Author's Notes:

- From the last chapter . . . "watashi kininanimasu" is a reference to Hyouka, where Ritsu's VA, Satomi Sato, plays Eru Chitanda, the female lead. Hmm, wonder how the Hyouka gang would fare in a zombie apocalypse . . .
- Nah, the zombie apocalypse genre has been just about beaten to death…
- See what I did there?
- Of corpse you did.
- Why are the Author's Notes at the start of the chapter?
- All I'll say is that the next chapter will be out in ten days or less. Stay tuned…

Dead Rising:
And there's no way out but one.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God! Keep running!"

Gunfire crackled through the heavy air, and zombies stumbled and fell.

"R . . . Ri . . . Riii-chan! Not so fast!" Yui gasped.

"I've got you Onee-chan! Azusa-chan! Take this, please!" Ui pleaded, bodily lifting Yui off her knees, just before tossing her gun at Azusa.

"R . . . right!" Azusa squeaked, managing to catch the gun. Her eyes darted back and forth. Zombies to the left. Zombies to the right, and zombies right behind them. She dropped the fire axe she'd found, shooting past the Hirasawa sisters.

Why am I doing this? A little voice in her head screamed. A zombie lunged for Yui.

BAM!

The zombie spun, knocking several others over.

"Because I'll die if I don't!" Azusa gasped.

"What was that!" Ritsu shouted.

"Nothing, Ritsu-senpai . . . look out! "

From the left! A hooded figure screamed, leaping at Ritsu, knocking her off her feet. Both she, and the zombie, tumbled to the ground.

"Ricchan!" Mugi shouted, spinning on her feet, her shotgun coming up . . .

BOOM!

The leaper sprawled to the street.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Somehow, Ritsu reached her guns, and she fired at the tightening knot of zombies surrounding her.

"Someone help me up!"

"C'mon, Ricchan, let's go," Mugi said, yanking Ritsu to her feet.

BAM!

Click!

Azusa was out of bullets. Again. Suddenly, that fire axe looked so very far away.

"B . . . big warehouse to the right!" Mio screamed. Azusa's head snapped up, and she saw a big gray steel building. Cars barricaded the entrance to the parking lot, but the turquoise fence that surrounded it didn't look so high. Especially the part where someone had rammed the fence with his car, knocking it over. Dead zombies were strewn around the car.

"Everyone over the fence!" Ritsu shouted.

"Hurry! Behind me," Mugi said. Azusa nodded jerkily, looking back behind her. Ui and Yui were running as fast as they could, Yui's arms draped over Ui's shoulders.

"Yui-senpai!" Azusa shouted, turning away from the fence, running to Ui and Yui. Together, her and Ui managed to haul Yui to the wrecked car, where Mio helped her scramble over it. Behind them, gunfire echoed in the streets as Mugi and Ritsu did their best to hold back the zombies.

"We're not standing here all damned day," Ritsu snapped. "Let's go!"

Somehow, Azusa found herself scrambling over the car, tumbling into the parking lot. Bodies and blood were scattered up to a hastily constructed barricade of wooden pallets stretched across the opening of the warehouse.

"No . . . nononono! Onee-chaaaan!" Ui screamed. Azusa pushed herself to her feet, seeing Yui being dragged away by a writhing, dark thing.

"Smoker!" Yui shouted. "Uiiii! Azu-nyaaaan!"

Azusa's eyes darted . . . there . . . one of the bodies! She lunged, falling painfully to her knees, before coming up with a large, bloodied wrench. She scrambled toward the struggling Yui, seeing the tall silhouette of the smoker atop the warehouse.

"Let go!" She brought the wrench down as hard as she could on that grotesque tongue.

"Let go! Let go! Let go!" Her arms felt like lead, but she swung that wrench over and over, splashing herself with blood and saliva.

Something hot and wet whipped her across the face, knocking her off her feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that tongue flying up to its owner. Yui was free.

"Under the awning!" Ritsu shouted, leaping off the roof of the car. "That tongue guy can't get us there!"

"What about the others!" Mio squeaked.

"Keep shooting at them!"

"Azusa-chan," Ui said. "I need my gun back. Stay with Onee-chan, please!"

