Notes from me: Heyo people, well turns out fanfiction doesn't allow for underline on words, whiiiich I didn't know so thoughts won't have the underline sadly. So far I have a few followers on this story hopefully more soon, also going along the lines of the English version I will be doing 'Dead' in all the chapter names. Originally I planned to name the story Cupid's Dead but figured it was kinda strange so went with Dead Arrow. But that's about it for my words of wisdom, hope you all enjoy the story! ~Jester~

A Dead Arrow

Chapter 2: Halls of the Dead

'Let's do this!'

He shouted in his own head as he placed a single finger on the arrow shaft to keep the arrow in place on the bow, his hand moved from the bowstring to the door lock. A simple twist the latch came free from the door frame, pulling the metal door opened he peaked outside.

It was quiet he noted, strange he heard the dead shuffling around earlier. So carefully he pulled the door fully opened and maneuvered the yumi bow out of the door way. Gripping the bowstring once again he drew it back halfway preparing himself for anything, getting himself in a small crouch to creep across the field to the school.

He could faintly make out screams inside the school though they weren't nearly as loud as earlier, he could only guess that most of the school was Them now. Which brought his mind to the rest of the Archery Club, how were they holding up? Or was he the last member alive?

'Gin, he was definitely dead. The blood on my hands was proof of that. Akihiko, Jiro, Ayame, Emi, Yuu, and the couch… most likely all dead.' He thought as he closed in on the back of the school, all the others were inside the school aside from Gin and Nao.

And weapons weren't allowed inside the school aside from the bokkens used by the kendu club, baseball bats, or sasumata but those were mainly handled by teachers. Yumi bows weren't allowed inside unless a teacher was present with the student, and all the bows in the locker were accounted for aside from the two lost earlier. Which meant more than likely the whole club aside from him was dead, or worse one of Them…

"Speaking of Them.. where are they?" Nao asked himself as he got closed to the back entrance of the school, his words slightly muffled from the one arrow in his mouth. He hadn't seen a single one since he fled into the sports shed, had they wandered off while he was preparing for them? Or did something lead them away? Were they all inside the school feasting on his classmates?

'I'll find out soon enough…' He got to the closest back door, now his bow was useless. So, slipping his head through the large space between the string and bow he positioned it across his chest. His movement would be cut off a bit from this but it was the best way to carry it and keep his hands free. The arrow that was once on the bow was in his left hand, the one his mouth moved to his other hand.

"They aren't knives but they will have to do." Pushing the door in with his shoulder he peeked inside, greeted by one of Them. Though it's back was to him as it was crouched over one the teachers, it's teeth sinking into the poor souls flesh. Ripping, tearing, pieces off, the blood dripping from its face as it ate.

It caused him to pause, his eyes locked on the scene. That crazy bitch from earlier was doing the same thing to Gin before Nao intervened. How much had he suffered before finally dying and coming back to only die at Nao's hands? Was he scared? Did he suffer even as one of Them?

'This.. isn't the time.' His brain told him, nodding to himself he placed the arrow in his left hand in his mouth. Sneaking up behind the crouched zombie he silently moved within reaching distance, his hand grasped the undead's shoulder. Pulling back hard he threw it off its feet slamming it right onto its back. Before it could even react, he drove the arrow through its eye socket. The faint sound of something popping reached his ears. The arrow effortlessly popped its eye and stabbed it in the brain, a small spasm later it stopped moving.

Pulling the arrow free of the undead bastard's eye which thankfully it didn't pull the eye out with it. Glancing to the bastard once meal he watched for a moment, waiting until it slowly began to sit up. Turning its head in his general direction it paused before turning away, had it not seen him? Blinking he waved the arrow in front of its face just in case it did decided to lunge at him, but it didn't move from its spot.

'They can't see? Then how before did Gin and that girl jump on me?' He questioned, aiming the arrow tip at the undead teacher he drove it clean through the temple of its head. Effectively killing it, placing his free hand on its skull he pulled the arrow free letting the body drop.

