"Somehow I found,

A way to get lost in you…"

- Three Days Grace, "Lost In You".

Toshiro Hitsugaya was not a morning person.

He stepped out of the RV., the vehicle parked on the side of the road by a small field, and shielded his eyes from the rising sun. The light of the star glistened off the fresh morning dew. Birds chirped in the trees calling for their mates, oblivious to the hellish world surrounding them. Hitsugaya sighed. Something about morning scenery just bothered him, be it the avian sounds awakening him or the bright lights that hurt his eyes. He wished that he could have overslept it like he always used to, but since the events of a few nights ago, the internal clocks of the entire group had been thrown off. Some would stay awake throughout the entire night while the rest snored. Others would fall asleep during conversation in the middle of the day. Then there were those who couldn't sleep a wink.

"Morning, Hitsugaya."

Toshiro looked up behind him towards the voice's source. Shuhei Hisagi was sitting on top of the R.V. above the door, his crossbow lying beside him. Dark crow's feet sat below his eyes, a sign of his recent insomnia.

"Don't you ever sleep?" the white haired boy asked.

"Not since that night. It seems like if I don't keep watch once, shit happens."

Hitsugaya yawned. "I suppose so. Has anyone else woken up yet?"

"Urahara came out around ten minutes ago. Don't know where he went, though."

"Somebody say my name?" As if on cue, Hat 'n Clogs appeared right beside Hisagi on top of the R.V., smiling like always. Shuhei jumped and raised his crossbow in a moment of panic.

Toshiro shook his head at the lieutenant. "I thought you didn't know where he was?"

"How the hell did you get up here?!" Shuhei had still not lowered his weapon.

Urahara smiled. "Oh, I have my ways. Morning, Shiro – Chan!"

Hitsugaya's left eye began twitching at the sound of the nickname. He glared up at Hat 'n Clogs.

"How do you know that name?"

Kisuke chuckled. "Well, that is your name, isn't it?"

"No, it is not! My name is TO-SHIRO. Who told you to say that?"

"That would be me, Captain!"

In the same manner that Urahara did, Rangiku Matsumoto appeared beside Hisagi, who once again jumped in surprise. The busty lieutenant, who usually slept for long portions of the day, seemed to have the same broken internal clock as her Captain, but was in a much more cheerful mood.

"I should have known…" Hitsugaya said under his breath. "What made you decide to wake up early this morning?"

Rangiku smiled. "Oh, I just got some things to take care of."

"Like what?" Her words agitated Hitsugaya, for she never woke up to 'take care of things' like paperwork back in the Soul Society.

"You know, womanly things. It's been a while since I've taken a bath..."

Hisagi's face turned a bright red. Just the thought of his crush bathing sent his mind into a swirl.

"…And I figured since Shuhei's up, he could tag along and watch for any perverts."

A skinny strand of blood began to trickle from Hisagi's nose. His head slowly turned to Rangiku.

"…W-what?"

"My, my," Urahara muttered jokingly in Hisagi's ear, "Did someone's pants just get shorter?"

"Oh, Shuhei," Matsumoto fluttered her eyelashes at him. "You'll come, won't you? I need a big, strong guy like you to protect-"

"I'll do it!" The flustered man blurted out before she could finish. A short, awkward silence followed.

Toshiro shook his head. 'She's got him wrapped around her little finger.'

The woman in question simply smiled at her admirer. Rangiku could tell when a guy had fallen for her, since almost every one she ever met had. But there was something different about Shuhei; the way that his tough guy composure could change so quickly to that of a bumbling idiot amused her.

"Alright then, let's get going!" Rangiku exclaimed as she stood up. Only now did the men around her realize that she was wearing only a ragged white tank top and pink panties.

"Umm, Rangiku…." Hitsugaya pointed a crooked finger at his lieutenant, "Where are your pants?!"

"Oh, I didn't feel like putting them on yet."

"I'm okay with it," Hisagi uttered, his eyes not leaving Matsumoto's lower body.

"You can't just walk around without pants, Rangiku! What would people think?"

"What people? Most of them are just stupid zombies!"

"You know what I mean!"

"Humph!" Matsumoto pouted. She looked down at the still gawking Hisagi sitting beside her and smirked. "Wanna go get my pants?"

