wing from the rest of the Shopping Center.

"I can't have my babies meal escaping now can I?" she asked.

"NO, STOP!" he cried.

She smiled at him and stopped cranking the gate. The man breathed out a small sigh until he saw her lift a nail gun.

"What… what are you doing?" he asked.

She shot at him and he jumped out of the way of the nail.

"Guess I have to get closer. Don't worry babies, I'm going to feed you right now," she said as she neared him.

"Stay the fuck away from me!" he shouted.

She fired another shot and this time the nail jammed into his knee cap. He let out a terrible scream of pain and fell to the floor.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he shouted at her.

"I told you I have to feed my babies," she said.

She walked past him and pressed the crash bar open on one of the inner doors. She quickly kicked the door stopper down and then looked at the outer doors. She aimed at the glass and shot it. It cracked and the noise it made cause the living dead outside to bang against the glass harder than before. The crack in the outer door began to spread and she walked back toward the older man and shot him again in the other leg.

"Now, you just wait right there and my babies will take care of you," she said.

"You're… You're a fucking nut job! I hope those kids kill your ass!" he screamed.

"They can't," she said as she leaned close to him, "If they did then who would feed my babies?" she asked.

His eyes widened as he realized how crazy she really was.

"They're so hungry. They're practically screaming out how badly they want to eat, and I can't deny them," she said as she walked toward the roll down gate and started cranking it again.

"I'll get you more food later babies," she said.

The sound of the glass door busting out caused the man to turn his head. He saw as a few of those things began to blindly break through. He began to pull himself back toward the gate. The pain in his knees nearly unbearable, but he couldn't die, not like this. He looked around at the shops to see if any of them were unlocked, but none of them looked to be. He could stay quiet and not make a sound, but how long could he do it?

"Help me! Someone please HELP!" he screamed.

(Shopping Center – Home Stays Bedding Store – Kohta's bed)

Saya's eyes shot open when she heard the busting glass, but the moment she heard the scream for help she stood up. It wasn't time to get unhinged and upset, but she needed to get Kohta up and soon. She leaned over and shook his arm.

"Come on wake up!" she shouted.

"Takagi… What is it?" he asked sleepily.

"Listen!" she exclaimed.

He sat up and heard the moans and someone screaming for help in the distance. Before another word could be said he scooted to the end of the bed and got up. He grabbed the Springfield rifle he was used to and looked at Saya.

"I'm going to wake up Korumo, and we're going to take a look," he said.

"Wait, what if they're close to the rest of us? Shouldn't we go ahead and wake up every one?" Saya asked.

"Would you mind to wake them up? Regardless of what the situation is we need to be ready to leave," he said.

"All right, I'll wake them up, but how are we going to get out of here? It isn't like there's another Humvee around here that we can use," she said.

"You said that if something acted like an antenna that it would cause it to go out right?" he asked.

She nodded.

"What if something was parked inside of an underground parking structure?" he asked.

She thought about it for a moment.

"It's possible that it would be okay. Wait, the parking lot underground? Isn't that dangerous?" she asked.

"Staying here is going to be just as dangerous. We really don't have a lot of options, and if there is a working car or something down there it might be our best bet," he said.

"I don't think so. If we go down into the parking lot there's too much of a chance that those things will follow us. Wait, what about the offices? I bet that there's a service tunnel in this place that leads outside. If there is we might be able to let them inside and escape through the tunnel. Most shopping centers have them," she said.

"Okay, that sounds good," he said.

He moved away from where she was and headed back toward Takashi without noticing how she was watching him. She turned toward the gate and closed her eyes.

"Why him? Why is it that I'm starting to feel this way about him?" she thought.

She heard Korumo groan about being woken up, and then she heard them both talk for a moment. She opened her eyes to see them both heading toward the gate and Kohta unlock it. He then handed her the key ring he had found in one of the offices earlier and gave it to her.

"Lock it back, please," he said.

She nodded and watched them leave.

"Come back alive, please," she whispered.

She watched as the two of them lifted the gate and then let it back down. She stood and walked toward the gate as they ran down the length of the mall toward the sounds of moans and screams. She bent down, locked the gate, and then turned toward the store again.

