Sitting in the corner of the musty, spacious cellar, Madoka stared emotionlessly into her lap, holding her Pikachu backpack tightly, with her bag of Cool Ranch Doritos sitting next to her, opened. She tried eating some to get her mind off all this, but it didn't work, and she hadn't spoken since her outburst the day before. Then again, no one had. After they learned Taiga's fate, no made a sound as they mourned in silence, the only sounds being that of the moaning herd of Walkers still outside.

She flinched and gasped slightly as the room quaked and the only light bulb in the cellar flickered from the boom of a faraway explosion. Bringing her knees to her chest and holding them tightly, she choked up and gulped. It had started. Just like Homura had predicted, the military had begun bombing the city that morning. Even though it was already noon and the explosions were continuous, Madoka still reacted that way with each tremor.

It wasn't so much because the explosions frightened her, but more so the thought that with each blast, another part of everything she had ever known went up in flames. She shivered as she thought about what might remain when they inevitably left their haven behind. Sobbing slightly, her mind's eye forced horrid images of her home burned to cinders, decaying Walkers trampling mindlessly over its ashes.

Then, the blue pigtailed girl they picked up from the gas station sat next to her, interrupting her terror-fueled imagination trip—of which she was grateful for. Wrapping her arms around her knees and fiddling her feet, the girl cleared her throat and greeted, "Hey… Uh… Hi."

The pinkette turned her head and stared at her blankly, before muttering quietly, "…Hello. Mio, was it?"

"Yeah," the girl nodded. Pausing awkwardly, she scratched the back of her head and tried to make conversation, "Madoka, right?" The pinkette nodded. Mio continued, "I, uh, like your pigtails…"

Showing the smallest hint of a smile, Madoka replied, "Thank you, I like yours too," whatever happiness that had appeared on her face immediately disappeared as the light in her eyes dulled, "My mom showed me this hairstyle…"

Mio took a moment to glance around the room, then looked back at the pinkette quizzically, "Where is your mom, anyway?"

Madoka stared into her lap and closed her eyes as her lips violently quivered.

The blunette gasped and shook her hands on front of her, a nervous sweat bead appearing on her forehead, "I'm sorry! Uh, I… Um… I didn't…!"

The pinkette raised her cast-hand to interrupt her. She stated solemnly, "…It's fine. We've all lost people."

"Y-Yeah…" Mio scratched her head nervously again before standing to her feet. Giving Madoka a 'thumbs up', she stood up, brushed off her red, plaid school skirt and starting awkwardly inching away, "So, uh, good talk! Nice to meet ya and all, um… I'm gonna go see what Yuuko's up to, or maybe meet the others or something…"

"It's nice to meet you too…" Madoka offered with a small smile. She lowered her gaze to her lap, "And… I'm… Sorry about your friend…"

Mio frowned and muttered as she turned her attention back to the remaining survivors, "Yeah… Me too…"

An awkard silence crashed on the two as they averted their gaze from each other. Then, Mio's eyes shot wide open as she noticed her caramel-haired friend standing in front of a fireplace with Sayaka, sticking her tongue out to lick the pointed tip of an ebony furnace prod. She gasped and shouted, "YUUKO?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! PUT THAT DOWN!"

"But Mio!" The friend called back, "The Sayaka girl dared me! I can't back out on a dare!"

For the first time since their safety in the hospital, Madoka closed her eyes, shook her head and chuckled in disbelief, "Sayaka…"

"Yuuko…" Mio rubbed her temples irritably as Aioi stuck her tongue back out towards the prod. She sighed and smiled at Madoka, "I better go stop her. Anyway, like I said, nice to meet ya."

"Yeah," the pinkette nodded, "same."

With a shake of her head, Mio shouted as she dashed across the room, "Yuuko! How many times have I told you not to take stupid dares?!"

After Mio left her presence, Madoka dropped her head back into her lap and closed her eyes.

"How are you holding up?"

Madoka lifted her attention to her black-haired fellow survivor and mumbled, "Homura…"

Homura brushed her school skirt under her rear and took a seat beside Madoka, much like Mio had. She spoke emotionlessly, "I know what you're going through. It's quite a difficult road indeed, one riddled with many hardships."

Madoka's eyes dimmed as she dismally muttered into her lap, "…How? You hardly know me… How can you say you understand what's going on in my head?"

Madoka noted Homura grimace and recoil slightly. The girl shook her head and replied, staring into her lap herself, "I very much understand feeling bitter and hopeless. I feel the weight of knowing that if I give up, I will die," she choked, "…I emphasize with emotional burden that comes with losing everything you care about."

Madoka gasped. That was exactly what she was feeling, "H-Homura…!"

Silencing the pinkette with her right hand, a small grin softened the raven-haired girl's stone features as her buckler shield materialized around her left wrist through a blaze of blue flames, "I found something on our way out of the city," she pulled out a brown, leather pistol holster, "I feel you may find it useful."

"How did you—"

Homura chuckled, "Took it from the corpse of a Police Officer," she stared down Madoka's back at her revolver and scowled, "The back of your skirt is not at all an adequate place for a weapon such as that."

Madoka blushed slightly as she stuttered, "But I… I didn't exactly have… I mean… Um…" coughing into her hand to clear her throat, she accepted the holster and laid it beside her, "…Thank you."

"Mm-hm," Homura nodded. She offered, "Perhaps we can set up some bottles in the corner and I can teach you how to properly use it at some point. I'm sure everyone could use some firing practice."

"Thank you…" Madoka muttered.

Homura patted the pinkette's knee with her left hand and smiled, "I assure you, you can trust me. Everything will be ok-"

Her assurance was cut short as Madoka gasped and her vision went white.

Madoka sat up with a jolt, gasping for air. She blinked multiple times, her mind still hazy. Shaking her head, the haze only cleared slightly. Even then, she felt weighted warmth against her chest, as well as an air of familiarity.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

Madoka was confused. Those words came from her own mouth with her own voice, but she wasn't the one who spoke them.

She then noticed her father's figure, severely blurred by the groggy haze in her eyes.

Dad, what's going on? she wanted to ask, but the words refused to leave her mouth.

It was then that she noticed that her father was pointing a gun to the thing producing warmth on her chest.

She looked down and stared in shock as more words were forced from her mouth, "He's waking up!"

Seeing Tatsuya in her arms, her emotions went wild as her finger started brushing his chin, yet another action she had no control of.

She choked, This… I know what this is…! This is my memory of back in the hospital when Tatsuya…

She began to weep on the inside, but her outer self merely continued, as if rehearsing lines of the terrible horror story she had no desire in reliving, "Hey, little buddy! How are you doing?"

She painfully watched her brother's eyes flutter open again. Except this time, she saw it: Tatsuya's cold, grey skin, his orange, disease eyes sunken into his skull, and his face now awash with primordial hunger.

She sobbed harder, I… I don't want this! I don't want to relive this! Let me out! Dad! Homura! Kyubey! ANYONE!

Tatsuya then lurched and clamped his teeth down onto her index finger with his teeth, tearing it off at the last knuckle.

She screamed in agony and dropped her brother as her finger squirted blood like a mini geyser. The pain was just as excruciating the second time.

Clutching her now-bloody wrist, she crawled away and stared in a mixture sorrow and shock at the Walker in the form of Tatsuya. She then glanced at the hazy silhouettes of the other survivors that she remembered being in the room at the time, although she couldn't make out any faces.

Then, she recalled what happened next. Like a robot performing a task, she automatically stood up and walked to her father's side, now shakily aiming his Beretta and her brother's head. She reached and wrapped her own bloody hands around his to stable his weapon.

She heard him sob, "I'm s-sorry little buddy… I-I love you… I love you so, so much…"

No… Not again… Please don't make me do this again…!

Instead of expressing her thoughts, she merely followed the memory sequence and smiled painfully at her father.