In an instant, and without a word, Shuhei had jumped down the R.V hatch to retrieve Rangiku's legwear.

"Congratulations, Miss Matsumoto!" Urahara laughed, "You've successfully made that man your bitch!"

Rangiku giggled. "I guess you're right, Kis – Hey! Where are you going, Captain?" The woman had noticed that Hitsugaya was walking away from the R.V. down the road.

"Scouting. Hopefully I find a gas station that hasn't been picked dry by looters."

"I'll come with you!"

"What – wait, I thought you were going to take a bath?"

"I am, but me and Hisagi can follow you until we find a clean enough lake or pond."

"I don't know if that's a-"

"You guys can use these!" Urahara pulled two beat up walkie-talkies from his green overcoat. "That way you can communicate and state your positions."

Toshiro wanted to punch Hat n' Clogs in the mouth. The young Captain wished to have some time alone, with no one to bother him. 'Oh well', he thought, 'At least they won't be with me the entire time…'

"Fine!" Hitsugaya snapped as he continued to walk away, not having any patience for his two companions. Shuhei popped back up through the R.V.'s top hatch with Matsumoto's pants, not knowing of the conversation he missed. Rangiku took the legwear from his hands and quickly slipped them on.

"Thanks, Shuhei. Now come on, Captain's leaving without us!"

"Wait, what? Where are we going with Hitsugaya?"

"Don't worry, Shuhei," Urahara patted the confused man on the shoulder. "I'll keep lookout while you're gone."

"But, Rangiku, I thought I was going to wat-I mean, protect you during your bath?"

"You will, now come on!" Matsumoto grabbed Hisagi by the shirt and jumped off the R.V.. The latter landed face first into the asphalt road. After wiping clean the scrape on his forehead, he ran to catch up with Rangiku, who was almost already beside her Captain. Urahara watched the three walk away and smiled. Things just got a lot easier for him. All he had to do now was keep watch until the others woke up; it was up to him to see this important task out.

"Well," Hat n' Clogs stretched his arms and plopped back onto the roof, "Time for a nap."

"You know what I miss the most? Sake."

Hitsugaya groaned. He and his traveling companions were not even half a mile away from the R.V., and Rangiku had still not run out of anything to converse about. Reminisce about, actually. From shopping at malls in the World of the Living to the dreaded "girls' nights out", each and every thing that came out of her mouth agitated the young Captain. Hisagi didn't seem to mind though; walking silently behind the woman just gave him more time to admire her 'assets'.

"Rangiku, please," Toshiro said, in an effort to shut her up, "Stop. Talking. Walkers will hear you. Do you want that?"

"No," Matsumoto sighed, "But you guys are the only ones I can talk to now. Besides, Shuhei doesn't mind."

"That's because he's been staring at your butt since we left!"

"No I haven't!"

"Oh, shut up, Shuhei! There's no point in denying it!"

Matsumoto giggled. "For someone who wanted me to be quiet, you sure are making a lot of noise, Captain!"

"Will you shut – what the hell?"

Hitsugaya stopped mid-sentence, distracted by movement on the road ahead. He put his hand out, ushering Rangiku and Shuhei to stop.

"What is it, Captain?"
"Shush, Rangiku!" Toshiro whispered. Kneeling down, he pulled off his backpack and removed a pair of binoculars from inside to get a closer look. He brought them to his eyes and focused in on the movement in the distance.

A trio of walkers was bent over the fresh, bleeding corpse of a child, only six or seven years old. The dead boy, dressed in an orange T-shirt and jean shorts, couldn't have stood a chance against the beasts, which were now devouring his insides. As one of the walkers dug its arm into the boy's body and pulled out a string of intestines, Hitsugaya pulled his binoculars down: it was just too horrid to watch.

"Damn those beasts…" Hisagi hissed

Rangiku's hand covered her gaping mouth. "Should we do something?"

Toshiro shook his head. "I'm not sure… I don't think we should get their attention."

"I do." Shuhei removed his crossbow from his back and took aim at one of the walkers. Before Hitsugaya could object, he pulled the trigger.