(Shopping Center – Left Wing Entrance)

Kohta and Takashi ran until they found the large roll down gate closed. Takashi looked on in horror as the older man from last night was being torn apart by those things.

"Please, help me," he weakly said.

Takashi raised his rifle, but Kohta stopped him.

"We can't," Kohta whispered.

"Fuck if those things can hear! It's not right to leave him like this!" Takashi shouted.

"I know, but the holes in that gate are too small. If you fire a shot it's going to end up chasing us around in here," Kohta said as he shook his head.

"Wh… What can we do then?" Takashi asked.

Kohta bent over and unhooked something on his boot. Takashi watched as he pulled out a small hunting knife, which looked like something from the sporting goods store, and walked behind the guy leaning against the gate. Kohta thrust the knife forward through one of the small slots and it buried in the back of the older man's skull. He backed up and shook his head.

"This isn't right," Kohta said.

"Tell me about it. That's a horrible way to go," Takashi replied.

"That's not what I'm talking about. There's no way he would have let this gate down and closed himself off from the rest of the shopping center. Not to mention I'm pretty sure the number of Them that made it in would be far more if they had broken through all of the doors or a couple of them. I think that someone did this to him," Kohta said.

"Who would do something like this?" Takashi asked.

Kohta's eyes narrowed and he turned around. He looked in several directions and touched Takashi's arm.

"What is it?" Takashi asked.

"He or she is still here," Kohta said.

"Wait, how can you tell?" Takashi asked.

"They're admiring their handy work, and they're waiting for us to leave," Kohta said.

"Wait, are you sure?" he asked.

Kohta nodded and then both of them heard the sound of hard soles running on the tile floor. They took off after the sound and Takashi turned the corner first and yell out in pain. Kohta pulled him back to find a nail sticking out of his shoulder.

"The bitch shot me!" Takashi yelled.

Kohta pulled him further back and neared the corner. He heard the sound of something hitting the corner and then insane sounding laughter erupting from just beyond them.

"My Babies are hungry, and I'm going to feed them!" a woman shouted.

Kohta looked at Takashi and traded the Springfield rifle for the Ithaca shotgun. From what he could tell the woman was fairly close, especially since she wasn't using the nail gun properly. Another shot hit the corner and he waited until he heard a faint hiss of gas escaping, but no nail firing. At that moment he turned the corner and spotted the blond headed woman who was loading more nails into the portable nail gun. He raised the shotgun and she stopped.

"You can't… You can't kill me. Who's… Who's going to feed my babies?" she asked.

Kohta pulled the trigger on the shotgun and hit her in the stomach. He watched as the blast picked her up and threw her against a glass advertisement. She hit it hard enough to burst through it and land on the other side. He walked toward her and looked as she coughed up blood.

"My babies… my babies are so hungry…" she whimpered.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but I wish that I could have stopped you before you hurt anyone," he said.

"They'll get in away… I… I didn't lock the gate down," she said as her eyes closed.

He turned around and ran back toward the gate. As he neared it he saw the number of Them growing. They began to pound on the gate, and the sheer numbers was causing it to buckle. He turned and ran back toward Takashi. Once there he helped him up and grabbed the Springfield rifle.

"We need to get out of here now!" Kohta shouted.

They ran back toward the Home Stays Bedding Store and saw Saya talking to everyone as they all stood outside.

"Korumo, Hirano, what happened?" she asked.

"A crazy woman let several of Them in. It won't take very long for the gate that's holding them back to break down, and when it does they'll all come inside. We've got to get out of here now," Kohta said.

"Wait, supplies, won't we need some supplies?" Miss Shizuka asked.

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"Is… Is that a bad idea?" she asked.

"No, actually it's a great idea. Okay, everyone grab a pillow case, and we'll head over to the grocery store. Don't even worry about what you're getting, just fill your pillow cases with canned goods. Don't waste time with anything that is perishable," Kohta said.

"I'll take care of Korumo's arm, while you're all doing this. We should be ready to leave when you are," Miss Shizuka said.

