Dead Delinquents: A SYOC Experience Chapter 12: Different Kinds of Fiends, a highschool of the dead fanfic

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 back again. I apologize for my absence. Not only am I recovering from knee surgery, but I'm also spending a lot of my free time learning Java to improve future employment prospects. On top of that I'm a diehard fan of professional tennis and one of the 4 grand slams of the year, Wimbledon, is happening this week and next. Therefore it would be an understatement to say I'm not busy.

However with that being said, if you guys can continue to be as good as you have been in the past when it comes to promptly reviewing, I'm considering making this story a weekly update for the rest of the summer. I won't be able to update next week due to being on vacation, but if the reviews are 10 or higher on this chapter by then (or at the very least close to 10), I'll consider updating this story as frequently as you're willing to review it.

I'll try to keep the other announcements brief. 7 out of 13 of you who voted in my poll about the future of DTF voted for the story to keep going, so expect an update on that story when I get back from my trip in early July. However, since 7 of you voted to keep the story, 7 reviews will also be the minimum amount of reviews for me to continue the story. As much as I like writing just to vent some creative ideas, I want to make sure my stories have an audience. Otherwise my time would be better spent elsewhere. I've been drafting out the plot with the help of my good pal Keeper (he goes by Enigmental now), so I'm hoping it won't disappoint.

This chapter will be on the short side for a few reasons. Firstly, the two characters covered are both from the Insane Ward, which limits the activities they can participate in until the outbreak. Secondly we sit on the precipice of the outbreak, meaning that we already sit so close to the tipping point that I don't need to build much more plot wise before we can get some good old zombie in here. Finally, I'm writing this chapter the day before I go away for a week so I can get an update to you in June.

I think the time for talk is behind us. Now, let's meet Xandra and Kurt…

9 PM Insane Ward Z day

The insides of the Insane Ward were always dimly lit no matter what time of day it was. Due to the fact that the Insane Ward was wedged in between the male and female wings, the only lights in the cramped rectangular set of cells were artificial. However there was barely any light in the dark and unkempt room because the guards and staff barely ever did maintenance to the fixtures in the cells for fear of injury. The only time the guards or staff seemed to care about any of the inmates in the Insane Ward was when an inspector was scheduled to come. Whenever this would happen there would always be a rush to get each of the Ward's inmates showered, well fed and their cells looking well kept. At two months since the last inspection however, the facility was borderline unsanitary.

In the cell farthest away from the light that streamed into the room from the entrance, a young girl sat slouched up against the wall. Her raven black hair and pale skin were covered in dirt and grime, yet she showed no sign of wanting to clean it off. Her dual colored eyes stared down at the cold barren floor as her thoughts were blank. The girl was small in stature at 5'1" tall and less than 100 pounds. Her arms and legs were thin almost to the bone and her hair was cut shorter on seemingly random strands rather than have a uniform length. Her most peculiar bodily feature was her right eye, which had its cornea tattooed black in order to join a street gang back when she was twelve. Needless to say Xandra Gallon has journeyed an interesting road in her short sixteen years, a road that had led her to the bottom of this filthy prison cell.

Even amongst the other deranged and outcast residents of the dismal ward, Xandra's mental state was a wreck. Most of the time Xandra just sits in her filthy corner. She barely ever speaks or responds to any outside stimulation to the point where some people in the facility question if she was ever fully sane.

Xandra's thoughts continued to wander. She thought about how she held herself responsible for her mother's death due to a medical condition when she was five. Then she recalled the fall of her family into poverty due to her now widower father's excessive drinking. Her time in street gangs, the tattooing of her eye and other dark memories also infiltrated her thoughts as the dark specter that is regret continued to feed her delusion about her current state. However the one thought that had an almost constant presence in her mind was the event that landed her in this cell and the disconnection with reality that it caused.

Every time she relived this moment it would happen the same way. Xandra would come home late after a long day of gang violence with a side of drug trafficking. Her father, in a drunken haze, would recognize her presence and angrily call for her to grab him more beer. Begrudgingly sulking to the refrigerator to grab said alcoholic beverage, Xandra notices a lazily torn note sticking out of the trash. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Xandra reads the note and is shocked to find that her father has agree to let human traffickers take her away in exchange for clearing the many debts to his name. Enraged by this information, Xandra sat in the kitchen contemplating what she was about to do. After she had made her mind up she silently crept into the room where he lay passed out and thrust a kitchen knife deep into his throat multiple times until he stopped moving…

Xandra's memories continued to play back to her in an almost never-ending loop as she sat motionless against the unkempt cell wall. However, she failed to hear another more joyous sound fill the room.