*THUNK!*

The walker dropped to the road, an arrow through its skull. The other two took notice, turning away from their kill and towards the three Shinigami. A very fat walker (who was most likely engorged with human flesh), began to stumble in their direction. Hisagi took aim again…

*THUNK!*

However, this time, the walker was still moving. The beast's head was too thick for the arrow to pierce, and it stuck from his head like the horn of a unicorn.

"Shit!" Before Shuhei could load another arrow, the shiny barrel of a revolver came into view out of the corner of his eye.

"Get down!" Rangiku yelled before firing the weapon, to which Hisagi obeyed.

*BANG!*

This time the large walker fell to the ground, black blood pouring from its meaty skull. Rangiku then set her sights on the other walker, which was standing above the child's corpse. She fired once again, dropping the final beast to the ground.

"And that's how it's done!" the woman said gleefully, putting her hand on her hip. Shuhei looked up at her and sighed, feeling embarrassed once again.

"It's nothing to be excited about, Rangiku," Toshiro said, "You just caught the attention of every single one of them out in those woods with your gun."

"Yeah, but at least those ones are gone."

Agitated once again, Hitsugaya merely shook his head and walked away from Matsumoto. "Let's just keep moving."

As the three walked past the bloodied bodies they brought down, Shuhei stopped.

"Guys…" he said, pointing towards one of the bodies. There was a hint of sadness in his voice. "Look."

The half-eaten body of the child was groaning and reaching towards Hisagi, his little arms too short to reach him. His young face was contorted into a permanent snarl, blood oozing from his mouth.

No one said a word. Hitsugaya swallowed hard, then turned and walked away. Rangiku covered her mouth in shock and quickly followed after her Captain.

Hisagi looked at the corpse for a few moments before aiming his crossbow at the poor, turned child.

"Sorry, kid."

He pulled the trigger.

Not long after the mercy killing, the three came upon an old weathered rest stop. It sat on the left side of the road, with a rough graveled parking lot that was once available for vacationers to park their vehicles in. Two rusty gas pumps sat outside; a bird nest sat on top of the one. The cement building was small, only about forty feet on all sides, and was painted in an off white shade, which went perfectly with its red tiled roof. The windows were shattered, lying hidden amongst the gravel rocks spread outside. Only one of the double doors still sat in its hinge.

"This place looks deserted," Rangiku was looking through its broken window panes, scanning through the aisles of mostly looted supplies. Stands empty of food lie on the floor in front of freezers stained with bloodied handprints; most likely the remains of a struggle between an unlucky survivor and a walker. The woman looked behind her at Hitsugaya and Shuhei. "Should we even go in?"

"We didn't travel this far for nothing, Rangiku…" the agitation in Toshiro's voice was quite noticeable. Before he could say another word, Matsumoto noticed something underneath the gravel she was standing on.

"Hey, look!" she knelt down and pulled out a dirty piece of paper. "It's a map!"

"What?!" The last word caught Hitsugaya's full attention. He snatched the map from the woman's hands before she could even open it.

"Hey!" Rangiku snapped, but her Captain wasn't listening. He was glancing over the map, looking for their current location.

"Is this place on there?" Hisagi was peering over Toshiro's shoulder.

"Yes," he answered, "Right here." He placed his finer on a small dot. "There doesn't seem to be any towns close by, but there is a penitentiary not far from here…"

"A what?"

"A prison, Rangiku." Hitsugaya answered. "You can't be that stupid…"

"Hey, I never heard it called that before!"

"Whatever you say…"

"Look," Shuhei pointed to a small blue blotch on the map, "There's a lake about half a mile north from here. Looks like it's in walking distance, too." He looked at Rangiku, "There's your bathtub."

The woman gasped. "Really!?" She snatched back the map from Hitsugaya, leaving him with large paper cuts in between his thumbs and pointer fingers. "You're right! Come on, let's go Shuhei!"

Hisagi was grinning from ear to ear, shaking in anticipation of possibly seeing Rangiku in the buff. "St-Stay here, Toshiro!" he stammered, shoving the map into Toshiro's chest. "We'll be right back!" And with that they ran off, both excited about two completely different things.

Hitsugaya watched run away as he wrapped a cloth around the large papercuts in his hands.