Saya nodded. The larger group then ransacked the bedding store for pillow cases and all headed toward the grocery store. The moment they got inside everyone began split up and hit the various canned goods isles. Saya didn't even look at the stuff she was throwing into her pillow case. She just kept filling it until she certain that much more would make it impossible to carry. She looked around and saw the others doing the same. At that moment the sound of metal bending and breaking could be heard.

"Everyone, we need to evacuate the building right now!" Asami shouted.

The group move back outside and could see a few of Them has they moved down the hall. They turned toward Saya who looked around and noticed the service entrance doors.

"We need to access the service doors. I know I saw one in the bedding store, and we can close and lock the gate down to slow them down," Saya said.

Kohta nodded and the group followed them back toward the bedding store. They arrived to see Miss Shizuka finishing the bandaging on Takashi's arm.

"Head toward the back of the store," Saya said.

When they got inside Kohta pulled the roll down gate closed and locked it in place. He quickly locked it and then ran toward the back with the others. Once in the back he found the door Saya had talked about and pushed it open to a darken hallway. A light suddenly turned on, and they looked at Alice who was holding a flash light.

"I… I found it in the clothing shop," she said.

"Good, let me see it," Saya said.

She lead them into the service tunnel and looked at a map diagram on the wall. She studied it for a few moments before she turned back to them.

"From what this reads we're going to come out at Habuki station two blocks down. Everyone who can fight needs to be up front," she said.

They walked for several minutes in complete silence until a low moan escaped from ahead of them. Saya shined the light ahead, and could see a few silhouettes ahead of them, but that was about it. They walked closer and they could see a few of the living dead standing around. Saeko and Rei moved forward and quickly killed the ones that was nearby.

"Why don't you just shoot them?" one of the other girls asked.

"They react to sound. It would be like ringing a dinner bell," Kohta said.

"It should be clear," Saeko said.

They moved forward and looked at a mostly empty rail road station. There was a few of the living dead stuck in the now dead subway cars, but for the most part it looked like the entire station was clear itself.

"O..Officer Matsushima," Asami whimpered as she looked at a woman step out from the darkness.

The woman had obviously been bitten and turned. Kohta figured he knew what happened. She decided to take the subway tunnels toward the police station, after all it only stood to reason that there would be less of Them in the subway system itself. She had made it a ways from the shopping center and then was bit, more than likely by one of those they had killed, and turned in here.

"No… NO!" Asami screamed.

The sound of more moans began to erupt from further down the subway tunnel.

"Perfect! Just perfect!" Saya yelled as she looked toward the now crying Patrol Officer.

"No, no, no, no, no! It's hopeless… If someone like Matsushima didn't make it… I…" Asami whimpered.

"Asami, don't. Look, you're going to make it. Why don't you come with us? I don't know where your group wants to go, but you can come with us," Kohta said.

"That… Thank you," she said.

She looked toward those she was with.

"I'm no longer a patrol officer. You will have to fend for yourselves," she said.

"Great, but why don't we worry about getting the fuck out of here first," Shimada replied.

Kohta looked at the others and they began moving up the stairs until they reached the street level. Once there they saw a couple of buses that had been parked across the street in an attempt of making a barricade. They walked toward the two buses and Kohta opened one of the doors on one. When he did he looked inside to see it completely empty.

"It looks like we can go through here and get to the other side," he said.

The sound of moaning began to get louder. Kohta looked at Takashi who had taken back the shotgun. They looked at the others.

"Go ahead, we're going to make sure that you get through," Takashi said.

Saeko walked toward Takashi and smiled at him. Despite Rei standing there she kissed him and pulled back.

"Don't die. It would be far too boring if you did," she said.

(AN: Yeah, I'm leaving you on a cliffhanger and I know it. But I hope that everyone enjoyed the chapter. That said I'm not through with the psychos yet. There will be more through the groups journey. I have to admit that I'm having a lot of fun writing this. It's kind of nice to be taking a break from writing my second novel. Well, at any rate, I hope that everyone enjoys this as much as I have writing it. LF)