He then attempted to sing through his tears, "Twinkle… Twinkle… Little Star…"

Now bawling inside and out, she finished the nursery rhyme as per the memory, "H-How I w-wonder what y-you are…"

As her father fired his gun and startled the entire room with the resulting boom, Madoka's vision went white again.

A familiar shouting brought her to a new setting, just as groggy as the hospital, "SON OF A—SHE'S BITTEN!"

Madoka gasped, This… this is a memory too…!

Like clockwork, she transformed into a Puella Magi, summoned her crossbow, and bursted out of the convenience store's bathroom, all against her will. Just as emotionlessly as the first time, she dashed down the aisles of the gas station towards the entrance.

Just as she saw all the survivors gasp and leap away from Mai Minakami lying on the floor, she quickly aimed her weapon and fired a bolt of magic straight into the girl's temple, and she immediately fell limp.

But, unlike last time, she choked slightly, feeling minor pangs of remorse as Mai's companions screamed her name in shocked anguish.

But, before the memory could continue replaying, a slight feeling of nausea and vertigo overtook her. She grimaced and rubbed her head as her vision blurred.

Her surroundings morphed around her once again, becoming very dark around her. She couldn't make out much, but she gulped, knowing this was another memory, and prepared for the worst.

She heard Mami Tomoe's distraught voice behind her, "YOU GUYS have only been in this world for three days!"

Madoka gasped, Mami…!

Then she glanced down at her foot. Seeing Bill, leader of the Blazing Drakes, trapped under her crimson shoe with her crossbow aimed at his face affirmed which memory this was.

She listened as the blonde painfully continued her spiel, "Don't you see? If you do this, you're saying that the world we knew—the people we were—is dead!"

Madoka blinked as her vision blurred again, causing her to miss parts of the memory. She heard herself apathetically reply, "Mami, there aren't any good or bad people left in the world. There are only those who will do what it takes to survive."

No! she wanted to scream at herself and the group, There ARE good people! Like you, Mami! And my Dad! And Mrs. Kazuko! she grimaced and choked, And Taiga too…

Once again, her thoughts couldn't break free from her lips, and the memory continued, "Are you all going to watch, too?" Mami's blurred figure began dejectedly trudging away, "Who am I kidding? Of course you will… You're too blinded by rage to remember that you're slaughtering a human being… Ai… I won't have any part of it..."

Mami, wait! I'm… she gulped, I'm sor-

Homura's gurgled reply cut off her thought process, "Ignore her. It's time to finish this."

Like a machine, her body moved to replay the memory. As she stared down at the prisoner of her shoe, she scowled inward and out. Even now, although she we wished she had done things differently, she still hated this evil man who did horrid things to her. She regretted hurting her fellow survivor, but she couldn't bring herself to forgive this man begging for his life. Her crossbow fired and his head exploded, raining brain gore onto the Walkers she remembered swarming below.

"M-Madoka?!" Homura gasped in horror as she could only watch the pinkette topple to the floor and start trembling violently, eerily staring through the ceiling into nothingness.

"Homura?" Tomohisa called as he walked over from the opposite side of the room, effectively ending the conversation he was holding with Tomoya and Kyosuke, "What's the mat-" his eyes grew wide when he saw his daughter having a seizure on the floor. Quickly dashing the rest of the way and dropping to his knee next to Homura, he cried out, helplessly staring at Madoka's intense shaking, "W-What's happening?!"

"I…" the girl muttered as the other survivors began gathering around, "I don't know… I simply tapped her knee and…"

Sayaka's face twisted in anger as she saw the situation, "How could you do something like this, Akemi?!"

Homura's eyes widened as she shook her head and denied, "N-No! I swear, I would never—"

The blunette growled, "Oh, shut up! Why I bet—"

"SAYAKA," Mami hissed as she arrived with Kyoko. She continued anxiously, "Now is no time to play the blame-game! We have to figure out what's going on with Madoka!"

Peeking over Mami's shoulder to get a good look at the pinkette, Kyoko stared at the trembling girl and chuckled slightly, "…But clearly it's the time to try out some new danc—"

Her jest was interrupted by a warning glare and a negatory head shake from Mami that screamed 'Now is not the time for that.'

Closing her eyes and coughing into her hand to clear her throat, Kyoko commented, "But, uh, yeah. This ain't good," she furrowed her brow and glanced at Tomohisa, "…What's the deal now?"

Never taking his eyes off Madoka, the father shook his head and stuttered, "I-I… I don't know…"

"She's experiencing a relapse on a mental and supernatural scale," Kyubey appeared and hopped onto Tomohisa's shoulder, staring down at the trembling Magical Girl, "There aren't many Magical Girls who survive with their Soul Gem that darkened. I don't get to study this very often, so this is quite an interesting scenario for me as well. Your daughter is very lucky and fortunate, Mr. Kaname."

He furrowed his brow, "Kyubey, do you know what's going on?"

"Of course," the bunny-cat nodded, "but before I explain, I should probably preface by saying that Madoka Kaname's stress levels had blown threw the roof since this 'apocalypse' began," he mused, "Stress isn't the most powerful of emotion, but I suppose it could work if humans displayed as much as Madoka had bottled up…"

"Get to the chase," Homura growled through gritted teeth, "What's happening to her?"

The Incubator exclaimed, "You humans are so impatient to the point of being illogical! I just don't understand it," he sighed and continued, "Very well, if you must be so brash. As you know, Madoka Kaname came dangerously close to using up too much magic. This forced her Soul Gem into a state of disarray. This normally ends with the Magical Girl losing her life."

Aioi squinted, "Well, she's clearly not dead, so…"

"Yes, I was getting to that."

Mio hissed and punched her friend in the upper arm, "YUUKO."

Aioi furrowed her brow, "What was that for?"

The friend growled through gritted teeth and rubbing her arm, "For being an idiot!"

"At any rate," Kyubey spoke up again and silenced the girls, "I suppose that, over time, her Soul Gem would've settled down. But I believe it took a faster route by synchronizing with energy wavelengths of stable Soul Gems that are nearby. Since there was so much stress built inside her, the brain had to 'power down' slightly, so to speak, in order to devote energy to this process, and the touch of another Magical Girl—being you, Homura Akemi—triggered the start of it.

"And, if I'm not mistaken…" he hopped off the Tomohisa's shoulder and placed his paw on Madoka's shaking chest, "to accomplish this mending process, her mind is forcing her to relive memories, hers and those of the Soul Gems' she's synchronized with."

Homura gasped and covered the diamond-shaped amethyst on her left hand, "ALL… of our memories?"

The Incubator shook his head, "Doubtful. Although I'm not completely sure about the process itself, I'm fairly certain it would be memories around a time period when her stress levels spiked the highest."

Tomoya crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, "So, recently, right?"

Kyosuke muttered grimly, "That's still pretty terrible…"

Tomohisa choked, "Can't we do anything to help her?"

"Y-Yeah," Sayaka furrowed her brow and added as she stared worriedly at her trembling friend, "C-Can't we, like, try to wake her up or something?"

Kyubey shook his head as he walked off Madoka's chest, "Unfortunately, no. As I'm sure you are all aware, trying to tamper with a human having a seizure could have disastrous results. I'm afraid all we can do is wait until the process runs its course."

"Well, that sucks…" Kyoko frowned. She paused before smirking slightly and pointing behind her with her thumb at a small, wooden coffee table on the other side of the room, "…Anybody up for a game of Jenga?"

Yuuko raised her hand eagerly, while everyone else glared in disbelief, Mami's being the most severe. Both Yuuko and Kyoko received a thump on the back of their heads from Mio and the blonde respectively, both shaking their heads in shocked disappointment.

Madoka shook her head as her mind dragged her along to another memory, her nausea and vertigo twice as bad this time around. She grimaced as she was blasted by a ray of sunlight.

