Chapter 7: Life on the Line

A/N: Here it is guys. The semi-final chapter of Undead. Next chapter we find out why Charlotte did what she did and all other questions will be answered. (If you have questions that may not be relevant to the plot then message me and I'll help you understand.) Enjoy.


They fell.

The walker fell after multiple stabs to the head from Black Star.

Patty fell to her knees.

…And Maka fell.

She fell to the ground and landed in a heap, her forearm bleeding profusely just above her slightly protruding wrist bone.

Kid turned around and time seemed to freeze. He looked to the walker on the ground, Black Star sill stabbing it in the head again, and again, and again… Kid blinked, confused. Looking to Patty, he grew worried when he saw the tears streaming down her face, staring in horror at something on the ground. Following her gaze, his heart stopped. There lay Maka, his Maka, the girl he loved more than anything. She lay on her side, with her right arm under her head. Running to her side, Kid noticed it. The bite mark, the accursed bite mark, causing a small puddle of blood to gather around her face. He understood, then, what had happened. Looking at the bite mark, Patty's horrified face, and the walker that was now lying motionless on the ground as Black Star yelled for the others, Kid snapped. He felt his first line of Sanzu connect, and the power flooded his body like a dam breaking. He ran from each walker to the next, stabbing two at a time in the eye, creating a sickly sucking sound. He was blinded by rage and worry, not caring if he was killing those with the potential to be cured. Within seconds the entire horde was down on the ground and Kid was by Maka's side, lifting her into his arms.

"We have no time to stand around. Black Star, Soul, help Patty walk. Liz, stay in weapon form with Tsubaki and keep a look-out. We have to get her to Stein and pray to god he has an antidote."

The run back to safety was silent, save for the hysterical crying of Patty in Soul's arms and the ragged breathing of Maka as her body struggled to fight off the multiple diseases that, when combined, create the walkers they all kill. Everyone's thoughts revolved around the same topic. Will Stein have an antidote? Will it even work? What kind of side effects will it have? What if he doesn't even have one, what then?

Not soon enough for the group they arrived back at the DWMA and rushed past the bystanders to reach the Death Room where Stein was researching. Black Star ran and opened the door, allowing Kid to rush in followed by the rest. Lord Death turned around to see what the commotion was about and couldn't hold back an audible gasp at the sight. Maka lay in Kid's arms while he was hurriedly talking to Stein. She was pale and clearly unconscious, as her arms were limp and her head was lolled towards Kid's chest. Shedding his cloak, Lord Death stepped forward and questioned Soul, who was sitting with the rest while Kid lay Maka on an operating table. "What the hell happened?" The reaper thought of Maka as a daughter, especially since she started dating Kid.

"Maka was protecting me." Patty answered, having gained control of her sobbing. "I was being an idiot, not watching my own back, and by the time I turned around it was too late. She put her arm in the walker's mouth so it wouldn't bite my neck."

"It's not your fau-" Soul was cut off by Patty standing abruptly.

"Don't even! It is my fault! She was protecting me! I was the one not watching my back! She's paying for my arrogance!" Patty yelled, standing over Soul. She turned and stormed over to where Maka was laying and started screaming at Stein for answers as to whether or not she would be okay.

"The thing is, I do have an antidote. But I have only tested it on fully infected walkers. There's really no way of telling what it would do to someone that doesn't have the full effect of all the viruses in their system." Stein led Kid and Patty, who were now joined by all others in the room, over to a board with 6 disease names tacked to it, along with symptoms. "Take a look at this board. There are six diseases in this virus, and combined they attack the brain so aggressively that it leaves the subject with only survival instinct, hearing, and smell. There is also some sort of reaper magic in this, most likely from Charlotte, to make the creatures respond when a large object is near them, like reflexes. When she created this spell, she definitely thought we wouldn't figure out the infected were still alive, since the souls are so transparent unless they're kishins. Anyway, the six diseases in this are H1N1, H1N9, Scarlet Fever, the Bubonic Plague, meningitis, and malaria. The diseases were altered slightly with the reaper magic so they wouldn't kill the subject when combined. All these diseases require different combinations of chemicals to create antidotes. Combining them all is dangerous, especially when Maka still has such normal blood since she isn't technically a walker yet."

"Then what do we do?" Lord Death inquired. Just then the door burst open and tumbling in came Spirit. He immediately sprinted to Maka's side and Stein told him the important parts of what he told everyone else. After explaining, Stein said to Spirit, "We could give it to her now, or wait until she is a walker. I don't know all the side effects this could have on a person, as the walkers we cured had to be killed since they were kishins. It won't kill her, I promise you that, but it could do almost anything else. Either way, there are some serious risks. Though, one thing did happen. When I used the antidote on weapons from the DWMA who became kishins their appendages transformed into their weapon form. I'm assuming it activated their weapon blood without command from the brain." Stein explained, bandaging Maka's arm, which he had cleaned while the rest looked at the notes. "Anyway, what do you want us to do, Spirit? Give her the antidote now, or wait? The choice is yours."