Azusa nodded jerkily. "Right," she said, as Ui snatched the revolver with one hand, reaching into her pocket with the other.

"That was totally cool how you saved me, Azu-nyan!" Yui said.

Azusa's cheeks warmed, even with the sounds of screaming zombies and gunfire around her. She exhaled sharply.

"Y . . . y . . . you need to be more careful, Yui-senpai!"

The gunfire stopped.

Ritsu turned back toward Azusa and Yui. "Looks like we're out of zombies, for the moment. How're we doing for bullets?"

"I . . . I'm out," Azusa replied. Yui said nothing; they all knew she was out.

"I . . . not many," Mio replied, her voice small.

"I've got . . . enough," Mugi replied, looking down at her shotgun. "But . . . not if we keep getting into firefights."

"Point well-taken, Tsumugi-san," Ritsu said. "Ui, you said we could give 'em the slip and get to the tracks. I . . . think . . . we're clear, so where do we go to get to the tracks."

"I'd have to look at my map," Ui replied. "Did anyone catch what warehouse this is?"

"Daiwa Rakuda," Mio said. "Printed in English."

"Why English?" Ritsu said, frowning. She slapped her palm into her face. "Not important . . . is that enough to tell you where we're at, Ui?"

"Mhm," Ui replied. "We're actually where we need to be. There should be a little road that cuts across the vacant farmland. We can get to the railroad without having to cross the canal."

"No narrow bridges, I like that," Ritsu said. "I think we should have a look inside the warehouse. I notice nothing's come out to get us while we've all been sitting here."

"It . . . it's dark in there," Mio said, casting glances toward the barricaded entryway.

"It's a little too late to be afraid of the dark, Akiyama-san," Ritsu replied. "If we're lucky, the local cops, or maybe some military, might've holed up here and we can get some ammo."

"And food. Maybe they had food," Yui said. Azusa fought the urge to roll her eyes. Yui Hirasawa was a woman who thought with her stomach first.

"Maybe," Ritsu replied. "Let's not count on that, though. Alright, guys, let's find out why nobody's come out to say hi."

The inside of the warehouse was trashed. Pallets and boxes and other material were scattered everywhere. It wasn't really that dark, not with the open garage door on one side, and the enormous hole that was punched into the wall on the right. Among the boxes, lay broken and twisted bodies and macabre spatters and pools of blood. A forklift was jammed into one wall, with a mammoth zombie skewered with its blades.

"One of those goddamned things got Sumire," Ritsu muttered.

"Who's Sumire," Azusa asked, immediately feeling stupid. She'd heard the story when they were still in the back of that military truck. Ritsu glared at her.

"If you don't know by now, don't ask again," she said. Azusa felt herself shrink away from the cold, flat tone Ritsu had used.

"So one of those got Nodoka-chan too," Yui said.

"She took it with her," Mugi replied, her tone subdued.

"Tank's dead, let's stop talking about it now and look for supplies, 'kay?" Ritsu said, stepping between them and tilting her head. Her tone was a strained sort of cheery, and seemed just as fake as the smile pasted to her lips.

"I don't think we're going to find any guns here," Ui said, looking around. "Everyone I see looks like they picked up whatever they could find to defend themselves with."

Part of Azusa sighed with relief. Part of her began to get nervous. She'd felt a certain . . . something . . . when she had to use that fire axe to fend off those zombies. Something she wasn't sure she liked.

"Well, guess we're gonna have to make do with hand-me-downs then," Ritsu said. "Where are the cops? Wonder why we haven't seen any here?" She mused, bending down to pick up a length of iron pipe.

"Maybe we'd have seen them if we went through town," Mio replied. She looked down at one of the bodies and shivered. "D . . . does . . . does anyone want a cr . . . cricket bat?"

"It's all yours, Mio," Ritsu replied.

"But it's covered in b . . . blood!"

"Well, just think of it as already broken-in . . . look, we'll look for something to wipe it down if it bothers you that much."

Yui leaned forward. "Mio-chan's afraid of blood?"

Mio paled, but then she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't care about that! I mean it's . . . it's not inf . . . zombie blood that bothers me!"

