Chapter Seven: Time to Pretend

"How much is that zombie in the window?"

-If Jesus Rode a Dinosaur

|Axis's POV|

Dawn was breaking by the time we reached Halcyon Mall. I've got to admit that for a place that's usually crawling with people, it's pretty disturbing to see it drained of pretty much of all life existence- well besides the few zombies that were looking for someone to feed on.

Leon had said something about how we couldn't go through the normal entrances because zombies would be lingering around those areas.

"So… then how exactly are we going to get inside the mall without using the normal means of doing so?" I ask, as Leon takes out a zombie with a swift shot to it's head.

"There," He points at a fence next to one of those huge storage container things. "We can use that to get up there."

"…So… We're doing like a B and E?" Axel asks, raising an eyebrow to the older man.

"If you want to put it that way, yes."

"B-But… There's… no way in from the top." Rinoa shifts awkwardly.

"Well, Rinoa, there are these awesome things that let in light… Do you know what they're called, hon?" Axel says, closing his left eye and pointing his index finger at his temple.

"Um…"

Oh, seriously?

"It's a window! Jesus Christ!" Axel snaps.

"Be quiet, asshole! You're gonna make all the zombies know that we're-" Ultimecia is cut short by a vicious growl.

"Zombie dog?" I whisper, backing up against the fence. It sounded like a dog, but it also sounded like a pissed off cat… I mean is that what zombie cats sound like?

"I don't think that's a d-"

Out of the corner of my eyes I see something blue moving quickly through the bushes. Then a blue blur leaps out of them and whatever it is lands on Ultimecia, knocking her onto the floor. I swear, the zombie looks like a crossbreed between Altair from Assassin's Creed and Sasuke from Naruto.

The blue hooded zombie pounds on the screaming Ultimecia's face. She trashes around violently, and I admit none of us move even as she pleads for help. Her nose snaps to one side, and a rush of blood pours out it. It slices across her face leaving no trace of what was on her face. Then it leans closer to her face and-

I throw up.

Axel screams.

Leon is in shock.

Rinoa and Zidane start climbing the fence.

Demyx? He was already on top of the storage crate thing as soon as the "A.S.C." jumped out of the bushes.

Leon shoots the Altair/Sasuke crossbreed thing in the head. His gun is way too strong to be a handgun. I say this because the "A.S.C." flies off of the dead woman at an alarming rate and it smashes into a nearby wall.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!" Axel screams.

"Ugh…" I groan, "Not again…" Why must I have the most easiest upsetable stomach?

Leon kicks at the ASC's head. "It's definitely infected…"

"Really, Leo," Axel laughs nervously, "What gave you that idea?"

"Guys, uhm, don't wanna interrupt your little investigation, but there are a bunch of zombies coming our way… and… yeah…" Demyx says, curtly.

I quickly regain my composure. Off in the distance I see a horde of zombies staggering our way. One of them trips over the sidewalk and it causes a few other zombies to tumble down with it. Stupid infected humans…

The three of us start climbing the fence.

By the time we reach the top, Demyx and Zidane are holstering up Rinoa so she can make sure we don't climb down into the mall only to find ourselves surrounded by the living dead. That would really suck…

"It's all clear…?" She says hesitantly.

"Nothing?" Leon asks.

"Surprisingly, no…" She presses her face against the glass. "Ah! Wait! I see something!" Zidane seems to be trying really hard to hold up the older girl. She probably weighs more than the poor guy.

"Is it my brother and sister!" I shout. Then we don't have to wait in the mall, and we can just get the hell out this infected town.

"Uh, no… It's the Highwinds…" She smirks, "And they're alive…" She starts tapping on the window so she can get their attention.

"Let me get a better look," I say, to Leon and Axel. They hoist me up. Rinoa's right. It's the Highwinds. I see the silhouette of Kite and his green hair- I mean that's the only reason I knew it was him in the first place. Yuffie and Squall are sitting at a table by the food court, three other people who I can't really make out are sitting with them, and Cid is pacing around back and forth. I think he's holding that spear he always carries during Gym class.