The red-haired man stood next to his daughter, looking at her pale face. "I just lost my wife… I can't lose her too. She would kill me if I let her become infected, but… Are you sure it won't kill her if you give it to her now?" He asked Stein, who shook his head.

"I haven't tested it on a changing human before. If I give it to her now it could kill her, vegetate her, paralyze her from the waist down, anything really, though it will cure her of the disease." Stein said, while hooking Maka to a heart rate monitor. "But if I wait, it might not work. It only worked on 45% of the kishins I cured."

Spirit let his tears fall and splash onto this daughter's hand, which was clasped in both of his. Her heartbeat was beginning to become fainter, and Stein said it would be almost undetectable when the viruses took full effect. The sound around Spirit was drowned out as his head filled with memories of Maka when she was younger.


"Papa! Look!" A 7 year old Maka exclaimed, pointing to a brightly colored flower. They were at the place where Spirit proposed to Kami, a flower field near the DWMA. He walked over to Maka and picked the flower, tucking it behind her ear. Then he reached behind his back, "Close your eyes, baby girl." Maka did as told and Spirit brought a crown made of flowers from behind his back, placing it on his daughter's head. When she opened her eyes and looked at him questioningly, he smiled and said "A crown, for my little princess." Maka giggled and ran around the field, declaring that she would always protect her loyal flower subjects. Spirit wondered if maybe she was hanging around Black Star a little too much.


Snapping back to reality, Spirit looked at the expectant faces around him. He saw Soul, Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, and Black Star crying silently, while Kid cried into his father's chest. They were all so worried about his little princess, it warmed his heart. But the warmth was gone as soon as he caught Stein's eye. The man was awaiting an answer, as was everyone else. They were expecting him to make a life-changing decision for Maka, the girl who hated him with a vengeance for years. Putting on a brave face and shoving the past aside, Spirit gave his answer. "Give her the antidote now. I would rather have side effects than risk it not working."

The group watched as Stein nodded and picked up a syringe containing a clear liquid; the antidote. He tilted Maka's head to the side and felt for her jugular, sticking the needle into it. He slowly pushed the fluid into her bloodstream before withdrawing the needle and cleaning the injection point.

"We will have to wait and see what happens now. In about an hour we will be able to tell if-" Stein was cut off by a hole being blown in the left side of the Death Room. Lord Death stepped in front of the group, ready to attack whatever was threatening their lives. When he saw what stepped through the hole, though, his posture slouched slightly and his arms fell to his sides, shell-shocked.

"…Charlotte?"

The woman entering the room chuckled, a deep and sinister sound. Her golden eyes flicked across the group as she nodded her head, letting the reaper know he wasn't dreaming. "Hello, Death." She spat his name out as though it tasted bitter to her tongue. "I see your precious little meister has survived so far. I was shocked, to say the least, when she killed Kami with Death Scythe. I thought for sure she would be getting bitten then. Hmm, turns out that one," she pointed to Patty, "Has more meaning to her than a shell of her mother. Hope you're proud of yourself, dear. She might die because of you." Patty's eyes grew furious and she lunged for Charlotte, having to be held back by Soul and Black Star.

"How dare you?! Saying this is Patty's fault when we all know you led those walkers to Death City. This place was almost cleared! What is your problem, why do you want us dead?!" Liz was the one that spoke, causing anger to rise into the small groups' stomachs. There had to be some outside force involved, the city was almost clear before the run they made.

Charlotte chuckled again, causing shivers to travel up and down their spines. "Of course I brought them here. I have so many of those nasty creatures waiting to be let loose on you all. I wanted you dead so Death would suffer, alone, for what he did to me. But, it seems they can't get the job done, and even if they can, you have an antidote now." Charlotte paused, an agitated expression on her face. "You children had to make things so difficult, didn't you? If you would have just died and left your pathetic "leader," Death, here on Earth to rot then you wouldn't have to suffer. But apparently if you want something done you have to do it yourself." Her hand cackled with the green energy of her soul. "So it looks like I'll be sending you all to hell personally."


AN: Wow... been a while, huh? Sorry about that, guys. Next chapter is the final chapter with an epic battle scene and we find out what happens with Maka. AND we finally find out why Charlotte wants Death to suffer! Thank you so much for reading, it has been an awesome journey with you guys. 'Till next time!