Azusa looked thoughtful. Wouldn't zombie blood be the thing one should be the most worried about? Then she remembered the splattering of that smoker's blood as she beat its tongue and . . .

"Azu-nyan? Are you all right? You don't look so good, mmph!" Yui turned to throw her arms around Azusa, who threw up a hand. She felt Yui's warm lips on her palm.

"Sorry!" Azusa said, snatching her hand away. "I . . . I . . . I'm fine! Really!"

"These vending machines aren't any good," Mugi said. Ritsu walked up to her side and whistled.

"They're not only no good, they're totally trashed!"

"Aww, no food?" Yui said. Ritsu shook her head.

"Afraid not. And I think we left all the stores behind, so unless anyone here wants to go searching house-to-house, the only food we got is whatever's in our packs."

"There might be something good in one of the houses," Yui mused.

"No!" Mio said. "I don't wanna do that again!"

. . . She heard something shuffle in the dark. Azusa frantically looked around, feeling the zombies pounding at the door behind her, and hearing the shuffling in the darkness in front of her . . .

"I . . . I don't wanna do it either!" Azusa added. Dimly, she realized she was waving her wrench for emphasis.

"Hey, I'm on your side," Ritsu said, spreading out her hands. "I don't wanna do any breaking-and-entering right now either . . . breaking into dark, zombie-filled, houses without guns . . . not a good idea."

"We should make the rail line before dark," Ui said. "There might be a train that we spend the night in."

"I think, when we were on the bridge, that I remember thinking that the railroad tracks were on high ground," Mugi added. "It'd be safer higher up."

"Yeah," Azusa replied, nodding. At least high up, you could see them coming.

"I remember that too, Mugi-chan," Ui said.

"I'm still hungry," Yui murmured, looking dejected.

"Onee-chan," Ui replied. "I'm sure there'll be lots of things to eat when we get to that military center."

"I guess I can wait, but you'd better be right."

"Yui," Ritsu said. "We're all a little hungry right now, but hey, look at it this way . . . killer weight-loss tool, right?"

"I don't have that problem," Yui replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, I've noticed that some of us are looking a little thicker in the waist . . . right . . . Mio?"

Mio's overhand strike landed with characteristic swiftness.

"Ritsu! You take that back! Wh . . wh . . why I think you've gained a little weight with all this time away from the drums!"

"Guys," Azusa started to say, her eyes shifting back and forth between Mio and Ritsu. "L . . . l . . . let's calm down, okay? Y . . . you both look just fine!"

"Just? Fine?" Ritsu replied, her eyes skewering Azusa's in a basilisk stare. "Just . . . fine? You know how hard it is to look this good in the middle of the freakin' zombie apocalypse?"

"I . . . " Azusa's heart was racing. "I . . . "

"What about me, Azu-nyan?" Yui said, putting a leg forward. "All this running . . . my legs have never felt better."

Azusa swallowed hard. Suddenly, Ritsu threw an arm around her shoulder, and draped the other over Mio's.

"It's cool," she heard Ritsu say. "I was just playin' around."

Azusa shrugged the arm off. "I knew it," she said, biting her lip. "Why?"

"Sometimes it just happens, Azusa," Ritsu replied. "And . . . and sometimes we could all use a little laughter."

Azusa spun back on Ritsu. "At a time like this?" She felt herself gritting her teeth. How was it that Ritsu, the least responsible of her senpais, was in charge? The thought was so alien that she took a step back, her jaws suddenly slack.

Ritsu sighed. "Azusa-chan. If you can't laugh at a time like this, when can you?"

"She's right, Azusa," Mio added. "Even if she does overdo it sometimes."

"Mio-chaaaan," Ritsu squeaked. Azusa looked at her and Mio, her flash of anger replaced with a certain sense of envy . . . that Ritsu-senpai could still find something to laugh about . . . something that Azusa was finding so very hard to do. She turned and looked out toward the barricaded entryway. The sunlight seemed just a little more golden. The shadows looked that much longer.

"It . . . it's getting late," she said. "We should get going now, right?" Behind her, she heard Ritsu shuffle her feet.