"Idiots…"

True to Hisagi's word, the lake was in fact walking distance from the pit stop, being only about a ten minute walk away. Actually getting to it was much trickier: it was located in a wooded area littered with thorn bushes and steep hills, not to mention the possible undead patrolling their hunting ground. Luckily, Rangiku and Hisagi managed to avoid seeing any walkers, as well as receiving only a few cuts from the sharp undergrowth. As the two reached a slippery rocky outcrop, the sound of running water could be heard. Shuhei stopped at the point where wet stone met forest floor. Rangiku, however, continued to walk forward.

"Careful, Rangiku!" Hisagi called out, "You might slip and fall!"

Matsumoto stood at the very edge of the outcrop and looked straight down. She turned back to Hisagi, smiling.

"I don't think I'd mind that!"

"What're you talking about?"

"Come and see for yourself!"

Carefully, Shuhei walked over the slippery outcrop towards the woman. He kneeled down beside her and looked down over the edge. His eyes widened.

"Holy shit…"

The two happened to be standing on the very top of a cascading waterfall that fell into the lake they had been searching for. Water was pouring out from the outcrop, its source an underground well located somewhere beneath the surface. The lake was glistening, lit from the sunlight peeking through the forest canopy, tall reeds surrounding its banks. Dragonflies skimmed across its surface while avoiding hungry water birds and frogs that hid within the reeds. It was a good thirty feet down to the water's surface from where Rangiku and Shuhei stood.

"It's beautiful!" Matsumoto exclaimed, her eyes set on the lake that seemed to be taken straight from Paradise.

"Yeah…" Hisagi breathed. He was not completely agreeing with what the woman said, however. His gaze was fixed not on the lake, but on her. The sun's light shone down on her body, as if she was a goddess of the forest. Shuhei barely seemed to notice that Rangiku was slipping out of her pants until she spoke.

"Umm, hello?" Rangiku raised an eyebrow at the man, issuing for him to look away.

"What- Oh! Uh, Sorry!" Hisagi covered his eyes and turned his back to her. "I was, uh, I didn't notice you were-"

"It's alright. You didn't see any more than you did earlier. Anyways, I'm gonna bathe behind the waterfall so you can't see me. Just stay up here on this ledge and keep watch. And NO PEEKING. Understood?"

Shuhei gave her a thumb's up. "Gotcha."

Matsumoto smiled. "Good. Now, don't turn around until you hear a splash."

Sweat began to drip from all the pores on Hisagi's body. He could hear Rangiku taking off her clothes behind him, every shuffle eating away at his insides. The urge to peek was killing him...

*SPLASH!*

Shuhei swiveled around as soon as he heard the sound. All that remained where Matsumoto stood was a small pile of clothes. Shuhei peered over the cliff's edge. He couldn't see Rangiku.

"Are you alright?"

The woman's head popped up from under the water. "Never better! Toss my clothes down!"

Scooping up the garments, Hisagi tied them together and dropped them down the cliff onto a rock by the water's edge. "Don't take too long!" he called to Rangiku, "I don't want any of those stiffs to find us!"

"I won't, I promise!" With that, the woman's head submerged back under the water. Shuhei watched as her curved form swam below the water's surface to the waterfall. His eyes couldn't leave her body; he was completely entranced by her beauty…

*SNAP!*

Shuhei spun around towards the woods where the sound had come from. There was no movement, nothing out of the ordinary. Just silence. Hopefully, Hisagi thought, it would stay like this.

But he knew it wouldn't.

"Empty… empty… empty…"

Back at the rest stop, Hitsugaya was rummaging through cardboard boxes in the storage shed behind the main building. He thought that it may not have been picked clean; however, his optimism had gotten the better of him. All the Captain had managed to find was a flat bottle of soda and a half eaten rice ball.

"This is ridiculous!" Toshiro kicked a cardboard box across the length of the shed, the object making contact with a rickety old cart. Anger boiling over, he was ready to get the hell out of the old shack when he heard a faint sound coming from outside.

Hitsugaya stooped. He rushed over to the window and peered outside. He couldn't see anything, but the sound was getting closer. And louder. He could feel the vibrations of the approaching entity travel up his legs from the floor. Only then did he realize what the source of the sound was:

Motorcycles.