Shooing away her sickness, she took in her surroundings, and realized she stood in the middle of Mitakihara Central Park, glazed in the groggy haze that she'd now become accustomed to. She noted the blurred Walkers shambling about, the memory distorting their moaning.

I… I don't remember being here recently… Madoka's inner self gulped, What's going on-

"Dear lord…" Her thought was interrupted by Homura's voice gasp and whisper quietly from her mouth. They then shouted, "Mr. Kaname! Stop! Don't get any closer to it!"

Homura? She questioned, I don't understand…

Although she couldn't move her head to look around freely, she noticed she was reaching out to two blurry figures. What shocked her most was that her arm wore a long white sleeve with a gray buckler shield at the wrist, her hand adorning a diamond-shaped amethyst on the back. She was in Homura's body.

W-What? She breathed, Why am I Homura? How am reliving her mem-

"J-Junko?" She heard her father hesitantly call out, his worry evident even with the memory slurring his voice, "Honey, i-is that you?"

Mom?! Madoka gasped. She began pleading as she tried to call out, Mom, where are you? Can you hear me? It's me, Madoka! I can't see you, it's too blurry. I—

"H-Hey, J-Junko, i-it's m-m-me, Tomohisa! D-Don't you r-r-remem-mber?"

Madoka's inner self furrowed her brow, Why wouldn't she…

She felt Homura's expression twist in sorrowful disgust. Raising a handgun to aim at the further of the two figures, her inner eyes grew wide in panic, N-N-No! She's not…! Mom's not a…! She just couldn't be…"

She heard Homura command worriedly as their finger itched the trigger of the firearm, "Mr. Kaname! Come. Back. That isn't your wife anymore!"

Madoka choked, on the verge of sobbing, Mom…! No…!

She noted Sayaka was in the memory as well, stepping in front of her weapon and saying something, thus causing Homura to irritably reply, but her brain didn't process it.

She heard Homura gasp. Then, she inexplicably appeared beside her parents and held her gun to her mother's gray chin, hearing Tatsuya wail in the background. Both Madoka and Homura gagged as she caught a glimpse of Junko's decaying, bloody face and her hungry diseased eyes, the former choking at seeing her mother this way, M-Mom…

Then, against her will, Madoka squeezed the trigger. As she watched Junko slump and her brain splatter behind her, her eyes widened as she wailed, M-M-M-M-M-MOMMY! MOMMY! she continued to weep as she felt her inner self collapse to her knees, M-Mommy… I-I didn't… I don't w-want this… I d-don't want… I… I…

"Madoka… I'm so sorry…" she heard Homura mutter under her breath, her words full of remorse.

Her vision whited out once more and the familiar feelings of sickness weighed on her once again, causing her to stagger.

As the next memory began to form around her, she sobbed, L-Let me out! I-I d-don't want to d-do this anymore!

Sunlight blinded her, denying her of her wish.

"Wait a minute…"Sayaka's voice came from her lips.

As her eyes adjusted the new setting, she noted that they were just outside Mitahikara Middle School, and a student-sized Walker was devouring a male student. Madoka cringed at the latter's gurgled screams for help.

"Please don't be her… Anyone but her…" They begged.

Madoka gulped, W-Who? It's too blurry… I can't— feeling her shaky grip around a steel baseball bat in her hands, she gasped as her eyes shrank in sickened horror as she had an idea of what memory this was. Sayaka told her about this moment. She begged, N-No! This can't be that! I—

"H-Hitomi?" They hesitantly called.

Still trying to recover from the last memory, Madoka gasped slightly as she saw the blurry form of the Walker stand up and turn towards her. Even though the memory made it impossible to see any details of the walking corpse, Madoka would've recognized its purple pajamas and grass-green hair anywhere: Hitomi had turned.

N-No…! Madoka's sobbing returned, mimicking Sayaka's outward expression of sorrow, Hitomi…!

They started trembling as Sayaka croaked through Madoka's throat, "Hitomi… I-I was only joking… I didn't… I…"

Madoka stood and sobbed, frozen with the vague knowledge of what was about to happen as Hitomi shuffled closer and moaned groggily.

"Hitomi… I'm so sorry…" They dismally muttered.

Before Madoka realized it, she automatically tightened her grip around the bat. She gasped and grimaced as she stepped it and bashed her friend's skull, sending her flying backwards to the grass.

Choking and sobbing, Madoka then watched helplessly as she smashed Hitomi's head with the bat once more, all the while Sayaka outwardly screamed in anguish. She brought the bat down forcefully again, this time splattering Hitomi's warm blood and brain matter over their school uniform, causing the pinkette to gag and hyperventilate.

Madoka wept bitterly as they continued mutilating their friend's skull, each crushing blow causing more blood to either splatter or pool at their feet. When they finished, they let the bat slip from their grip and clang on the blood-covered sidewalk. They then collapsed to their knees in the sanguine pool, both girls sobbing simultaneously.

Then, Madoka's mind went numb as her vision blanked out, dragging her from that horrid memory, not even feeling any nausea or vertigo. Just… numbness.

Her hazy thoughts materialized once again as she dejectedly moaned, What now…?

She was back in her body—still unable to control it—crouching down on an oversized waffle and aiming her crossbow at the snake-like Eldritch Abomination, Charlotte.

On the outside, she used her leather cast to steady her aim so that she wouldn't hit any of her fellow Magical Girls battling the Witch of Sweets, taking pot shots and leaping around the colorful, dessert-ridden labyrinth every so often. On the inside, she felt drained. Empty even. She felt nothing as the fight played out just like she remembered.

She could only watch as Charlotte dove for her like lightning, swallowing her whole.

Even then, she felt nothing.

Almost instantly, she saw the Witch's jaws being pried open by Sayaka. The blunette grunted, "Madoka! Are you okay?"

She nodded and crawled out from the monster's maw, "Yeah."

As they leapt away from the Snake-Witch, she saw Kyoko wiz past and slash the side of the creature with her spear.

Before they even hit the ground, Madoka gasped as she watched Charlotte fly towards the other survivors hiding behind a donut.

As soon as her feet touched the cotton candy floor, she launched like a rocket to beat the Witch. Flying over the donut, she tackled her father and watched the beast soar overhead. She choked as Charlotte clamped down on Saotome Kazuko's midsection.

She began crying again as she stated, "No…"

"I was too late…" she heard Homura mutter.

She gagged as she heard a sickening crunch, followed by Saotome's hips and forearms falling limply to the cotton candy carpet, now pooling with her geyser-like blood.

Her sense of sight blurred again as the vertigo and nausea nearly floored her, smashing her like a truck.

Please… she begged, sobbing from reliving Kazuko's demise, No… More…

As her vision cleared to a hazy darkness, the voice from the small figure in front of her gave her no respite, "Trust me kid, it'll be alright. I'm… I'm gonna get to be with Ryuuji again…"

No… her inner eyes widened as both her selves started sobbing, Not this memory! Please! Anything but this!

"T-Taiga…"

"And kid, one more thing," the world of Madoka's memory seemed to quiet as Taiga's words resonated clearly:

"This world sucks. It's gonna kick you down mercilessly time and time again. But you gotta stand back up and give it everything you got. Survival ain't everything, so don't lose your pieces over it. Hope ain't dead."

That last phrase echoed loudly as it repeated in Madoka's mind:

HOPE AIN'T DEAD.

HOPE AIN'T DEAD.

Hope Ain't Dead.

Hope ain't dead.

Hope ain't dead…

Before she realized it, Madoka took off running, scooping up her revolver as she went. Hearing the muffled explosions of the soldiers' guns, she glanced back and wept again as she rewatched Taiga's blurry form slump to the pavement.

Madoka shot up and shrieked, gasping for air and sweating profusely. She glanced at her shaking hands. She was awake. Now with full control of her body, she breathed heavily and mumbled, "Hope isn't… dead?"