"Yeah," Ritsu said, muted. "I . . . I guess you're right." She stepped around Azusa, headed toward the entryway.

"All right, kids," she said. "Let's get out of here. Those tracks are still a long ways away."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Azusa-chan, but you've been rude lately," Ui's voice echoed in Azusa's head.

" . . . we could all use a little laughter." Ritsu's voice chimed in.

The whole raison d'etre of the Light Music Club was laughter, and craziness.

No! It should be music, and nobody but me ever really takes it seriously.

Well . . . when we do come together, I feel like we could stand toe-to-toe with any rock act I can think of.

But all the pranks. And the puns. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it!

Do I really?

No.

I miss it.

I miss all of it! My personalized teacup. Being with my senpais without a care in the world . . . even Miss Yamanaka and her creepy costume fetish.

But getting them to actually practice is Herculean! Especially Yui-senpai and Ritsu-senpai!

It feels pretty good when I get them to practice though.

Oh my God, I'm missing all of it! And we're never going to be a Light Music Club again! Only Yui-senpai has Gitah . . . why didn't the rest of us think of taking our instruments?

It'd have been stupid, because of all the sick people the . . . zombies.

Yui-senpai looks like she's doing just fine, though.

But that's Yui-senpai.

Maybe I should be more like Yui-senpai . . . I've never seen a situation where she couldn't just roll with it.

I must be going crazy. Yui-senpai is . . . is . . .

What's wrong with me? Why am I thinking about things like this? I'm the responsible one!

I'm . . .

I've . . .

"I'm sorry!" Azusa blurted. The others stopped, turning back to look at her.

"Azu . . . nyan?"

"Sorry?" Ritsu frowned. "For what?"

"Azusa-chan? Are you okay?" Mugi said, lowering her shotgun.

"I mean . . . I . . . " Azusa started to say. "I should . . . we should . . . "

"Someone got my kitty's tongue?" Yui asked, advancing on her.

"No!" Azusa replied, shaking her head violently. "It's . . . it's nothing! I mean, I don't think I've been myself lately, and I'm sorry."

"Azu-nyan!" Yui's arms were wrapped around Azusa in an instant. "I knew my kitty'd come around!"

"Yui-senpai!"

Ritsu looked Azusa over, and then rubbed the back of her head. "Well . . . I guess it's to be expected, given what we've all been through so far."

As Azusa tried to disentangle herself from Yui, she noticed that Ritsu's eyes still seemed sad . . . guarded, even.

"Guys, look!" Mio said. "Past that junkyard!"

Azusa swallowed her thoughts, trying to peer through the rusted, twisted steel.

"It's blue!" Yui said.

"Blue?" Azusa echoed, and then it hit her. "Like a rail bridge?"

"I see it too!" Ritsu said. "It's a rail bridge! We're almost there, guys!"

"Shh!" Ui said, waving a golf club. "There are infected in that junkyard."

Mio's smile died as she brushed her hair aside and looked closer.

"It's . . . it's okay," Ritsu said. "We can do this . . . look, the fields run right up to the tracks. We just have to go around the junkyard and those houses."

"As long as we're quiet," Azusa murmured.

"Yes," Ritsu replied. "And we'll do this without guns."

Azusa nodded, lifting her pipe wrench. She could do this.

"Up close," Mio muttered.

"As long as they don't notice us, we won't have to get up close to them, Mio-senpai," Azusa said. Mio looked at her for a few moments, and then smiled wanly.

"You're right, Azusa-chan," she said, trying her best to sound brave.

"And if they do get too close, I'll be right beside you," Mugi said.

"So will I," Ritsu said, taking a deep breath. "Okay, kids, let's get to those tracks."

The girls nodded to each other, and then they set off, through the dry soil and dead stalks. Azusa found herself edging close to Yui. As close as she could.

"We must be quiet, Azu-nyan," Yui said, glancing behind her back. "Very, very quiet."

"I . . . I know how to be quiet," Azusa replied, feeling her cheeks start to flush. "I'm keeping my eye on you, though."