I tell Leon and Axel to put me back down. I'd say I was glad to see that my friends weren't dead, but I'd rather just see my family right now. I could careless about anyone else right now…

I hope they're okay, I think shortly before I sit down and watch as a lone zombie bangs into the storage container.

|With the Highwinds (Kite, Squall, Yuffie, Cid), Luneth, Kairi, and Vexen|

|Kite's POV|

Heh. Well this puts a permanent hiatus on my math homework. Thank goodness too… I didn't really understand it anyway. Lucky me, I guess. Actually, no. Not lucky me. Now I'm in the middle of the zombie apocalypse!

He's pretty sure it's the apocalypse. She's in complete denial and believes it's just a severe case of the flu. They're convinced it's a bio-terrorism from Helix. And me… Gee… I'm positive it's a zombie outbreak. I mean they are trying to eat our fucking insides and stuff, right? I don't think that's the flu, could be rabies, but no, not the flu.

"We're going to die…aren't we?" Yuffie sniffs.

"Tch… yeah…" Squall replies, arms crossed. He's been staring at a single spot on the table ever since we got here.

"Come on, guys!" Kairi, the voice of reason, says, "We're not gonna die! We have to live!"

She pouts, but none of us seem to be paying much attention to her.

"Even if we do get out of here alive," Squall whispers, "No one's going believe that we were in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Shin-Ra's going to cover it up and make it seem like nothing happened. They probably aren't expecting any survivors… and there probably won't be."

Very well stated, Squall.

"Your optimism is killing me…" Kairi smirks, turning her attention to me, "Kite, do you think we're going to die?"

"Of course I do," I say flatly. Which is definitely not a lie.

"You guys have no faith in yourselves…" Kairi says, turning away from us as she crosses her arms and makes a very unattractive face. "We're not going to die."

"Ahuh. You keep telling yourself that," I sneer.

"We can't escape the apocalypse," Vexen laughs manically, "Cosmos will not allow it. Those people out there are the sinners, they will infect all the sinners, soon shall be our time."

"All right, asshole. Mention another thing about Cosmos and I will throw you out there to those zombies, and then you can talk all you want about sinning, kay? Thanks." I hiss.

"I knew I shouldn't of come to the city…" Luneth sighs, putting his head on the table. Luneth's some kid from the outskirts of the city. He's gray hair that he puts up into ponytail. His bangs frame the side of his face. His are a light purple… not quiet lavender though. He's wearing a black sweatshirt and a dark purple turtleneck underneath. For some reason he's wearing a leather breastplate thing that has numerous pocket on it. He also has on a pair of white pants that he has tucked into a pair of leather greaves. We found him, Kairi, and Vexen shortly after everything went to hell in Everything- you know that game/manga store?

"Tell me about it…" Yuffie says, rocking her chair back and forth.

"If Kite didn't need to get the newest issue of Gin Tama, we'd be fine right now," Leon smirks.

"Oh yes, let's blame this all on Kite," I say, sarcastically.

"Well, yeah… It is your fault we're here in the first place…" Yuffie sighs.

"It's not like all of you had to come," I hiss.

Heh. Look at the bright side, I'm not gonna be coming back to the mall for a long time. Not that I'm afraid, I snagged a few manga that I liked while everyone was screaming and panicking. I love you back pack. Yeah, yeah, I know it's bad to steal, but c'mon. Soon this place is gonna be a wasteland and is anyone really gonna think about a bunch of manga?

"Ughhhh…" Luneth groans, annoyed. "I wanna go home!"

"Shut up, kid!" Cid snaps.

Luneth hangs his head low as he mutters, "Sorry".

Suddenly a shard of glass smashes onto the floor beside us. Luckily the shard barely misses Luneth. Squall doesn't even hesitate as he grabs Yuffie and I and pulls us into a nearby store. I almost trip as he shoves us behind a rack of clothes. He would shove us into Lilac's Secret. Hey! Cool! Wire bra!