"Madoka!" Tomohisa shouted and pulled her into a hug.

Madoka noticed all the survivors surrounding her and her father. She watched Homura sigh in relief and Sayaka's worried face break with a grin. The latter chuckled and joined the hug, "C'mon, Madoka! Why do you gotta keep scaring us like that?"

"I-I…" the pinkette mumbled.

Pulling away slightly, her father smiled and straightened his glasses, "I'm so glad you're okay Madoka. We were all worried for you!"

"I… um… I'm sor-" she started, but then her pupils shrank as she was hit with a realization that never really sunk in until just now, "E-EVERYONE DIES…"

"What?" Tomohisa gasped.

She collapsed into his and Sayaka's embrace and wailed, "The good people die! And the bad people die too! The strong! And the weak! WE ALL JUST DIE!"

The rest of the survivors anxiously watched the pinkette break down in her father's and friend's arms.

"Oh," Kyubey stated as he sat on Homura's shoulder, "so the process ends in a catharsis of sorts. Intriguing."

"For once, can't you just SHUT UP?" Homura growled as she ripped him from her shoulder and threw him across the room. She immediately knelt and joined Tomohisa's and Sayaka's hug to comfort the pinkette.

Tomohisa squeezed tighter and tried to comfort her, "It's okay, Madoka! We're not going to die! We're here! We're still alive!"

She ignored them as she continued to wail, "I see red! Everything I see is RED! ALL I SEE IS RED! Mom! Tatsuya! Hitomi! The Blazing Drakes! Mrs. Kazuko! Taiga!" her eyes grew wide as she screamed, "AND TAIGA!"

"We're still alive, Madoka!" Sayaka echoed, "We're still alive…"

With heavy breathing, the pinkette calmed down slightly, but still muttered repeatedly as she trembled in their arms, "Everyone dies… Everyone dies… Everyone dies… Everyone dies… Everyone dies… Everyone dies… Everyone dies… Everyone dies… Everyone dies… Everyone dies… Everyone dies…"

After Madoka calmed down enough, Tomohisa, Sayaka, and Homura sat with her and held a long conversation that seemed to last for hours, still helping her come to terms with things and explaining how she needed to work within the group as gently as they could.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the cellar, the remaining survivors sat around the small coffee table, holding a very different conversation over a hand of cards.

Mami stared at her lackluster hand and grimaced as she stated, "…I just don't think that this group will last much longer in this state. I feel that, after we must inevitably leave this sanctum, we simply have to part ways from the Kanames. If we don't…" she paused as she gave a sparing glance to the intervention happening across the room, "I fear Madoka's mental state may be the death of us."

Kyosuke rubbed his chin as he decided on his next move, "I think I may have to agree. I think Sayaka's awesome and all, but I know that she's gonna go with the Kanames no matter what. I'm not so sure I really wanna bet my life on them, not with the way things are now, at least."

Tomoya interrupted, eyes scanning his hand, "Mr. Kaname helped us out when we were at the end of our ropes. I feel I owe it to him to see this through."

Yuuko shrugged, "Mio and I are gonna go with Mr. Tomoya either way, so, yeah."

"Aioi," Tomoya chuckled as he scratched his head, "I told you not to call me 'Mr.' It makes me feel old."

Mio commented, paying little attention to words she was saying, "Well, to us, you are old."

"Thanks for the self-esteem boost, Mio," Tomoya deadpanned.

"Eyyep," the blunette replied half-heartedly.

Mami frowned, "Need I remind you that his daughter also killed your companion?"

"Aw come on, Mami!" Kyoko scoffed as she leaned on her side, "She was bit anyway. Not like really we had any other options. Either way, I kinda owe him my life too. He didn't let everyone skewer me way back when," she smirked and boasted as she laid her hand of two 'kings' and three 'twos' on the table, "Yeah! Full House!"

It was Mio's turn to deadpan, "We're playing 'Go Fish'."

The red-head shot to a sitting position and glared at the table in confusion, "Wait, wha—"

"Speaking of which," Mami chuckled as she stole all her 'twos', then laid her pile of four on the table.

Kyoko gawked, "But—"

"Thank you!" Yuuko commented as she reached across and snatched her

'kings', laying her matches down just as Mami had.

Kyoko glared for a moment before throwing her hands up and shouting, "…Agh! That's a loada bull!"

"At any rate," the blonde chuckled before resuming her scowl, "I'm merely saying that we should reconsider whether or not traveling with the Kanames is a good ide—"

"AHEM."

The survivors jumped in shock. They turned to see Homura standing particularly irritated with her arms crossed over her chest and tapping her foot. Silence dropped almost immediately.

"I would advise against that," the raven-haired girl stated irritably.

Mami rolled her eyes, "Akemi, surely with how Madoka's been acting, you can't possibly be saying that—"

"I can, and nothing will change my mind otherwise," Homura growled, "Regardless of anyone's behavior recently, the fact remains that Madoka Kaname is the most powerful Magical Girl to date, and I know that she wants the best for the group, and one small breakdown shouldn't be enough to change that," she stepped in close and shoved her index finger into the blonde's chest, "You can do what you want, but to leave the Kanames now would be foolish," she backed up and flipped her hair, regaining her stoic composure, "They're our best chance for survival."

Mami pursed her lips, "…You really believe that?"

Homura nodded as she turned to walk back to the Kanames, "I do. You'd be wise to believe that as well."

Just as she passed out of earshot, Yuuko mumbled, "Jeez. Talk about touchy."

Kyoko chuckled, "I know, right?"

Mami merely shook her head and sighed as her attention returned to their game, "Alright, where were we again?"

"Now, Madoka," Homura explained as she helped the pinkette aim at an empty can of beans nailed to some cinder blocks stacked to roughly imitate human body, "What you hold is a .357 Colt Python revolver. A Combat Magnum, if you will."

Letting go of the handgun, Homura nodded to the rest of the survivors who then covered their ears. A week had passed since they had holed themselves up in the cellar, and she made sure everyone who needed to learn to shoot was around for firing lessons.

She spoke, "Alright, fire."

Madoka nodded and pulled the trigger right where Homura had helped her aim. She jumped in her skin slightly as her weapon boomed and shot her arm upwards from the revolver's strong recoil. She gasped as she realized that she had hit her mark, denting the can even.

"As you can see, the Python is very powerful, and its recoil is nothing to discredit. It's something you must be wary about," Homura explained as she stepped in close again. She gently raised the weapon up slightly while angling it downward a little, "Without a left hand, stabilizing it will be much more difficult for you. But I've found that if you hold it in this fashion, it becomes easier to manage."

As Homura stepped away, Madoka furrowed her brow as she looked at her gun's positioning, "Doesn't this look just a little..." she paused, trying to find the right words, "…silly?"

Tomohisa stepped closer to the two and chuckled, "Aw, c'mon Madoka! I think it makes you look dramatic. Kinda like a police officer in a TV show!"

Madoka giggled slightly, "Really?"

"Mm-hm!" he nodded.

"Regardless of how it looks, it works. I suppose you could stabilize it with your cast, but in a desperate situation, you may not have time to do so," Homura shrugged, "Either way, just aim down the sights and fire at the can."

Madoka nodded as everyone covered their ears once again. Without aid from Homura, she kept her revolver in the position she had been showed, held her breath, and fired at the can. She just barely knicked the corner of it, but, had it been a Walker, it would've been a kill. She gasped and smiled.

She felt a pat on her back as her father congratulated her, "Good job, sweetie! I'm proud of you!"

Homura smiled, "Indeed. You're no expert yet, but you have the capacity to learn. I'm glad for that. I just have one last thing for you today," she stepped and took the revolver and clicked a button on the side, causing the cylinder bullet chamber to jut out of the gun. She explained as she showed Madoka, "as you can see, there are six chambers. You only get six rounds before you must reload. This is why I had you practice first, as your weapon is much different from the ones I gave to the others."