More towards the center of the small row of cells was a bit of an anomaly in terms of the cell's conditions. Not only was this cell lit better than those surrounding it, but it was almost spotlessly clean. In the room's corner sat an antique piano that while not in the most pristine condition was at the very least functional. A young man sat on the piano bench vigorously playing as the tempo of the songs constantly swung from a stylistic calming tune to a violent attention gripping one. Certainly Kurt Dylandy was one of the most dynamic and volatile residences the institution has ever been a home to.

Many have questioned why an inmate, and one diagnosed as insane at that, would be in possession of a piano. The reason Kurt has this privilege is twofold. The first reason is that playing the piano is the only thing that is known to keep Kurt out of his incredibly destructive fits of rage. The second and more important reason is that Kurt is the only surviving member of a once rich and prosperous family. This affords Kurt more luxuries even within the walls of the juvenile prison then other members of the insane ward.

Kurt was tall for his 17 years but had a rather thin build despite his attempts to get stronger. Kurt has flowing shoulder length hair that was dyed white to emulate some of the great composers of old. Kurt's eyes were blue, but without pupils due to a condition called aniridia that he acquired at birth. The young man's anger was somewhat warranted, as he had lost his entire family during a hostage situation at a church when he was still young. Despite having a very religious upbringing the depressed young man began to seriously question religion and what was fair in the world. This hatred kept building every day and Kurt began to be insatiably angry on a more regular basis. The anger finally boiled over when on his sixteenth birthday he burned down a church and killed everyone inside, using the hypocrisy of religion as his motive. There was some debate as to whether Kurt deserved to be put in the insane ward, but do to having been treated for insanity initially after the death of his family a similar diagnosis was easy to justify.

Kurt continued to play the piano as he entered a calming section of the song he was practicing. However, a more deranged member of the ward that lived next to him began to relentlessly bang against the bars the separated their cells. The young man hit a wrong note, causing him to look up and snarl at the denizen who distracted him.

"I've told you so many times…" Kurt hissed as he got up from the bench and walked to the side of his cell where the perpetrator was. "…to shut the hell up!"

Kurt struck the deranged man straight in the jaw, knowing him to the ground and a few teeth out of his mouth. The hatred filled young man continued to strike the man even while he was down, his anger knowing no limits. After he was satisfied with how much he had pulverized his neighbor, he retracted his arms back into his own cell and wiped them off on a cloth that already had similar bloodstains on it. He then continued on, playing his beautiful but dark tune.

Xandra, Kurt and many other spent their days within the murky halls of the Insane Ward. But for a least the night, Alice slept soundly in the Robin's arms away from the chaos. However, nothing could prepare any of them for what was about to happen…

9:15 Rooftops Moments before first contact…

As the sun set in the backdrop and made the water of the small pool on the top of the roof glow a golden luster, the squeaks of sneakers and sound of laughs of pure joy resonated from the rooftops. Murph dribbled the basketball with uncanny finesse as Denise did her best to use her big frame to stop her friend's advance. However neither of them saw a third person slowly sauntering towards the peripheries of the rooftop court, an aura of death following him.

Just as Denise stole the ball and made a shot of her own, the happy mood of the game changed as Murph turned to see the silent specter that was coming for his life.

"Laz!" Murph gasped in shock, dropping the basketball.

"Your time is up, old man" Laz said, as a loud crack sounded in the air causing birds perched in nearby trees to fly away.

The basketball slowly bounced on the ground, almost as if time had stopped. However, rather than one body hitting the ground after the pull of the trigger two did.

Before Laz could even react, he heard a shot in retaliation and felt a sharp pain as solid lead ripped through his chest.

As Laz fell to the ground in a combination of pain and shock, Murph began to realize what had happened. Rather than the bullet striking him in the upper chest, it had only hit him in the shoulder because Denise had jumped and tackled him to the ground. The even more surprising thing was the speed at which Denise had grabbed Murph's handgun and the ease at which she had used it. Denise seemed to be almost as stunned as Murph was.

"Did I just… what have I…?" Denise murmured, visibly shacking.

"Ow… damn this hurts…" Murph cringed, holding his shoulder. "We need to get out of here and get me some help".

As Denise picked Murph up off the ground, Laz finally came back to his senses. "I need your fucking help up here you lackeys!" Laz screamed into his headset.

"Come on Murph, we need to go" Denise said, helping the traumatized older man to walk.

"One second…" Murph said before ripping the pistol out of Denise's hand and quickly firing the last five shots into Laz's chest at point blank range. "That should be the last of you, you smug asshole".

As Denise helped Murph get down the stairs, Laz began to rise from the ground. Pulling the bullets out of his skin, the wounds seemingly closed by themselves and soon Laz was back on his feet like nothing happened.

"You'll die for the Murph…" he mutters, but he was cut off by a chorus of grotesque moans coming from outside the facility…

That's all for now guys. Sorry, but there'll be no top 10 this week because I'm rushing out this chapter. Here are a few ideas for future lists that you can express your feelings on in the reviews.