Looking around the hallways he could only see more undead in the distance, not worth taking down since they weren't in his way. Adjusting the bow as he stood up he quietly moved to a nearby stairwell going up it, the work shop was on the third floor. So, he'd have to go past the Faculty Office since these stairs only went up a floor, then take the stairs at the end of that hall to get there.

'That's the plan.' He told himself skipping a few steps as he went up, there were none of them on the stairwell. Though as he got to the top he noticed the door was half closed one on of them its body stuck, slowly approaching it without a sound he crouched down in front of it.

Its hand reached out but not for him, it was just trying to grab onto something to eat or pull itself free. 'I wonder… if they are blind. Then..' He lifted one of the arrows tapping the stuck zombies head once, waiting for it to lash out… but it didn't. It just kept clawing at the floor trying to get free.

'So they can't feel?... Well that will make playing tag hard. It will never know it's well it…' He thought, moving the arrow from its head he softly tapped the stone floor once. The undead froze for a moment before turning its hands from the floor, to the source of the sound. That can't be a coincidence he figured, so moving the arrow to the other side.

Tap

It once again froze, turning its attention again in the direction of the sound. 'So they hear sound? But don't see or feel anything? That makes no sense.' He noted before spinning the arrow once between his fingers, grasping it tightly he drove it through the top of the skull. Ending another one of Them's lives in an instance, though as he tried pulling the arrow free it snapped in half.

"Shit." He cursed, flicking the half broken arrow away it tumbled across the floor. Taking the one arrow from his mouth, he examined it. They were only wooden shaft arrows not as strong as something like fiberglass, so he shouldn't he too surprised.

"Good thing I grabbed the two extras." Holding the bow to his chest as he stood up, he pulled the door open freeing the dead student. Stepping over the body and slipping through a gap big enough for him he carefully closed the door once again on the body. Trying to be as quiet as possible since he learned they hunted by sound, no too different from some animals.

Faculty Office was to the right, though as he looked left to make sure it was clear he froze. A young lady was staggering in his direction, her once bleach blonde hair dyed blood red. A normal school uniform, only difference between her and the others? She wore a white armband, with a bow emblem stitched into labeled 'VC'.

"Emi…" Nao whispered, his eyes held a small amount of pity for the undead girl. Slipping free from the bow, he held it at the ready. Normally he'd just leave it and take the girl out with a single strike but she was the second best on the team… and Vice-Captain. She didn't deserve this, none of this…

"I figured you wouldn't make it… but…" He had hoped she could make it out of anyone in the club, she was the second best for a reason. But he could only guess even the best can be taken down by sheer numbers, taking aim he couldn't help but freeze up.

"I wonder… did you die protecting someone? Helping others?.." That was the type of person Emi once was, she'd always stay after school and help the rest of the team whenever he couldn't. She'd even skip out on dates with other guys just to make the team better, she sacrificed a lot…

"Goodbye…" He whispered to her as she staggered closer to him, releasing the string he watched as the arrow soared through the air. And flew right past the girl into the wall, but concrete vs old fashion wood it shattered against the wall.

Blinking several times confused, he missed her? "I missed?.." He told himself, tightening his focus he stared hard at the girl. No… he hit her, but barely. His arrow has nicked her cheek, as he could see some blood dripping from the small wound. But how had he missed?

Taking the first arrow from his quiver, though it required a small amount of effort since it was stuck in the foam at the bottom. Putting it on the string he took aim once again, this time keeping his focus on her movements. It took a few steps for him to realize where he went wrong.

'Her head, it sways as she walks.' He noticed, unlike a normal human the head doesn't sway heavily like it does on Them. The human body naturally corrects itself so the head doesn't sway but they don't have that basic instinct. They were just like zombies from 'The Walking Dead' in movement, only difference was when they closed in they changed into the rage zombies from '28 Days Later'. And their strength wasn't anything to joke about…

"…Who knew all those TV shows and movies would come in handy." He joked, taking a moment he exhaled to calm himself. Timing the movement just right he released the string once again only this time the arrow sunk dead center in his once team mates head.