"Okay," Madoka nodded, "only six bullets. Got it."

"To reload, you must tap this lever here," the raven-haired girl clicked the lever on the side of the cylinder, and then shook the gun vertically, causing the bullets to fall and clang on the floor. Picking up the ones they hadn't fired, she pushed the bullets into the four chambers, "When it's empty, you have to reload it manually like this. But,"

She reached into her buckler shield and pulled out an object with six 9.07mm rounds attached in a way that looked as if it could fit into the cylinder, "this can be considered as a magazine. Extra bullets, quicker to reload, and you just have to line up the chambers and push it in," she handed the object to Madoka, "Use it for emergencies only."

The pinkette accepted the object and smiled, "Okay, I understand. Thank you."

"Lastly, remember that after each shot, you must cock the hammer here with your thumb, or it won't fire," she pointed to the little hammer mechanism on the back of the weapon before handing it back to Madoka. Then, she spoke loudly for the group to hear, "I'm going to set up more targets so we can train faster. Until then, everyone just sit tight."

As Homura walked over to do what she said, Tomohisa smiled at Madoka, "Getting the hang of it?"

"I think so," she nodded. Examining her weapon, she grabbed two bullets from the ammo stash they had set up and reloaded her Python, "It's powerful, more so than I thought it was," with a flick of her wrist, the gun's cylinder locked back into place. She slid the revolver into the holster on her right thigh and continued, "I'm just happy that I'm learning how to defend myself without using magic…"

Her father rubbed the top of her head, "That's good! The more magic you girls can save, the better," he frowned, remembering their run-in with Charlotte, "I think we should try to deal with Witches as little as possible."

"Yeah…" Madoka's voice trailed as her expression dropped, "I… I agree…"

They were silent for a moment until Tomoya walked over and joined the conversation with a chuckle, "So when you say 'Witches', do you mean like, ugly women with pointy hats, or…?"

Tomohisa renewed his happy face, and laughed a little, "No, more like the literal embodiment of Nightmares, as far-fetched as that sounds."

The blue-haired man shrugged and shook his head, "I honestly don't think much of anything is far-fetched anymore. I mean, zombies and Magical Girls exist, right?" he paused, "...So, did you guys see one? A Witch, I mean?"

"Aside from the ones our girls fight all the time?" Tomohisa chuckled. Then, he had to frown, "…We did. We lost someone to it."

Tomoya's smile faded as well, "Oh... I'm… so sorry to hear that…" he turned to Madoka and knelt to meet her on eye level, "…How're you holding up?"

"I'm…" Madoka muttered, trying not to make eye contact, "I'm… better then I was…"

He smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, "I'm glad. We all need to have our moments, even in a world like this. We can't bottle it all up. If we do, it'll just explode out anyway. And, Madoka," his smile faded once again as he stood up, "Aioi, Mio, and I… We don't blame you. There wasn't any other choice. We forgive you."

The pinkette gasped and turned to look at him slowly, but he had already begun to walk away.

She then looked to her father, but before either of them could speak, Homura called out, "Okay, we're ready to go. Mr. Kaname, Miki, and Mr. Okazaki, you three are first."

"Is that cat…" Kyosuke furrowed his brow as he stared at the video playing Aioi's phone screen, "…farting rainbows?"

"And flying through space!" Aioi exclaimed. She chuckled, "Isn't it beautiful?

The boy's eye twitched, "I… don't… know…" before too long, a smile grew on his face as his head began bobbing to Nyan Cat's beat, "It's catchy though. Hey Sayaka!" he called without taking his eyes off the screen, "You gotta check this out!"

"What is it?" the blunette in question asked as she jogged over from the other side of the room, followed by Madoka and Mio. Sayaka's face immediately lit up and giggled as she saw the video, "Hey! Nyan Cat! That's awesome!"

Madoka gasped, "Oh my gosh! That is so adorable!"

Mio facepalmed and chuckled, "Really Yuuko?"

Aioi laughed as she also bounced to the beat, "It's wonderful Mio, and you know it!"

Soon after, Homura and Kyoko approached as well, curious of the small party that gathered around the caramel-haired girl and her device. They both leaned in to discover what all the commotion was about.

With both watching the video, Kyoko was the first to react with a scowl, "…That's aggravating."

"I don't know," Homura shrugged as her head started bobbing, "The music IS rather infectious."

The red-head furrowed her brow and muttered, "Eh," before shrugging and bouncing to the music herself.

"Well, this looks like quite the shindig," Mami chuckled as she emerged from the cellar's bathroom covered only by a towel. Tying her hair into her familiar drill curls, she asked as she approached, "What's the occasion?"

The group of bobbing bodies responded in unison with varying levels of excitement as Aioi held up her phone for her to see, "Nyan Cat!"

As she examined the video, she laughed and started bouncing with them, "The tune is so infectious!"

"I said the very same thing," Homura commented as she smiled slightly. Then, she frowned at the blonde.

Still dancing, Mami chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Oh, what now, Ms. Akemi?"

The raven-haired girl scowled, "Put on a shirt."

Mami gasped and looked down at her towel, slight embarrassment filling her cheeks. She snapped her fingers and pointed to her belongings in the corner, "Right. On it."

As she walked away, Tomoya and Tomohisa approached, curious of the catchy music and the group's head bobbing. The latter chuckled, "You all look like you're having fun."

"It's Nyan Cat!" Aioi exclaimed, "You can't go wrong with Nyan Cat!"

Tomoya laughed as well, "Keeping up group morale, eh, Yuuko?"

Without missing any of the song's beats, the caramel-haired girl winked and gave him a thumbs-up, "You betcha, Mr. Tomoya!"

The blue-haired man groaned and facepalmed, "I told you not to call me 'Mr.', Aioi…"

Tomohisa chuckled again, "Well, I'm glad you all found a nice way to distract—"

His words were immediately cut off by the sound of a tripped circuit breaker, followed immediately by the lights blowing out and the music cutting off abruptly.

Mio's gasped and stated, "…Well, this can't be good."

"Hey?!" Kyoko shouted, "What's the deal? Who shut the music off?"

Pulling out her sapphire Soul Gem to provide some illumination, Sayaka pursed her lips, "I thought you said it was aggravating, Kyoko."

"Eh," the red-head shrugged as she retrieved her own Soul Gem, "It kinda grew on me."

As the other Magical Girls summoned their own gems, Homura held out her hand to Aioi, "Ms. Yuuko, let me see your phone."

Aioi quickly handed Homura her phone. With the video of the space-poptart-cat frozen in a buffer, Homura glared at the top of the screen, "No signal…"

"What's happening?" Tomohisa worriedly asked.

She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she scowled and scanned the screen with her Amethyst gem. She grimaced, "Ms. Naganohara's right; this is very bad. I can't believe that I didn't foresee this…"

"…That the power's out?" Mami asked anxiously as she walked over to join the group, holding her own glowing topaz.

"No," Homura shook her head, "this is a far worse matter. Our electricity hasn't just been merely cut; the entire power grid has been thrown completely offline."

Everyone gasped at the horrible news. The blonde muttered in shock, "Y-You don't mean..."

"I do…" The raven-haired girl slowly nodded, "Things are about to get immensely worse…"

Tomohisa stared and grimaced at the small pack of crackers and the single water bottle that were to be his rations for the day. As the days went by, the rations had dwindled smaller and smaller.

"It's been a month and a half," Homura stated as she stood beside him, her usually apathetic words now stained with slight anxiety. She turned her attention to him and sighed, "We're almost out of food. We can't stay cramped in here anymore."

He moaned, "…I agree. Get everyone together. We need to let them know."

She nodded and began going around the room.

