A/N: hi! when i first started writing this story, i was forcing myself to follow what typical fanfictions i've read looked like: in chunks, with line breaks, and jumps in between different parts. the stories moved by quickly and were upbeat. but i can't adhere to those standards. my writing comes out awkward and doesn't flow well. it becomes a mess of words that can be painful to read. and now, i've learned that i want to write this story as sort of a novel; something reminiscent of a book, different events happening chapter by chapter as opposed as through line breaks. i've been formatting it all wrong, and rereading the chapters i have put out pains me. so bare with me as we start from square one again. i changed the story a little bit so that it'd make more sense.

When I said that I was bored of the way the world was and that I was ready for a change, running head first into a high school packed with zombies wasn't exactly what I was hoping for.

I groaned as my sore body shifted in bed so that I was facing the alarm clock. 8:27a.m. My body stuck to the bedsheets and my hair was tangled from sweat. I grumbled under my breath, turning on my left side with the pillow over my face. The sun began to shine into the room, and was suddenly beaming into my eyes. After giving a heavy sigh, I sat up, running my fingers through my hair. There were many knots in it, ones that I didn't feel like wasting my time to untangle.

My phone vibrated, obviously a message from someone. Initially, I chose to ignore it, but I groaned as a call came through. I thought about ignoring it until I remembered that today was Ruby's first day of school. What if something happened to her?

Clicking "Answer" I walked to the kitchen to begin making my morning cup of coffee.

"You need to leave." Uncle Qrow's voice came through, loud and clear. There was no explanation, just those four simple words. He was typically a humourist, so I decided to play along.

"Woah, good morning to you too Uncle Qrow. What's got your panties in a twist?" I chuckled, slowly placing the kettle of water onto the stove.

He sighed heavily, and I could imagine him shaking his head on the other end. "Yang, I don't have time for your silliness or jokes. You need to leave. With Ruby. There's been an outbreak in the hospital I overlook in your town and I know the school isn't too far from there and-"

"Hey hey, wait. Outbreak? What are you talking about?" My eyebrows were scrunched together, confused as to what he was referring to and why he was so serious.

"I don't know- they just- zombies. Yang, there are zombies." I tried to stifle my laughter, but he heard me anyways. "Look, I'm serious. They're-"

"Zombies?" I cut him off, "Oh come on, I'm not ten anymore Uncle Qrow."

"YOU NEED TO LEAVE. NOW." Anger seeped through his voice and he spoke with a sense of urgency. "I'M NOT KIDDING YANG. I- I don't want you two to get hurt." Uncle Qrow rarely ever raised his voice at me. There was rushed talking in the background that I could hear from his end. "Hell, it's starting over here now too. You have to go. I have to go. I love you."

"No, no no no, what do you mean I love you? Uncle Qrow, nothing's going to happen to you right?" The kettle started whistling, so I began to pour the water into my coffee mug, anxious for him to reply to me. "Right?"

Chills went down my spine as he laughed. It was callous and empty. "I don't know, Yang. If you make it through, head east. I will try to make a safe haven here if I can. And if I don't- if you or Ruby don't-" I could hear him sniffling through the phone and people yelling at him to get off of the phone, "I'll see you on the other side. I love you both." His voice cracked as he said it.

The call went silent as he hung up. I stood there dazed, with the coffee in my hand. I slid to the ground, tears streaming down my face as I drank the rest of my coffee. I closed my eyes to attempt to escape the situation, but Ruby's face popped up in my head. I scrambled to my feet, threw the cup in the sink, and ran to turn the TV on.

I fumbled with the remote as I leaned on the back of the couch. "Beacon High is currently…" The video shown was an outlook of the school, with students fleeing and many of them screaming. I turned off the TV and flung the remote across the room out of anger. "Hell, what the hell."

I pushed open my bedroom door and changed into some dark jeans and a tee. I reached for the duffle bad at the top of my closet and began showing some clothes into it. I headed towards the kitchen and began shoving food into the bag. "Beans? Corn? Crap, why didn't we ever buy good food." I flung all the cabinet doors open in an attempt to find our first aid kit.