"Rest in peace." He commented watching her fall backwards, her body slammed hard into the ground. Though thankfully none were around to hear it, taking a few steps towards her a new sound reached his ears. Pausing he turned his head in the direction to hear it better…

"YOU….THAT'S…PROBLEM..RELOAD!" Was all he could make out, leaving the arrow in his once Vice-Captain he took off in the direction of the screaming. 'Someone else is alive… and that voice sounds familiar' He noticed it was coming from the Faculty Office, taking a second arrow from the quiver he got ready for whatever was coming.

As he got halfway down the hall a terror filled scream pierced his ears causing him to visually flinch at the sound. He had to double time it, throwing caution and stealth to the wind he took off in a full run. His fingers tighten on the bowstring pulling it into a half draw, so at a moment's notice he could fire. Reaching the corner to the Faculty Office he was greeted with at least 10 of Them, staggering in the other direction of him.

"Holy shit." He said, earning a few of Them turning in his direction. 'Great Nao just great!' Pulling the arrow back into a full draw he got ready to fire at the ones in front him until he noticed who was behind them. Though one of them he couldn't see since the large boy's back was to him, he had black hair. And improvised gun, that looked like a nail gun with some pieces attached to make the weapon more useful.

"Oh no! I'm out!" The large boy screamed, as he pulled the trigger several times. His aim on one of Them in front, it wasn't staggering towards him though. It was moving to someone else Nao couldn't see from his line of sight, taking a few steps to the side his eyes widen as he saw a rather short girl dressed in the normal school sailor uniform.

She had pink hair tied into twin ponytails, a small amount of her bangs slightly covered her forehead. A pair of orange eyes which normally looked pissed, were full of nothing but terror. A single almost fang tooth could be seen as she pleaded with the zombie before her. It's arms out reached for her, though she was slowly backing away until her back hit the wall of trophies behind her.

"Takagi!" The large boy shouted, Nao's eyes widen more at the realization of who it was. 'Saya Takagi?!' Now he knew where that voice came from, Saya Takagi was the only child of some big politician and a self-proclaimed genius though she had the brains to back up that claim.

She even came to a few of his competitions whenever they were home games and even shared some classes with him, though he had never met her personally. He had seen her at a few games with her friends, Takashi Komuro and Rei Miyamoto Vice-Captain of the martial arts club. Neither of which were the boy with her, he couldn't tell who the boy was since his back to Nao. But he knew Takashi was slimmer then this boy at least who was just standing there as the zombie closed in on Takagi.

"Do something!" Nao shouted though his words were drowned out by the moans of the dead, and the downed girl screaming "Get back! Stay back!". She reached for one of the trophies behind her grabbing it, Nao flinched as she chucked the trophy at the undead teacher breaking it in half.

"I-I won that last year…" He complained, now he was almost tempted to let her get eaten. But already deciding not to when he came running and with a few of Them closing in on him there wasn't any turning back. He was stuck in this situation, whether he liked it or not.

Pulling the arrow back fully he tried to get a beat on the zombie in front of Tagaki, though it was hard with the small horde blocking his line of sight. And the large boy just standing perfectly in his way, growling in frustration Nao took aim lower. Releasing the arrow, he had no choice but to back away as one of the horde lunged at him.

"S-Shit!" He cursed as he took off running in the other direction, hoping that he did something to help with that one shot. He slipped between the bow and string again slinging it over his body like before, he'd have no choice but to take the long way to the workshop.

Easily losing the small horde behind him, he turned the corner at the other end of the hall and practically skipped the stairs going up to the third floor. Hopefully the stairs would slow Them down, giving him time to work on his bow once he got to the workshop.

"S-Shouldn't take me long!" Nao said slightly out of breath from his run as he reached the top of the stairs, pretty much slamming the door at the top of the stairs open. He turned around to look back at the small amount of undead climbing up, cursing them silently as he saw the stairs didn't stop them at all.