As she did so, Tomohisa paced in back and forth, rubbing his greasy hair in distress as he thought about what to tell them. Soon after, he joined the circle of survivors Homura created in the center of the room illuminated by candles, all murmuring nervously. He sighed, trying to figure out how to start.

Silencing them with his hand, he began, "I'm going to be honest with you all; our situation in here has taken many turns for the worse. The power grid was shut off a little over a week ago, and none of us have adequately washed ourselves since. Our supply of food is nearly gone. I can feel that our tensions are higher than ever. I firmly believe it's time that we moved on from here."

"But what about the Walker herd?" Kyosuke asked worriedly.

"I…" Tomohisa paused, "I don't know. We haven't heard much activity from the Walkers recently, so I can only hope that their numbers have lessened."

"And if they haven't?" Mami crossed her arms.

He crossed his own arms and grimaced, trying to think of a solution.

"Then we fight through," Homura spoke up in his stead, "If we stay here, we'll starve. Out there, we can fight through Walkers and find food. That's what I trained everyone for. At worst, we Magical Girls would use magic to cut a path through the undead. It would be better to take our chances out there then to starve in this hole. We're not staying; I don't want to lose anyone else."

Sayaka rolled her eyes and growled, "What do you know about losing things? You haven't lost anything significant to you!"

"Sayaka!" Tomohisa hissed.

Clenching her fists, Homura's face twisted into a scowl as stomped over to Sayaka, "You cannot even BEGIN to fathom all that I have lost, Miki. So, don't even try to—"

Tomoya dashed across the circle to push them apart, "Girls, please! We have to work together now more than ever. We can't be fighting."

"…She has a point though," Madoka spoke as she stared at the ground. Lifting her gaze, stared at Homura and continued apathetically, "You haven't really lost anyone important to you. In fact, no one still really even knows who you are…"

"MADOKA," Tomohisa glared as he shook his head, "We talked about this..."

Madoka shot her hands over her mouth, immediately regretting what she said. But it was too late. Her words were in the now-silent air and in the ears of Homura, whose face twisted in sorrow, an expression that shocked everyone.

"Madoka… ?" she muttered, "But I… I know you…"

Slightly afraid, the pinkette stepped back as Homura stepped forward, "Um…"

The latter grabbed her own upper arm as tears started forming in her eyes, "I know you; I know… who you are…"

Madoka started trying to avoid making eye contact, "I don't—"

The raven-haired girl dropped her gaze to the floor, "You said we were… we were friends… that's what you said…"

The pinkette hesitantly stuttered, "W-Well, we a-are, but…"

Homura choked, "I… I wasn't sure if I had worked up my resolve enough to fight alone yet, and…" she lifted her gaze back to Madoka and sniffed, "…then I did," she paused as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, "…Every day, I fought Witches by myself… Day after day, week after week!" Her voice trailed and her eye twitched as her gaze fell back to the floor, "It was me… just me… Only me…" she paused, "…You weren't there. You never fought... You were never there!"

Madoka grimaced, "I'm fighting…"

"No, not when I was!" Homura cried, "I mean, you said that you were glad you—"

"O-Okay…"

"—got to meet me!"

The pinkette hesitated again, "I-I am…"

Homura yelled, "YOU SAID YOU WE'RE GLAD THAT YOU GOT—"

"I am!" Madoka tried to shout back.

"—TO MEET ME," Homura's face completely contorted in anguish as she glared at her friend. With tears falling to the ground and veins popping in her neck, she screamed even louder, "AND YOU WERE NOT.THERE!"

The room fell silent once again and everyone stared in shocked disbelief. With her lip trembling and the stunned stares of the group bearing down on her, Homura trudged away and sat in a far corner, dropping her head into her lap. Madoka gulped, not entirely sure of what just transpired. No one moved for minutes. Then, her father firmly grasped her shoulder and gave her a serious glare. Knowing what he wanted her to do, she gulped again and nodded.

Leaving the group, she walked over and stood awkwardly in front of Homura, who sat with her arms wrapped around her legs, twirling a pair of red-rimmed glasses in her fingers.

Not really knowing how to proceed, Madoka folded her arms behind her back, "U-Um… Homura?"

Without a word, the raven-haired girl lifted her face, revealing her usual stone-cold features marred with red, puffy eyes and tear stains.

The pinkette stuttered, "I… I'm sorry…"

Homura didn't reply, but merely lightly tapped the floor next to her, beckoning for Madoka to sit.

She hesitantly complied, brushing her skirt under her rear and slowly lowering herself beside her.

Homura sighed, her voice croaking slightly, "It's this place… Without power or food… The fear itself… It's driving us mad…"

"Yeah…" Madoka nodded. She gave the other girl a small grin, "Looks like we're both crazy now, huh?"

Homura couldn't help give a quiet chuckle. Her frown quickly reappeared as she stared at the cellar exit, "That's why we need to leave. Find the military base and Sayaka's parents…"

The pinkette nodded again in agreement. Then, she tilted her head as she stared at Homura's glasses, "I didn't know you wore glasses..."

"I used to, a long time ago…" She muttered, "Since then, I either fortified my eyesight with magic or wore contact lenses in times where I needed to conserve power. Unfortunately, I lost my contacts at the hospital, and we can't afford to waste magic in such a frivolous way…"

"Ah…" Madoka comment as she stared at her knees, "…Homura?" she asked hesitantly, "…What did you mean by 'I wasn't there'? Are you okay?"

The raven-haired girl paused before answering. Her eyes dimmed as she sniffed, "…I've never been close with my family. I believe you were told on my first day of class that I had been hospitalized for a quite a long time…" she grimaced, "I was an only child and my parents… only visited me when absolutely necessary… I hardly ever saw them…" She mumbled as she stared at her glasses, "I can't even recall what they look like anymore…"

Madoka gasped, "That's terrible!"

"…You had a loving family, isn't that correct?" Homura swallowed a lump in her throat, "This group… This group is the closest thing I have that I can call family. You, and Mr. Kaname, Taiga, Mrs. Saotome, Kyoko, even Tomoe, Miki, and the new group members… You're all I have…"

"Well, you and Sayaka definitely fight like sisters, that's for sure…" Madoka commented.

Homura chuckled again slightly, "Indeed. But…" she frowned and sighed, "It's hurts when everyone says I simply don't care, especially when they don't know… With every loss we sustain, it hurts me just as much as anyone else…"

Madoka grimaced. She was pegged in the "people that didn't know" category, "I-I'm sorry…"

"My outburst was simply a culmination of what I've been through, nonsensical as it was…" Homura mumbled.

"…Tomoya says we can't keep this stuff bottled up, or it'll explode out anyways," the pinkette commented. She looked at her, "That's what happened, isn't it? You're always acting so cold and it all just… came out."

"Mr. Okazaki is quite wise for his age…" The raven-haired girl muttered. She sighed, "Someone must be strong, an unmovable pillar, never showing fear of the unknown; the courage, strength, and fearlessness others can draw on in times of desperation. This is the mantle I've taken long before the Apocalypse began. I've taken it to remain strong in my goals, but…" she sunk her head into her lap, "I am afraid… Afraid that I will lose those I care about… Afraid that I'll lose the group… Afraid that I'll lose… you…"

"Your family…" Madoka mumbled as she fiddled with her cast.

"…Y-Yes," She hesitated. She gulped as her lip trembled again, "I'm supposed to be cold… I stay cold because I know I'm the one who's supposed to be that way… I know I'm supposed to be, but I… I just let them go… I let them say what they wished. I let them go…" she choked as she squeezed her legs tightly, "…I let them go like there wasn't going to be a breaking point...! But there's always a breaking point… Always a breaking point…" she paused, "…if they thought I was suspicious before, they'll never trust me now…"

"…I trust you."

Homura gasped, "You…"

"…A wise man once said that courage isn't not being afraid," the pinkette commented without taking her eyes off of her cast, "but doing what you have to do in spite of what scares you."