I grab one off the hanger. It's one of those bright laced red bras with the wire in it. Never understood the point of different kinds of bras. Anyway, I start putting it on, and Yuffie pays no attention to me as I do so probably because she's scared to death (haha, get it?) that we're doing to die. I mean, I'm scared and all, but… come on! I don't wanna die without having laughed a few times before.

"Hey, Yuff," I nudge at her side, "Look."

She's busy biting on her thumb.

"Ugh, Yuffie…" I whisper, trying desperately not to laugh.

"What Kite?" She snaps.

"Be quiet the zombies will hear ya."

"You-" She turns her head in my direction. Then her eyes flicker down to my chest. "Pfft!" She covers her mouth hastily. "Kite, knock it off…" She giggles.

I hear more glass fall from the windows above and crash to the floor.

Have the zombies learned how to fly?

|With Axel, Leon, Rinoa, Axis, Demyx, and Zidane|

|Axel's POV|

"Who the hell cares about destroying property, Rinoa!" I snap at the black haired girl.

"But we-"

"EVERYONE'S DEAD!" I yell, shaking her leg. Zidane is still holding her up. Poor guy, probably weighs less than she does. We told Rinoa that they obviously were too busy to notice random tapping on the window above, so she should just go head and break the window to break the window. Then she starts complaining about how that would be destruction of property. REALLY! No one going to care that we broke into the roof of the mall during the zombie apocalypse.

"Well, we aren't."

"Please put Rinoa down before I feed her to zombies," I hiss.

Zidane and Demyx do as they're told. Rinoa slaps my arm as she stomps over to the other side of the crates where Axis is sitting. Sick kid is watching a zombie crash into the side of the storage bin.

"Lift me up," I demand.

"Get Axis and Leon to get you up there, my arms are tired…" Zidane groans as he stumbles over to where Axis is sitting.

I look at Leon and Demyx.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to have my face ripped off by some ninja zombie assassin," Demyx says, looking around. Zidane cringes as he looks at the dead Ultimecia who is now throwing an organ festival with the zombies.

So the two of them lift me up.

"What a stupid zombie…" I hear Axis say.

"Poor thing can't climb…" Rinoa sniffs.

"And that's a bad thing why?"

Leon hands me his gun, which turns out to be a magnum. I steady my aim to shoot at the glass. Actually I can aim anywhere I'd like too, but if I accidentally shoot at a window over on the other side, big problems.

I lower the gun as close to the glass as possible and put my finger on the tri-

"Don't shoot the window, idiot!" Demyx snaps, shaking my foot. "Just hit it with the gun!"

I grab the gun by the shaft and-

"Make sure the safety is on so you don't accidentally shoot yourself… or us," Leon says.

"ANYTHING ELSE?"

"Nope," Demyx smiles, sadistically.

I put the safety on and smash at the window. Spider webs begin to crawl up the window after to or three hits.

"Did you see that zombie?" Axis snickers.

"Why is it hitting the other one?" Rinoa asks.

"Probably knew each other in the life before and he's there to collect his Munny,"

Zidane snorts.

I slam the gun against the window, I watch as glass hurls down at the survivors down below. Without a moment's hesitation, Squall grabs his cousins and darts off into one of the stores. The others scatter into separate directions.

"Well, I can safely say I almost killed Squall and some kid with white hair," I say, looking down at Leon and Demyx.

Rinoa shoots up. She nearly knocks Axis and Zidane off the storage container. "What? You almost killed my boyfriend!" She looks really pissed off.

"…Yeah?"

"What the hell, Rinoa!"

"You didn't right?"

"He did," Axis pipes up. I throw the magnum at his head, and surprisingly he catches it with ease. I was excepting him to fall down into the zombies… Actually thank goodness he caught it.

"…I don't think I did."