I dropped the bag at the front door and grabbed my leather jacket that was hanging on the coat stand. I turned back to Ruby's room and took her backpack full of hunting supplies we took whenever we went out camping. "Damn it, of course it was in here." The bag only contained Ruby's hunting knives and the first aid kit. I shoved some of her favorite clothes in there and threw the bag onto the duffle bag. I went out to the garage and grabbed my old baseball bat I used to use in high school when I was on the baseball team. "You couldn't win me a homerun, but I hope you can save my life."

I snatched my keys off the counter, threw Ruby's backpack over my shoulder, and grabbed the duffle bag and bat and headed out.

I threw up into the lawn the moment I got out. Our neighbor was feasting on the chief police officer's shoulder. After emptying my stomach, I pushed forward and hopped into the car, throwing everything into to back seat. I started backing out just to feel the car jolt to a stop. "Seriously? What the fuck." I had hit someone while backing out the car, but I didn't care anymore. I needed to get to Ruby. I pushed on the accelerator and felt the bumps the car went over. I cringed as I switched the gear from "reverse" to "drive" and headed towards the school.

Living relatively close to the hospital, the street was already littered with bodies. I tried to keep my stomach down as I saw the bloody bodies of children laid out on the street while I drove over them. I sped up since there were no cars on the road, hoping to get out of there faster.

I parked in the football field and pulled out my baseball bat. A blonde kid was running towards me with wide eyes, screaming "Hey! Hey you!" but I cut him off and asked him "Have you seen Ruby? A girl about 5'2 with short spiky black hair? Wearing red and black?" Recognition passed his eyes, and he responded with, 'Ruby? Ruby Rose? Yeah, she told me you would come. Second floor, first bathroom on the left."

"Oh, cool. Thank you…"

"Jaune. Jaune Arc." He gave a bright, cheery smile, and I nearly thought he was insane for being able to act so normal regardless of what was happening around him.

"Thank you, Jaune. Anyways I have to-"

"Wait! Which way, um, which way is west? I heard the Schnee's set up a safe haven there already. Jacques Schnee set one up near the college."

I pointed west and he eagerly thanked me. I continued on my path towards the school while a white truck pulled up beside me. It was Jaune sticking his head out his window and saying "Good luck. I hope we'll meet again." to me before speeding off.

So here I am, running head first into a school filled with crazed kids screaming and rushing out of the building. It was a hassle trying to get in, having to fight with some kids over my bat and some of them calling me insane for running into the school instead of fleeing. I pushed through the entrance, ignoring their questioning looks and made my way towards the stairs, only to be met by a very, very bloody teenager groaning at me. She lunged at me, but I just whacked her head with the baseball bat and she fell to the floor. "At least I've still got that going for me."

I ran up the stairs two at a time until I reached the second floor. "Shit, did he say left or right? Was it left or-"

"Yang!" A small girl popped her head out of the first bathroom to the left and smiled at me. Oh, well I guess he said left then. I ran up to her to check on her but stopped when I looked down at her hands. My lips twitched up as her brows creased. "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

I bursted out laughing at her and pointed at the pair of very, very large scissors in her hand. Her checks went crimson and she pouted at me. "Shut up! I had nothing better to find." I gave her a shit eating grin and said "It's nice to know you're safe Ruby." She dropped the scissors and pulled me into a hug, her chin barely resting on my shoulder. "I was scared without you Yang."

"Come on Ruby, let's go." I began to tug her towards the stairs, but saw bodies slowly making their way up the stairs. "God damn it, is there another exit?"

Ruby peered around me to get a look of the situation, and pulled me the other way. "There's a window on this side. If we jump out, it won't hurt. There's a flowerbed on the bottom." I nodded, agreeing to her somewhat understandable plan as she brought me over to the window.

I lazed around, waiting for Ruby to open the window, but the more time passed, the more nervous I began to be. "Um not to rush you or anything Ruby, but what's taking so long?"

"Shut it. I can't open it."

I sighed and went to make fun of her, but I looked back towards the way we came to see the zombies turning the corner. "Shit, Ruby, open it. Open it faster."

"I can't Yang! It's stuck."

We were in the view of the zombies now, and they began to steadily make their way towards us, faster. I glanced back to look at Ruby struggling with the window again, just to see that it was still locked. "You idiot! It's still locked."

Ruby turned around and opened her mouth to make a witty remark, but then replied with "Oh fuck, YANG!"

