Author's note: Revised like I have been doing. Reviewer responses taken out for this chapter and some idiotic spelling mistakes. Nothing else, not many new paragraphs either in this one.

Hell is full time to empty
Human flesh feeding frenzy
Woah oh, "Here comes the dead"

Open graves, ghouls a plenty
Zombie army machine is ready
Woah oh, "Here comes the dead"

When the dead come arising
You see their eyes, you're hypnotized and
They eat your guts out
And now you're the "Living Dead"

'Day of the dead' by The Misfits.

How long is the night?

Chapter 4

A new friend found

Leon and Ashley began to make their way down the other side of the twisted metal wall. Careful not to slip and fall, they slowly made it to the bottom. If they had made one wrong move either one of them would have been punctured with sharp pieces of metal.

Ashley was becoming extremely paranoid. She looked behind them every minute to make sure that they weren't being followed as they made their way down the empty street.

The apartment buildings and restaurants on this side weren't as damaged. There were a few cracks in the walls and the odd thing set ablaze. Any broken down vehicles were pushed into the alleyways and any garbage was neatly packed into multiple piles.

After looking around for some time, Leon and Ashley came to the end of the street. They looked around for a different route to take and decided on a small road that lead them to a cozy looking neighborhood.

The lawns were still in tip-top shape and there was no damage done to the homes by the looks of it. Some cars were still in the driveway, and others were parked expertly on the side of the road.

"Well doesn't this just look welcoming," grumbled Leon.

"We should see if anyone is still normal around here. Maybe I can find something better to wear while I'm at it."

"Now is not the time to worry about what you're wearing. We have to find out if there are any survivors, then I have to get you back home safely," Leon commented.

Ashley just nodded and followed Leon as he walked up to the first house.

It was painted a creamy white color. The shingles on the roof were a forest green and the frames of the windows were a light brown, giving the house a laid back look.

They went up to one of the unbroken windows first. Leon peered in to make sure that no one unwanted was lurking around inside, then went to the oak door and cautiously opened it up with his hand. The door made a quiet squeaking noise as it opened all the way and they walked inside.

Inside of the house was just as normal as the outside was. Nothing was damaged and it looked like nothing had happened at all.

"I guess it's safe enough, but we should still be careful. Try to be as quiet as possible. You can start by taking those noisy shoes off for starters."

Leon received a death glare from Ashley before she hesitantly took off her shoes and placed them near the doorway.

"Is there a basement here, because if there is you should go and check it," she piped up.

"No there isn't. I already checked from the outside."

"Oh."

Leon looked through all the cupboards in the kitchen, in all the bedrooms, and in every possible place, finding nothing suspicious at all. He made his way over to the bathroom to see if it was in working condition and found something that was totally out of place.

There was an unmistakable crimson colored fluid splattered on the walls and all over the toilet bowl. It looked as if someone had tried to scrub it off, but failed rather terribly. At the side of the toilet on the floor was a bucket full of cleaning products. There was a pair of rubber gloves that had the life liquid all over them.

Leon slowly backed out of the bathroom and went to go get Ashley. He thought that they had just fallen into a trap. Someone or something had disguised this place as untouched by whatever had happened, and they had fallen for it.

"Ashley get your shoes on. We have to get out of here, now."

"Okay Leon."

She put them on in a hurry. Leon ran towards the door and standing in the doorway, stood a rather tall man. Ashley screamed and ran behind Leon, who brought out his shotgun and aimed it at the man's head.

"Put it down stranger," he said in a dry voice. "I'm not one of them."

"So you're normal then?" Asked Leon.

"Yes. But it might not be too wise to stay here now that the girl has screamed her lungs out. They'll be here shortly, I'll take you to my hideout."

They walked out of the house and made their way up the street. The man stopped in front of a dumpster that was in the backyard of someone's house, and went to a street light pole and pressed into it.

A small hole was reveled with a ladder leading down into it. The man signaled for Leon and Ashley to go down first, then went himself and closed the secret door with the push of a red button that was on the side of the ladder.

They were in an underground house. There was a television set, a kitchen, and everything else that you would find in an ordinary house. Bright lights hung from the ceiling to get rid of the gloomy atmosphere and small air vents could be seen on the roof so it was breathable inside the cooped up space.

Leon, Ashley, and the man sat down on separate pieces of furniture.

"So do you mind telling us who you are?" Questioned Leon.

"The name's Michael. I've been livin' down here since all the weird things started happening. I used to live in one of those nice looking homes, but I got terrified of those things and made this here place, and who may you be?"

"I'm Leon, this is Ashley," he pointed to the girl who was sitting on a comfy looking chair. "I'm here to take her back to her father, she's the president's daughter."

"I see, well it's nice to meet ya."

"Do you know when this all happened Michael?" asked Ashley.

"Believe it or not, just about four days ago, I'm sure. Had to build this place really quick, it helped having some things already down here."

Michael got up and walked over to a shaded cabinet and opened up the glass door. He reached in and grabbed and odd looking weapon, then went back to where Leon and Ashley were and sat back down.

"It sure helped to have this baby with me."

"So you were the one that fired that blast at us," Ashley said.

"That would explain why it almost fried us in the process too," grumbled Leon.

Michael laughed out loud. He put the rocket launcher down and spoke to Leon.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see you. I thought since they were all distracted I could catch them off guard with one quick an' easy attack and-"

Michael's voice grew quiet. He looked at Leon and Ashley and raised a finger to his mouth to tell them to be quiet as well.

From below, all three of them could hear the savage noises of the zombies as they searched for the source of noise that they had heard above ground.