"Shh, both of you," Ritsu whispered harshly. Everyone froze as a couple zombies looked in their direction. Azusa bit her lip hard enough to taste blood, clutching her wrench. The zombies began staggering toward the girls. Suddenly, one bumped into the other. Both spun to face the other, beginning to swing at each other with their fists. The girls could just barely hear the sound of fists impacting on meaty flesh.

One of the zombies staggered back, crumpling to the ground in a bloodied heap. The other stood unsteadily, before sinking to its knees, vomiting.

Yui gasped, and Azusa jumped, clamping her hand over Yui's mouth.

The only sound to be heard was the faint groaning of the infected. Carefully, Azusa removed her hand from Yui's mouth.

"Azu-nyan!" Yui whispered. "I was trying to breathe! I held my breath while they were fighting."

"Sorry!" Azusa squeaked, turning away from Yui, her face burning.

"Let's . . . let's just keep moving," Mio said, her eyes fixed on the zombies.

Azusa felt herself start to relax, as they put the houses between themselves and the junkyard. The embankment leading to the tracks loomed large before them, in its dirty, grassy, magnificence.

"That's . . . that's pretty tall, isn't it," Mio was the first to speak.

"It's not that bad . . . Heartbreak Hill was worse, I'm sure," Ui replied. The girls shivered, remembering the school's annual run from earlier in the year. Azusa shut her eyes at the memory, her chest starting to ache. She blinked furiously, fighting the urge to vigorously shake her head.

"What'd be even worse is if the zombies spotted us before we were on top," Ritsu said, gesturing toward the embankment. "Let's go!"

She began scrambling up the loose soil, Mio and Mugi hot on her heels. Azusa nodded silently, turning back to Yui and Ui.

"Let's go, Yui-senpai."

"Mhmm!" Yui replied with a sharp nod. Azusa began climbing the embankment, struggling to keep her heavy wrench in one hand every time she had to press a hand into the rocky dirt. She blinked back tears, breathing deeply. There was a sudden, sickening sensation of falling!

A warm hand pressed firmly into the small of her back, and her backward motion was checked in an instant. Instead, she fell back against the embankment, her bloodied knuckles protesting.

"I got you, Azu-nyan. You nearly fell."

"Th . . . thanks, Yui-senpai," Azusa replied, pushing herself to her feet. It wasn't much further to the top. Just a little closer. Just a few more steps . . .

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ritsu said from somewhere over the top. Azusa gasped, looking behind her. She had a good view down into the street. The street where several zombies looked up, directly at her. She lunged, scrambling for traction against loose rock and dirt. She slipped and fell again, cutting her hands on the gravel at the top of the embankment.

"Ritsu-senpai!" she gasped, pushing herself to her feet. "They heard you!"

"Azusa-chan," Mugi said, touching her fingertip to her lips. Azusa's mouth snapped shut, when she noticed that Mugi was gesturing further down the tracks . . . no, not quite down the tracks . . . past them.

Azusa followed Mugi's shotgun, looking into the afternoon sun. Sprawling buildings ringed a vast parking lot. One filled with tents. Tents, and multitudes of shuffling, staggering shapes.

Crack!

Azusa turned around. Yui and Ui had made it to the tracks too, and she saw Ui in full backswing, a zombie already falling back over the edge of the embankment.

"H . . . h . . . here they come!" She gasped, lifting her wrench. Two crawled over the edge, glaring up at her with yellow eyes.

Crack!

Ui's club came down viciously over the head of one, sending it crashing down. The other was scrambling to his feet, lunging at Yui.

"No!" Azusa yelled, throwing herself forward, striking out with her wrench. She felt it impact against soft flesh, and she swung again, and again, opening her eyes to see the zombie collapsing . . . and several others starting the climb up the embankment.

Thud! Crack!

Behind her! She heard the butt of Mugi's shotgun clubbing a zombie in the head.

"Let's everybody move away from that mall," Ritsu said, swinging wildly at another zombie. "I don't want all them chasing us!"

"R . . . right," Azusa replied, kicking gravel into the face of a zombie."

Ping!

Yui brought a baseball bat down on its skull.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Ui viciously laid into yet another zombie, sprawling it across the railroad tracks. She jumped over its body, with Yui and Azusa following. Behind them, were the frantic footfalls of the others, running down the tracks.