"How far is the second level from the window?" Leon asks, dismissing the fact that Rinoa was still talking.

I glance back down into the glass. "About five or six feet…" I tell them. Suddenly I feel like I'm getting taller… Wait! What the fuck! I'm not getting taller! I look down at the two blondes who are raising their arms. I see Demyx grinning shortly before I realize I'm going down.

"AHHHHHHHGHHHH!" I screech as I fall. The scenery is just a huge motion blur. Then my shoulder hits the ground. I think I hear something crack… Plus my arm is now seething with pain. Oh shit! Those assholes! I think I broke my arm- er shoulder!

I hear a loud "THUD" behind me.

"You don't look too good, Axel!" Demyx snorts from above. I think he threw his backpack down first, but I'm not sure.

"I… wonder why…"

Rinoa manages to land on top of me. Probably did that on purpose too, knowing her.

"Get the fuck off me!" I hiss, palming her in the face. She slides off me, and cracks her head on the floor.

"Axel! Look what you did!" Rinoa screams, kicking at me.

I sit up and start yelling at her. "Well, what the fuck did you land on me for?"

"I didn't mean to!" She snaps.

As soon as Leon hits the floor, he goes into a roll. Now that's how it's done.

"I don't care if you didn't mean to! It's not changing the fact that you landed on me in the first place!" Zidane lands on Rinoa.

"Uh… sorry," He laughs, scratching his head nervously.

"Get off, Zidane!"

Then Demyx falls out of the window. "AHHHHHH!" He screams, trashing around.

He hits the ground… hard.

"Ahahh… My… poor back…" He cries, rolling around.

"That even sounded like it hurt," Rinoa winces.

"It hurts a lot more than you think…" He sits up slowly. "It hurts… so much…"

"Quit complaining. At least you didn't break your back."

"Might as well have," Zidane chirps.

"Let me take a look at that," Leon says, wiping his hands on his pants. The others help me take off my sweater and my shirt. Sure enough, my shoulder is all red. Leon puts his hand on my arm, and feels around. Then he pushes thumbs hard at my shoulder, and something snaps back into place.

Demyx cringes.

Leon hands me my shirt and sweatshirt, "You're lucky you just dislocated it."

And how very glad I am that it was just a dislocation. I really don't want to go to the hospital during a zombie outbreak. That's definitely zombie central. All the people that got bitten probably went to the hospital to seek medical help. I hope we never have to go there…

Suddenly the sound of feet shuffling echoes behind us.

Leon picks up his handgun and holds it parallel to his face. At least someone's ready to take out zombies.

We're about to start running, when Rinoa says she hears talking.

"Maybe the zombies can communicate?" Demyx says shaking his head.

"No… it sounds like-"

Cid comes into view. "Nearly gave this old man 'ere a heart attack." The other survivors follow promptly behind him. Rinoa instantly sprints over to Squall. He welcomes her with open arms, but she stops short.

"Kite, why are you wearing a… bra?" Rinoa asks.

Are you kidding me?

Zidane and Demyx go into a fit of laughter.

The green haired boy looks down at his chest. His face lights up red. "Ah… uh… uhm… I… uh… Details, man. Details." He looks up, and seems to realize that everyone is staring at him. He runs into a nearby store.

"That aside," Leon says, sighing.

"Wow, Demyx," Kairi says, "I'm surprised you're still alive. I was pretty sure you'd be one of them by now."

"Wow, Kairi. I can honestly say I was thinking the same thing about you," Demyx smiles, tilting his head to one side.

"Well, the more the merrier," Cid laughs. Kite walks out of the store without the bra on. His face is still red. I mean, why wouldn't it be?

All of us begin to exchange our stories of how we ended up here. Of course most of ours we're similar since we had all come here in groups. That Vexen guy, he's nuts. Absolutely nuts. He says that it's Comsos's "day of reckoning" that they talk about in the Grimoire. He says something about how it's the "infectees" job to wipe out the sinners from Gaia.