I turned around to see the three zombies running full speed towards us. "JUST OPEN THE WINDOW RUBY."

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?"

I swung at the first zombie, and he stumbled on top of the other two, all of them toppling over. I thought that was going to buy us some time, but they quickly recovered and that was pissing me off. "RUBY ROSE USE YOUR USELESS FUCKING ARMS AND OPEN THE STUPID WINDOW."

"I'M FUCKING TRYING."

The zombie that I hit lunged at me and I swung at full force, accidentally bashing his head into the wall and causing blood to splatter everywhere. I heard the click of the window opening and Ruby jumping out. I blindly swung at the other two zombies before looking down out the window. Ruby had rolled out of the flowerbed and motioned for me to jump down. I put my foot on the ledge in the hopes of giving myself a boost, but I slipped on the blood on the bottom of my shoe and fell face first into the flowerbed. I heard Ruby cough to cover up her laughter. I shot her a glare and brushed myself off, glancing up at the window. The zombies were attempting to climb out the window. "Okay Ruby," I let out a heavy sigh, "get your ass moving."

We maneuvered through the mass of teenage bodies while running out towards the football stadium. Out of frustration, I poked some of them with the bat, and that got a majority of them to move out of my way. Ruby's hand was in mine as I pulled her closer to the car. I felt bad about leaving them behind and pushing through them for my own benefit, but I didn't want anything to happen to Ruby. I glanced behind me to check on Ruby, a small sad smile on her face.

I was about to open the passenger door when we heard a panicked "RUBY!" Ruby whipped her head around to see a mass of orange hair with a large, pink bow directly in the middle of it headed our way. Ruby's face lit up in glee as she called out to her girlfriend. "Penny?! Come here!"

Penny had come over a couple of times, being the first friend Ruby made when we moved here, and then soon after, Ruby's first girlfriend.

The kind girl returned the smile her girlfriend was giving while running with all her might towards us. She was within reaching distance from us when suddenly, her body was tackled and crashed into the ground.

A boy who didn't look much older than Ruby was tearing the flesh of Penny's face off with his bare hands and shoving it into his mouth. A shrill scream escaped Penny's lips and I put my arm out to force Ruby to go behind me and walk backwards toward the car. I took a chance to glance at Ruby, and she looked horrified. Her mouth was covered by her small hand, and her eyes were wide open with tears threatening to spill out. She swallowed hard, which I know was her attempt to not vomit everywhere at the sight of her girlfriend being brutally tortured.

Penny suddenly shoved the boy off of her and he ran off, likely to find some other target. Her face was bleeding, badly. It was already badly deformed, and I felt myself gag even though my stomach was empty from earlier. She was stumbling towards us, her head drooping slightly and her arms limp. "Ruby…. Ruby…." she groaned as she reached her arms towards us.

I started pushing Ruby back towards the car at a faster pace. "Ruby, we have to go. Now." I commanded, not wanting to lose her.

"NO. Yang, we have to save her, we have to do something. I- I love her Yang. Just like I love you." Ruby gave me a pleading look before she took a step towards Penny, and Penny didn't hesitate to come bolting towards us, her jaw snapping up and down, ready to eat us alive. I pulled Ruby back, and whispered an "I'm sorry Ruby, but I can't lose you too," into her ear as I stepped in front of her. Penny was about to attack us when I made a heavy swing to her jaw. When my baseball bat connected with her face, her jaw cracked and she fell to the ground as Ruby screamed at me. I turned around and hugged Ruby with my free arm, pushing her back towards the car, but she was fighting against me, screaming, thrashing, kicking, and clawing my back with her nails.

"Ruby, she's gone already. You just, you need to let her go. I- I'm sorry."

Ruby kept fighting against me until she lost her energy, slowly stopping as she broke down into sobs. Her body slipped out of my grasp as she fell to her knees. I frowned as she put her face in her hands. I let her stay there for a few minutes, letting it all out. I knew how she felt, it was the same as when our parents died. When something you love gets pulled away from you in an instant. And it hurt my heart because I'm the one who did it. I took away someone she loved right in front of her and left her no choice but to deal with it.

When I saw bodies coming in from the gates of the field I slowly pulled Ruby up. "Come on Ruby, we have to leave now. She would've wanted you to. Stay safe, I mean."