"Yui-san, it's not funny," Ritsu said behind them. Azusa stopped, turning around.

"I wasn't laughing," Yui replied, pursing her lips together.

"She wasn't," Ui said, falling silent.

But someone was. Giggling in a not-entirely-there way. Somewhere below the edge of the embankment. Along with more scrambling.

"I . . . I don't like that laughter," Mio said, backing down the railroad tracks.

"Keep moving," Ritsu said. "Whatever it is, we'll get it when it gets to the tracks."

"Here they come!" Ui said, as a couple zombies scrambled to the top of the embankment ahead of them. Mio spun as one lurched toward her. She swung blindly with her cricket-bat, knocking the zombie off balance.

"I got it, Mio-chan," Mugi said, kicking the zombie back, lifting her shotgun high overhead.

Crunch!

She buried the butt of her gun in shattered ruin of the zombie's face. Just as yet another one fell to Ui's short, vicious, swings. There was sudden motion out of the corner of Azusa's eye, and her head whipped to face the source.

It was just a couple more zombies, coming for them . . . only one caught Azusa's eye. One that was hunched over, wearing a torn, bloodstained Hayata no Gotoku t-shirt and gym-shorts. The zombie giggled, crouch-walking toward them.

"What the," Ritsu said, raising her nightstick, backing toward Ui and Yui.

The zombie leaped.

Ritsu screamed.

Azusa froze.

The zombie wrapped his legs around Ritsu's neck, cackling as he clawed and pulled at Ritsu's hair. Her headband flew off, sailing over Azusa's head. Ritsu stumbled forward, the zombie riding her kicking her in the gut with bare, filthy, feet.

Ui screamed, as Ritsu ran headlong into her, knocking her back. She stumbled, and slipped, falling over the edge.

"Uiiii!" Yui screamed, jumping after her sister.

"Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" Ritsu screamed, clutching at the zombie with her hands, desperately pulling, clawing, and pounding at it. Each effort only caused the zombie's glee to increase, his laughter to get louder, and his kicks to get harder.

Azusa was numb with horror, her body refusing to follow her orders. Refusing to move.

Ritsu-senpai! Azusa thought desperately. Yui-senpai . . . why can't I move!

Ritsu's blonde-brown hair was coming out in bloody clumps. Rivulets of blood streamed down her forehead. She stumbled toward the edge of the embankment. Mugi and Mio both lunged for her as she staggered ever closer, stumbling over the railroad tracks.

"Shoot it! Shoot it! Shoot it!" Mio cried.

"I can't!" Mugi shouted, her face pale. "I'll hit Ricchan if I do!"

Azusa felt herself starting to move at last. Her legs starting to carry her toward where she saw Yui and Ui fall over the edge. She stumbled, trying to turn for Ritsu.

It was too late. Ritsu's legs gave out from under her, and she went over, disappearing from view.

"Ritsu!" Mugi, Mio, and Azusa gasped, as one; dashing for the edge. Azusa saw Ritsu and her attacker tumbling down the side of the embankment, coming to rest amidst a small cloud of dust. The zombie tumbled free of Ritsu, perversely rolling to his feet, looking up at them, grinning with bloodstained teeth. The giggling abomination began to climb back up the embankment, evil eyes locking on Azusa's.

BOOM!

The zombie giggled, his tattered shirt becoming a blood-soaked ruin.

BOOM!

The zombie's grin became lopsided, half of it a fleshy ruin. It scrambled faster, closer and closer.

BOOM! Crunch!

The zombie fell face-first into the rocky soil, thrashed, and then was still.

"Ritsu!" Mio screamed, leaping down the hill.

"Ritsu!"

Ritsu hadn't moved from where she was. Ritsu was very, very still.

"Ritsu!" Mio's scream was raw, cutting Azusa to the core of her soul, as she and Mugi struggled down the hillside. Mio dropped to her knees, at Ritsu's side.

"Ritsu!" Trembling hands shook and pushed Ritsu.

"There's so much blood. Oh my God, there's so much blood . . . There's so much blood, there's so much blood, there's so much blood . . . "