The black-haired girl furrowed her brow, "…Isn't that Doctor Who?"

"…Yeah," Madoka chuckled. She turned her attention to Homura's face as a serious expression fell upon her own, "…I took that statement too far. I was reckless… I put our people in danger… That's not courage, it's just dumb… I thought acting that way made me strong… but I was wrong…"

A small smile stretched across the pinkette's lips as she took Homura's glasses from her hands and gently slid then over her friend's eyes, "What I'm trying to say is, we build upon each other, and make each other stronger," she closed her eyes and her smile beamed brighter, "That's how a family works! You're not alone anymore, Homura. A strong structure has more than one pillar, you know. You don't have to do it all yourself," she opened her eyes and stared at the floor, still smiling. She mumbled something nearly inaudible, most certainly meant for her own ears alone, "We're… We're not too far gone…"

Homura sniffed and smiled as well, "…I see. Thank you. I… I needed that."

"Mm-hm," Madoka nodded as she looked back at her friend. She tilted her head and commented, "…Your glasses make you look cute!"

"I suppose," The raven-haired girl chuckled, "the concept of 'cute' is one that I had abandoned long ago."

Madoka gasped, "Why would you do that? I know for a fact that cuteness is a surefire way for people to warm up to you more easily."

"I've not needed to warm up to people before. However," Homura sighed as her gaze lingered on the group, anxiously speaking amongst themselves, "Things most certainly are different now… Maybe I should try…" her voice trailed. She paused and smiled at the pinkette, "You know, I used to wear my hair in two long braids that people once considered to be 'cute'."

The pinkette gasped again, "You should do it again!" running her hand through her own greasy, almost-red hair, Madoka chuckled and grimaced at the same time, "With how nasty our hair is getting, having it tied into a braid would be much more manageable. Plus, it'll be harder for the Walkers to grab!"

"I see… That's an interesting suggestion…" Homura nodded and considered the notion. Then, she turned, hesitantly pointed the back of her hair and asked, "Do you… I mean…"

"Not at all!" Madoka smiled as she shifted her position and started expertly maneuvering her hand and cast to weave her long black hair together.

Sitting patiently as the pinkette pulled her hair, Homura stated, "After this, we'll tell your father that we're okay and that we can leave as soon as possible."

"Sounds like a plan," Madoka happily replied.

Tomohisa cracked the cellar door slightly to peak through the exit. Seeing the mid-morning sun, he turned and stated to the group, "Alright everyone, remember: We're going to split into a small team to make a quick run through Sayaka's grandparents' house to see if we can scavenge anything, and then we'll begin making our way to the military base. Have we decided who the team's going to be?"

"Me," Sayaka raised her hand, "It's my family's house; I know it better than anyone. My grandparent's had some tents; We're gonna be sleepin' outside a bunch, right?"

Homura crossed her arms over her snow-white long-sleeved shirt and offered, "I'll go as well."

The blunette placed her hands n her hips at the seam of her cerulean sweater, "Akemi, I don't really think you—"

The raven-haired girl interrupted her, "You said it yourself: It's your family's home. There will be memorabilia that will remind you of your childhood and loved ones. Doubtless, Walkers from the herd broke into the house. If that's the case, it'll be too dangerous to slip into a fit of nostalgia."

"I'll go too," Madoka, wearing a pink flannel shirt and white skirt, raised her cast-hand.

"That," Sayaka grimaced as she grabbed her upper arm, "doesn't exactly give me a vote of confidence…"

The pinkette recoiled slightly at her friend's mistrust, but didn't say anything.

Tomohisa sighed, "I'll go as well; make sure nothing happens. The rest of you, stay outside, but be ready to run if things go south or are worse than we anticipated."

"Got it," Tomoya nodded as he gripped the handlebars of Kyosuke's wheelchair, "I'll keep my team safe."

"Understood," Mami replied as she zipped up her yellow jacket.

"Eh," Kyoko shrugged with her hands stuffed into the pockets of the jeans Sayaka let her borrow, "I really just wanna splatter some brains. Been cooped up in here too long, if ya ask me."

Aioi and Mio stood behind Tomoya and nodded with determination as they loaded the handguns Homura had given to them.

"Okay, with that matter settled," Tomohisa nodded as he turned back towards the entrance, "Let's go."

Slowing opening the wooden cellar doors, he recoiled momentarily by the blast of the mid-morning sun. He motioned for the group to pass through: First, Mami and Kyoko, then followed by Tomoya wheeling Kyosuke, then Mio and Aioi, then finally, his team of Sayaka, Madoka, and Homura, in that order.

As the raven-haired girl passed, he grabbed her arm and stopped her. He sternly questioned, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I am," she nodded. She stated apathetically, "You needn't worry about my well-being; I can assure you that it will not happen again."

He hesitantly let go of her arm, "Alright, I'm trusting you."

She paused and muttered before moving again, "…Thank you."

"What's that?" he asked.

She shook her head as she moved to catch up with Madoka, "It's nothing."

"Okay," he sighed. Then, he called, "Hey, Homura,"

She stopped again and turned, "Yes?"

He grinned as he complemented her, "I meant to mention this earlier, but I like the new look; it's cute."

He thought he noticed a faint smile crack her stony expression before she turned away and flipped her braided hair, "Hm."

With a slight chuckle, he took one last searching gaze through the cellar to see if they missed anything important. Deciding that they had not, he stepped into the bright and sunny outside world.

Gazing at the far horizon dotted with Walkers, he commented with slight amusement, "Huh. It's a mystery how such a beautiful day," he scowled as he lowered his eyes to see the moaning undead shambling in the Mikis' field, just outside of their immediate vicinity, "could mask such a horrible nightmare…"

Shaking his head, he kept his back close to the wall of the house and shuffled quickly around to the front, making as little sound as possible. He turned the corner and jogged past Tomoya and his group at the base of the Mikis' front porch, nodding to them as he passed. Walking up the stairs, he stopped with his pseudo-strike team positioned each side of the partially broken down door, standing with Madoka on the left side.

"The door's broken down…" Sayaka quietly moaned as she dismally stared at the door hanging by its bottom hinges.

"I knew it," Homura commented as she tried to get a good view inside the home, "Walkers have broken in."

Sayaka grimaced and gulped. Madoka tried to console her, "They could've made it out..."

"R-Right…" The blunette hesitantly stuttered, not very assured by her friend's words.

Tomohisa frowned and wanted to say something to comfort her, but he couldn't find the words to do so. Instead, he shook his head and asked Homura, "Can you see how many Walkers are inside?"

The girl noted that that house had a foyer that led into a large living area, connected by a few doorways on each wall and a flight of stairs. She replied, "…Four in the living room. There may be more I cannot see."

Sayaka gulped as her eyes widened, "F-Four?"

Homura faced the blunette and stated, her cold expression softening slightly, "You wished to meet your family safely. I'm certain that the Walkers I see are not them, Mik—I mean—Sayaka."

Sayaka sniffed and nodded.

"Regardless," the raven-haired girl turned her attention back to the undead in the house, "Walkers are Walkers. We need to dispatch them quickly and quietly. I'd advise against using firearms. We don't want to attract the Walkers in the field."

The other three nodded. Tomohisa grabbed his trusty shovel from his back while Sayaka and Madoka summoned their katana and crossbow respectively.

The Homura nodded and motioned inside, "We each take one; I'll kill the one in the center of the living room."

"I'll take the one on the stairway," Madoka stated, peering through the door.

"I'll get the one face-down on the couch," Tomohisa stated.

"I got the one near the kitchen door," Sayaka affirmed.

"Alright," Homura whispered as she held up her hand and withdrew her combat knife from its sheath at her hip, "On my mark: Three… Two… One…" she waved her hand for them to move inside, "Go."