The Captain didn't know much about human vehicles. The R.V was the only one he knew anything about; if asked, he couldn't tell you the difference between a Jeep and a Porsche. But motorcycles were different. Back when he and the others were first trapped in the World of the Living as the outbreak began, Hisagi had one of these "choppers", or so he called it. The Lieutenant learned how to ride it on his own, and used to follow behind the R.V. as they traveled. Hitsugaya could never stand the bike's obnoxious rumbling, and was overjoyed when Shuhei (regrettably) turned the bike into a moving bomb to take out a pack of walkers during a supply trip into Karakura Town.

From the intensity of the sound, Toshiro knew there was more than one motorcycle. Soon enough, they came into view, their riders pulling into the rest stop's gravel parking lot. There were three men, dressed in matching leather jackets; they were obviously all that remained of a once large biker gang. The tallest of the men was the first to dismount his bike. His head was exceptionally narrow and topped with a buzzed Mohawk. The other two happened to be twins, both bald and cleanly shaven. The only difference between them was the two teardrop tattoos on their faces; one had theirs below their right eye, the other below the left. Hitsugaya ducked down below the window as the tallest biker came near the shed. The man looked through the window fairly quickly and turned away, his attention on the rest stop itself. Hitsugaya could hear their loud voices even through the glass; they obviously didn't care to keep quiet.

"Hey, Hawk!" one of the brothers yelled at the tall man. He jerked his thumb at the shed. "Don'tcha wanna check this one?"

Hawk snorted. "Nah, it's all looted up in there. You an' yer brother check out dis one."

"Why can't you?" The brother whined.

"Cause, Lefty, I fuckin' said to! Don't make me have ta knock some sense into ya like I did yesterday!"

"Hey, man, lookie here!" The other brother, Righty (Toshiro figured that was his "name") shouted excitedly. The bald man picked something up off the ground, something Hitsugaya recognized.

"Damn!" Hitsugaya cursed silently, "He's got the map!"The precious paper must have fallen out of his pocket before he entered the shed.

"Whaddya have there, bro?" Lefty asked.

"It's a map, man! Hey Hawk, don'tcha remember sayin' we needed one of these?"

"Gimmie that!" Hawk snatched the map from Righty's hands. His eyes studied over the paper. "Ooh, look here, boys! I just found us a fishin' hole!"

Hitsugaya's eyes shot wide open. 'The lake!'

"Hell yeah!" Lefty was overjoyed. "Haven't had me seafood in a long time!"

His brother slapped him in the back of the head. "It ain't seafood unless ya get it from the sea, you dumbass!"

"Shaddup, both of ya!" Hawk rolled up the map and whacked the twins. "Now, me an' one of you guys are gonna go down to this here lake an' catch us some grub. Got it?"

"Yeah, man," Righty answered. "I'll go with ya. Let my bro here watch the bikes. You capable of that, man?"

"Of course, bro. I ain't that stupid."

"Good," Hawk smirked. He motioned to Righty. "C'mon, let's go."

The two bikers walked out of view from Hitsugaya, who had peeked out the window to get a look at the trio. He ducked down when Lefty turned around towards the shed.

"Dammit…" Toshiro breathed. He had to think of a way to get rid of the biker outside without firing his gun; if he did, the shot would send the other two scurrying back. Hopefully, he thought, Rangiku and Hisagi could deal with the trouble headed their way.

"So, uh, Rangiku… No, no, no, I can't say that!"

Frustrated, Shuhei slumped back against the trunk of an old tree with his face in his hands. For the past ten minutes, he had been thinking of a way to ask out Matsumoto, who was still bathing in the pond below him. Asking out probably wasn't the best term since they couldn't go on an actual date, and he sure as hell just couldn't ask to have sex with her!

"Damn," he hissed under his breath, "This isn't going to work."

"Hey, Shuhei!"

Hisagi raised his head in attention. He stood and went over to the edge of the cliff. Below him, Rangiku was treading water right outside the waterfall. Shuhei's face turned a bright red; the lieutenant could see the outline of her perfect figure through the gleaming water.

"W-what are you doing?!" Rangiku screamed at him, covering herself below the water. Shuhei didn't realize that he was pretty much staring at her naked.

"Shit! S-Sorry, I didn't – uh, I forgot, um…"

"Forgot what, man?"