"What's the game plan?" Some kid with white- or gray doesn't matter- asks.

"Well, we're waiting for Axis's family, then we're hightailin' it outta here," I reply.

"We don't have much else ta do, kid. Guess we'll stick around. Speakin' of which. Where is the kid?" Cid asks, peering around us.

"Huh? Isn't he-" My group turns around.

Oh shit! Oh no! Shit!

"Axis!" I cry out to the broken window.

Nothing.

He never did jump down with us, did he! Why the fuck didn't I realize sooner?

"Axxxxiiiissss!" I yell again.

Nothing.

"He's probably still on top of the storage bin!" Zidane says, running past the other group of survivors.

"The sinner's have probably gotten to him," Vexen hums.

"They can't even climb!"

"Don't you dare say that."

"It's true. It's the end. For all of us. For you, for me, for the birds, and the bees. Axis may not be in a better place now, but rest assu-" I grab a fistful of Vexen's shirt and throw him into a nearby wall.

"Go spout you're bullshit somewhere else!" I snap. The white haired kid follows behind, as does Demyx, and Squall. Somehow Leon got in front of me, but whatever. As long as we make it to him… and he's not dead, it's all good. I can only hope that he hasn't gotten bitten. Please…

Please let him be okay. Please.

|With Zexion, Fuu, and Rai|

|Zexion's POV|

Even though it's broad daylight now, it seems like the world is covered in an eerie sheet of darkness. None of us have spoken since the events of the hours before. I had taken the necklace that Rinslet was wearing. I planned on giving it to Sai… or Axis… if they were even alive.

I don't see any point of going to the mall now. I can't face Sai yet… I suppose the three of us could just find our way out of town… We could use the Sorachi Bridge… but it might be a little dangerous. I believe everyone would've been racing out of town. But it's all we can do… for now.

The town looks a bit better than it did a few hours ago… except there are now more zombies. We decide to keep a low profile by staying in one of the hotels. We make sure that the room's completely cleared of zombies and other such nonsense.

"Hope there's food in the refrigerator, man…" Rai says, as I flop down on one of the beds.

I think I've been up for more than twenty-four hours… I don't think it would hurt to get some rest before we go out traveling…

I'm about to shut my eyes when Rai shouts, "Jackpot!"

"Silence," Demands Fuu.

"Well, we hafta eat," Rai smiles, joyfully.

"I'm not so hungry…" I groan, turning over. I keep picturing Rinslet in my head… her blood all over the place… and-

"Zex, you hafta eat. We don't need ya collapsing in the middle of a human genocide," He says, holding out a pack of Oreo's.

I know they won't stop till I eat, so I sit up and take the packet of cookies from him. Fuu takes a seat next to me, as she munches down on some animal crackers. Rai rummages through the night stand.

"What are you looking for?" I ask, staring curiously at the foreigner.

"The remote," He says, as he tosses the Blue Pages onto the floor.

"I hardly think this is the time to be watching television," I yawn.

"The news, man. They hafta have some information about this shit…" He smirks, "Fuu, check in those draws over there…"

Fuu nods.

I finish eating the cookies while the two search for the remote. I stare past the two survivors, out the window. It seems like a normal Monday… The clouds are still high in the sky. Some birds even have the nerve to chirp blissfully even though it might be the end of the world as we know it.

Useless birds…

End Chapter Seven

The Pinball Wizard: I probably rewrote the end of this chapter at least a hundred times. We had originally planned in the last chapter to have Reno kill Rinslet, but I figured… nah… I can't do that. And Ultimecia… she got… f'ed up by that Hunter. For all you non-Left-4-Dead fans reading this, the Hunter really does look like a crossbreed of Sasuke and Altair. The stupid thing crawls around and waits until you're completely vulnerable before it jumps your ass! Oh yeah, thank you reviewers. Please do continue reading.

Next Chapter: What's the Story, Morning Glory?