Sayaka dashed in first, turning just after leaving the foyer and slashing the top of the Walker's head, splattering blood on the kitchen door. Madoka quickly crouched behind her and fired a swift vector arrow into the cranium of the one standing in the middle of the stairwell, causing it to topple down the rest of the stairs.

Alerted by the humans' presence, the remaining two Walkers moaned and growled loudly. Homura's target started staggering towards them, but tripped over a one-person armchair. Tomohisa and Homura took this opportunity to run in.

The former stopped behind the white couch his target lounged in, groaning hungrily and wheezing as it reached for Madoka and Sayaka across the room. Without it ever noticing him, Tomohisa lifted his shovel high, then brought it down on the grey, decaying skull with immense force. With a sickening crack, he split the Walker's head wide open, splattering and staining blood and grey matter all over the end of the couch.

Lifting his head up, he watched the last Walker stand back to its feet, but was immediately tackled by Homura, who plunged her blade deep into its skull. Standing up and wiping the blood off her knife with her sheath, she walked into the center of the room and motioned for the other girls to do the same.

As they walked over, Homura stated, "We'll cover more ground if we split up."

"Yeah, I agree," Sayaka nodded, "I'll go find the tents."

"Alright," Tomohisa commented and he pushed up his glasses, "Homura, you go with her. Madoka and I will search the kitchen for food, fill our water bottles and look for other supplies."

Sayaka furrowed her brow as she glared at Homura, "But… Mr. K…"

He shook his head, "No one gets left alone, not now," he stared seriously as he affirmed, "You can trust her, I promise."

Still staring at the raven-haired girl, the blunette sighed and slumped her shoulders, "A-Alright… If you say so, Mr. K…"

He nodded, "Good. Come on, Madoka."

The pinkette nodded as well, "Okay."

The father and daughter walked away from them and stepped over Sayaka's Walker's corpse. Placing his hands on the door, Tomohisa whispered, "Be ready for more Walkers."

She clenched her crossbow tightly, ready for combat. He quickly pushed open the kitchen door and they both dashed in. A female Walker with various holes riddled through its chest and multiple patches of missing grey flesh stood in front of a refrigerator on the right wall. The standing corpse turned and hissed, alerted by their entrance.

Wheezing, the Walker reached for them and moaned as it shuffled closer. Tomohisa stepped in and bashed it in the side of the head with his shovel, sending it falling to the granite island in the middle of the kitchen.

He brought the flat of his tool down on its grey skull, crushing it slightly. The Walker stumbled and slipped to the ground, still alive and still moaning. Tomohisa repeated what he had done with the couch Walker and split its head open between the eyes and the nose.

"We're clear," Madoka whispered loudly from the other side of the kitchen.

Tomohisa sighed in relief as his grip loosened on his shovel, "Alright. Let's start looking for supplies."

His daughter nodded as she walked over to the Mikis' pantry and opened it. Meanwhile, he turned and opened in the refrigerator doors and immediately recoiled at the mixed smell of curdled dairy and rotten foods. He moaned as he closed the doors, "None of that's edible…"

Rubbing his head and turning around, he noticed a hastily scrawled note lying on the blood covered island. Curious, he picked it up and started reading, "Dear Sayaka…" he gasped, then called, "Madoka, come see this!"

"Hmm?" The pinkette tilted her head and walked over, her arms full of various canned food and cup ramen.

He showed her the note, "Take a look."

Leaning in to see what was written on the piece of paper, she read aloud, "Dear Sayaka, not safe here, heading west. Grandma and Grandpa are—"

The father and daughter looked at each other and gasped in unsion, "Oh no..!"

As the Kanames headed towards the kitchen, Homura asked Sayaka, "So, where are these tents?"

The blunette point up the stairway, "Upstairs. My grandparents kept them in a closet in their room."

The raven-haired girl nodded, "Alright then, let's go. We cannot afford to waste any time."

"Right," Sayaka agreed as they headed towards the stairs.

As she followed closely behind, Homura asked hesitantly, trying to make conversation, "Did… Did you like it here?"

Sayaka furrowed her brow, "Why do you care?"

"Fine," Homura rolled her eyes, "I suppose it's none of my business anyway."

The blunette sighed, "…Yeah, I did," Reaching the top of the steps, she stopped in front of a wall picture of her playing with her cousins, "I was an only child. Mom and Dad were always really busy with their jobs, so I didn't really have anyone to play with. But whenever my extended family got together for holidays and stuff, my cousins and I all had a blast together… I always loved holidays because of that…" she lightly touched the picture and muttered, "Every single time…"

Then, a male Walker crawling on the floor gripped her ankle. Dropping her katana Sayaka screamed as she was dragged to the floor. Fighting and kicking to break away from the hungry corpse growling, wheezing and pulling at her, she stretched for her weapon, just out of reach.

Immediately, Homura stomped on the zed's head in, hindering its progress. She stomped again and again, crushing its skull further with each strike. After repeating this multiple times, the Walker fell limp as its head was reduced to bloody mush under Homura's shoe. Breathing heavily, the raven-haired girl turned and offered a helping hand to Sayaka.

Staring at the corpse and gasping for air, Sayaka accepted the aid and stood up, "…Thanks,"

"Mm-hm," Homura nodded.

Then, Sayaka flinched, waiting for Homura to insult her. But the insults never came. She furrowed her brow, "…Well?"

The raven-haired girl tilted her head, "Well what?"

Sayaka placed her hands on her hips, "Where's the 'I told you your sentiments and nostalgia would be dangerous' and the 'you're such a fool for thinking otherwise, Miki'?"

Homura flipped her braided hair, "It's foolish to fight amongst ourselves for petty arguments such as that. Do you remember what I said when we met about foolishness?"

"Yeah," Sayaka muttered, "Foolish gets you killed…"

"Precisely," Homura offered her hand, "That is why I'm burying all my qualms with you," she paused, "…I don't want to fight with my family, nor do I want to lose them."

"Family?" Sayaka questioned, slightly taken aback. Then, she smiled and met Homura's hand with her own, "…Yeah, our group's a family, aren't we?"

Homura nodded as she turned towards the upstairs hallway with three doors spread through the walls, "We have to be. We won't make it otherwise," looking at the doors, she asked, "Which door is it?"

The blunette pointed, "The far one."

"Alright," the raven-haired girl nodded as she drew her knife and prowled towards the door.

As she approached the entrance to the room, she grabbed and turned the handle, the door creaking as she slowly pushed it open enough to get a solid look inside. She gasped and closed the door again.

"What is it?" Sayaka asked.

Homura fixated her glasses as she avoided the blunette's eyes. She replied with a question of her own, "Where are the tents? I'll get them myself…"

"What's up?" Sayaka furrowed her brow and placed her hands on her hips.

"Trust me," the raven-haired girl shook her head, "you do not want to go in there."

Then, the blunette glared and pushed for the door, but the other girl stopped her. She growled, "Hey! What gives?"

"Please," Homura glared, "don't go in there."

Sayaka rolled her eyes and pushed past anyway, entering the room. She gasped as she discovered why Homura didn't want her to come in: The corpses of a man and woman with silver hair—green from decay—lay lifeless in their king-sized with small holes in their foreheads.

The blunette covered her mouth and collapse to her knees, her chest beginning to heave sobs.

Homura knelt next to her and placed her hand on her back, "I didn't want you to see this… I'm sorry…"

"SAYAKA!" They heard Tomohisa call as he and Madoka barreled up the steps, "Don't go in—" He was cut off by the scene he witnessed as he entered behind the girls. Both he and Madoka gasped. He mumbled, "Good lord…"

As his daughter started crying herself, he knelt down and wrapped his arms around the blunette. She turned, embraced him and continued to wail. Without taking his eyes off of the corpses, he choked, "I'm so sorry, Sayaka… I'm so, so sorry…"