Hisagi froze when he heard the unfamiliar voice. He spun around and saw a bald, cleanly shaven man smirking at him.

"Wha- ACK!"

A sharp, searing pain exploded in Shuhei's gut. He looked down and saw the man's arm pushing something into him.

"Oooh, this one went real deep, man," Righty snarled. He brought his arm back, pulling with it the bloody hunting knife that was just inside Hisagi's body. Shuhei clutched his chest, red life pouring from the wound, staining his hands a crimson black. Before he could retaliate, Righty delivered a solid fist to his head.

"Shuhei!" Rangiku yelled from the lake below. In her state of worry, she was oblivious to the presence of a tall, skinny man sneaking around the tall reeds at the water's edge. Rangiku swam over towards the rock where her clothes sat to retrieve the gun stuffed into her shorts. As she reached the rock, she felt a strong pull on her leg.

"AAAH!"

The attacker dragged the struggling, naked woman onto the shore, pinning her shoulders to the ground. Matsumoto took a moment to look at the threat, and saw that it was a tall, Mohawk-sporting man, grinning ear to ear.

"Why, ain't you a pretty lil' whore?" Narrow crooned, grabbing Rangiku around the neck. "I haven't fucked me a whore since before this shit started…" He licked her chest. "Ya ever gone anal, little whore?"

Rangiku spit in his face. Narrow wiped the saliva away with his free hand, still smiling. "Aw yeah, got me a fighter! We gonna have some fun now!"

Narrow forcefully flipped Rangiku over onto her chest, groping her lower body. The woman continued to thrash trying desperately to escape, but to no avail. She had never felt more helpless in her life.

"Don't you worry, my pal is takin' care of your boyfriend up there. He's gotta have him bleeding all over that cliff by now." Rangiku froze when she hear him unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants. "Now, I promise ya I won't be too gentle, little whore. I'm gonna make this hurt real good!"

Rangiku closed her now crying eyes, ready for what was about to happen next, when she heard a familiar sound, followed by a large splash.

*THUNK!*

Narrow looked up away from the helpless woman towards the lake. Floating by the waterfall was the lifeless body of Righty, a growing circle of red water around his head.

"What the fuck?!" Enraged, Narrow stood up, placing his foot on Matsumoto's back. Rangiku could feel the biker's cleat's digging into her bare skin. The pain was searing…

But it didn't last long.

*THUNK!*

"Gakk!"

Narrow gasped: his throat had suddenly tightened up. He reached for his neck, but his hands felt the shaft of an arrow that had pierced straight through his windpipe. The biker stumbled, his foot leaving Rangiku's back. Coughing up blood, he fell to his knees, his eyes focused on the cliff. The last thing he saw was Shuhei Hisagi clutching his bleeding gut, with his loaded crossbow pointed right at his face. The lieutenant didn't even have to fire his weapon as Narrow landed face first into the muddy shore, dead. Only seconds after the biker keeled over, Hisagi fell down to one knee in pain.

"Shuhei!" Rangiku screamed. She frantically got to her feet and grabbed her tank top and shorts from the rock, putting them on as she ran up the side of the cliff to Hisagi. When she reached him, the lieutenant had made his way over to a tree and was leaning against it, his hand still pressing the bleeding wound. Hisagi saw her and tried to stand, only to fall towards the ground.

"Shuhei!" Matsumoto caught the man before his head hit the stone.

"Rangiku…" Shuhei moaned, "Are… you alright?"

"Don't worry about me! You're dying here!"

"I *ngh* asked… If you were alright… I don't give a damn about myself…"

Rangiku was stunned. This man was on the verge of dying, and was worried more about her than his own health. A faint smile spread across her lips; no one else had shown this much affection to her before…

Emotions taking the best of her, Rangiku leaned down and kissed Hisagi on the lips. It wasn't a peck, nor was it overly passionate; it was a kiss that lasted long enough to get her feelings across to him. She forgot about everything in that moment; the apocalypse, the undead, almost being raped. All she wanted right now was to be close to Shuhei Hisagi.

When she pulled away, Shuhei's face was frozen in surprise. He couldn't even begin to grasp what his crush had just done.

"Rangiku…" Shuhei breathed, his eyes fixed on her face.