Ruby got up but avoided eye contact with me. "Wait. I, um, I just want to say my goodbyes. Please. I deserve it." Ruby pleaded. She kneeled down in front of Penny's lifeless body and tears started streaming down her cheeks.

I was going to protest because we really needed to get out of here, but she gave me a look of pure hurt and so I nodded my head, turning to my car and giving her some privacy. "Ruby, I know you love her, but please, make it quick."

In the reflection of the car window, I could see the gate of the field getting excessively crowded, as more masses of bodies started pushing their way towards us.

"Ruby, we have to go. Now." I demanded.

"But Yang I-"

"NOW."

Ruby looked over her shoulder to the horde making their way towards her. She scrambled to stand up, fumbled to yank open the door before hopping into the seat and slamming it shut. I followed suit, and I cursed the world for not giving Ruby a chance to properly say goodbye to the people she loved and lost.

"Yang, hurry up!"

"I'M TRYING." I fiddled with the keys, trying to frantically shove it into the ignition lock cylinder as the zombies came closer and closer. My nerves wasn't making it any easier. Eventually I got it, the car sputtering alive, and I pulled out onto the road, hitting a few bodies on my way out. I rolled up the window to keep the blood out, and to keep our hair from flying into our faces. I looked at Ruby, and she was staring into the distance. The reflection of her eyes in the window held so much pain.

The guilt was building up in my heart again, but I can't break right now.

I tried to ignore the sound of bodies thumping against the sides of the car, and pretended I didn't hear the cries of help some people were giving. Ruby closed her eyes, likely trying to keep the sounds out of her head too.

Ten minutes into the drive, Ruby was already fast asleep, with her head laying on my shoulder.

I wondered how she was feeling. She didn't get to have a proper goodbye with Penny. It must have killed her. But I couldn't lose Ruby like that, not when I fought for her my entire life. She was the only constant I had. She was the only person I loved. And yet I hurt someone she loved right in front of her.

I wondered what it was like for Ruby, to have someone new to love. I never had the chance to start a relationship because I was always looking out for Ruby. Many people have asked me out on dates, but I politely declined all of them. Good intentions or not, I didn't fancy the idea of getting involved with new people. Ruby was just talking to me about it a few months ago too.

"Yang, you always seem so lonely. Why don't you start dating?"

I was surprised that she had asked that question, though I should have expected it. Ruby was ending her junior year, and she had been dating Penny for a while now.

"Don't worry about it, you little runt. Either way, I have you!"

She looked at me seriously and said, "Yaaanggg, you know what I mean. What happens when I move away and go to college? You can't always look over me forever."

I tore my gaze off of Ruby, looking defeated. Ruby began to laugh at me so I responded, "You better not think that you'll get away from me that easily. And if you go to college, then I'll just follow you." I smiled at Ruby as she rolled her eyes and groaned in frustration. She knew she was defeated.

I pushed those thoughts aside as Ruby began to stir next to me. She slowly opened her silver eyes and looked straight at me. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"To the grocery store." I answered. She scrunched her eyebrows together, as if asking me Why? "We should focus on having enough food to survive first. But I think the place will be packed, full of zombies, humans, or both. I hope you're ready to fight regardless of the situation."

Ruby blinked a couple of times, trying to take in the information. "Okay, tell me when we get there." I caught glimpse of her silver eyes, now more like a dark and stormy gray, before she closed them and laid her head against the window. I sighed as I thought about what we were going to do when we got there. I didn't want to get into any arguments with living people and I still had a lot of apologizing to do to Ruby.

I stepped harder on the accelerator and I could hear Ruby let out a long exhale.

She probably won't ever forgive me for doing that to Penny.

A/N: hi again, it's been a while huh. i never meant to give this up, this story i mean. and yeah, "why'd you reupload the first chapter if it was almost identical to the first publication of it?" is a valid question. there were mistakes i wanted to fix, and some details i wanted to change or add in. it will all add up and make sense later.

if you're old here, it's nice to still see you sticking around, i'll be revising the other chapters i've put out before as well before pushing forth with a brand new one; thank you for staying around, and i promise i'll never give this up.

and to the new people showing up, hi! it's nice to meet you, and i hope you'll ride it out until the end. forgive my inconsistencies, and i like hearing from all of you.