"C'mon," Rangiku said tenderly. She hoisted Shuhei up, throwing his arm over her shoulder, "Let's go get you better."

When Shuhei and Rangiku reached the rest stop, they were treated to a welcome surprise. The group's R.V. was parked by the gas pumps, with Izuru filling up the vehicle's tank with every last drop of gasoline. Hitsugaya was talking with Ichigo and Urahara when he saw Hisagi and Matsumoto come onto the scene. The first thing the Captain noticed was the wound in the man's gut.

"Hisagi!" Toshiro asked, "What happened to you?"

"Ask Rangiku," Shuhei answered, "I'm dying here."

Matsumoto shifted the wounded lieutenant over to Urahara.

"Alright now, young man," Hat n' Clogs joked, "Let's go get you a Band-Aid for your big ol' boo-boo."

"Shut up…"

"Aw, don't be mean. You won't get you brand new motorcycle if you're mean…."

"Motorcycle…? Wait, what?!"

Urahara brought Hisagi over to a large object covered by a blanket. Ururu was sitting on top of it, looking as sad as ever.

"Ururu, if you'd please show this man what he's won?" Kisuke said, mimicking a game show host.

The little girl nodded, and then jumped down off the concealed object. She quickly pulled the blanket away, revealing a black Harley Davidson Sportster 48 model. A pair of silver dragons were painted on its sides, their wavy forms stretching across the length of the bike. It was in almost perfect condition; the only flaws were the rims, stained with the blood of walkers.

Shuhei was in awe. "Where did you get this?"

"Well, when our big ol' R.V came pulling into this place, there was this guy standing here with three bikes just like this one. Apparently he didn't want anything to do with all of us, and he took off on one of the bikes."

"So where's the other one?"

"Underneath the R.V."

"You ran it over?!"

"And now you know why I don't drive."

As Shuhei shifted his attention away from Hat n' Clogs to his new Harley, Rangiku sat and admired him from a distance. She smiled as she watched him climb onto the bike and pretended to drive it; he looked like a cute little kid who had just gotten the greatest Christmas present ever.

"So, Rangiku…"

The woman was startled by her Captain's voice, who had sat down beside her on a pile of bricks.

"Yeah, Captain?"

"What happened to you and Hisagi at the lake?"

"Well, these guys attacked us…"

"Was one of them really tall and skinny?"

"Huh?" Rangiku clearly remembered the man, as he was the one who tried to have his way with her. She didn't plan on telling Hitsugaya about that, though. "Oh, yeah, one of them was. Why?"

"Just a hunch… Did something happen between you two? You and Hisagi, I mean."

"…He saved me from one of them. He killed them both to keep me safe, even though he was bleeding so badly…. No one ever did anything like that for me before, so I-"

"Okay, I don't need to know that part, Rangiku."

Matsumoto couldn't help but giggle. She lightly punched her Captain in the arm. "I kissed him, you little pervert!"

"Oh! Well then… Um…" Hitsugaya looked for a way to kill the awkwardness, when he remembered something from earlier. "Hey, Ichigo!"

"Yeah?" The de-facto leader of the group walked over to the two.

"I found a map when the three of us got here. However, that man who ran off on the bike had acquired it by unknown means-"

"You dropped it, didn't you?"

"Shut up, Rangiku! Anyways, I happened to notice that there is a prison not too far from here. It sounds like it could be a safe place to hold out for a while. If we keep going down this road then head east, we could reach it before nightfall."

"You think it's clear of walkers?"

"I'm not sure, Ichigo, but there's no harm in finding out."

"Well then, that sounds like a plan. I'll go tell the others, and then we can get ready to leave."

"I ain't leavin' unless I can go out on this!" Hisagi yelled from his bike, as Urahara stitched up his wounds. He looked at Rangiku, jerking his thumb at the seat behind him. "You wanna ride shotgun?"

"Of course!" Matsumoto answered. "You don't think my boobs will push you too far forward?"

"Oh, I won't mind." Hisagi assured her. The two blossoming lovers smiled at each other sweetly.

Hitsugaya looked at them both, a small smirk on his face.

"Idiots…"

In Memoriam:

Little Boy Walker

Narrow

Righty

"Probably the first time that a walker is the most decent one to die."