They kept their slow pace up the stairs, only now it looked like there was double the amount somehow. 'Did I run past some without noticing?' He wondered, looking around quickly he noticed a school chair by the wall. Grabbing it he pushed the door closed and blocked it with the chair, back away slowly with his hands out making sure it didn't slip free.

Thankfully it stayed in place, turning around he peeked down the hall seeing several undead well… dead. Slowly approaching one of the dead zombies he noticed a nail in the center of it's head, crouching down he grabbed the nail. Wiggling it a few times it came free, it looked like the type of nails used by the same nail gun that boy he saw with Takagi earlier. Had he done all this?

"If so… then why just stand there?" He wondered aloud, though stopped as the dead behind him began pounding on the door he blocked off. Turning around enough to watch them for a moment he noticed the glass in the door cracking, no time to admire the fat kids work.

Dropping the nail, he headed right for the workshop; slowly since he had to step over all the bodies. Each one with a nail in the head, nowhere else. "Kids a hell of a shot…" Nao said a bit stunned, though he couldn't help wondering why he just stood there earlier. Was he only good with firearms? If so that wasn't all that useful, after all guns were limited by that funny little thing call ammo.

"And that kid did say he was out…" Nao said pausing as he reached the workshop, seeing the doors were busted inward. More bodies, more nails, kid must had taken the nail gun from the workshop. No surprise only other place that might have a nail gun was the basement, where the janitor's office was.

"Just hope they got out." Glancing back in the direction he came, no undead yet. He still had time, slipping free from the bow he got to work grabbing a saw, box cutter, and single nail with a hammer. Placing the bow on the table, he'd start working with the nail using the hammer to slowly bend the nail into an L shape.

Once done he carefully nailed the L shaped nail into the bow right at the edge of the grip, a makeshift sight and arrow rest. Since the team had to use their own hands as sights and arrow rests, the head of the nail would make a good enough sight. He'd only need to aim a little higher than the target in order to hit accurately…

Next he took the string off the string nook, at both ends. Setting the string on the table, he searched for a ruler which the only one he could see was by a small pile of used tools. Walking over he saw several cut-up pieces of wood, a half-broken pencil. This must have been the leftovers from the makeshift gun/nail gun the kid had.

Shrugging he grabbed the ruler and broken pencil, he moved to the doorway since the pencil sharpener was beside it. Taking the time to peek out into the hallway, still nothing. "Good" He quickly sharpen the pencil and returned to his bow, measuring it correctly he cut the bow as the lean joint. Since normal bows like this were tall at the top but short at the bottom, he'd just need to make sure the top was as long at the bottom. Or else it would throw off the shot…

"Okay, looking good." He mumbled to himself, he still wondered if he was going crazy doing that. Grabbing the bow string made him pause for a moment, he could cut the string but doing so might either ruin the string or the bow in general.

'Best choice would to be just wrapping the string at the top of the bow.' So, he did just that. Carefully wrapping the string around the top tightly so it wouldn't get loose. Then tying it off, grabbing the now newly tied bow string he pulled a few times. Praying it would hold, which thanking whoever was up there it did hold together.

Nicely in fact, he raised the bow using the nail sight. It looked good as well, now the true test. Slipping one of his now 19 arrows he knocked it to the bow, pulling back carefully a few times. No issues, he quickly pulled back hard on the string as glass cracking could be heard behind him.

Whipping around with the arrow at the ready his eyes widen for a moment before turning serious. They had finally caught up with him, one of the undead girls stepped towards him slowly. "Moment of truth!" He shouted firing the arrow, it slipped free from the string flying right into the girl's mouth. Dropping to its knees it fell over dead, snapping the arrow in half as it did.

"Damn…" Nao cursed, 18 arrows left he counted. Backing up slowly as more of the undead horde entered the small classroom, he was trapped. Turning his head a bit he looked out the window, seeing a roof only a single floor down. That was his only hope, grabbing one of the chairs quickly he whipped it through the window shattering the glass.

His bag soon followed the chair to the roof below, then his bow and finally him. Climbing onto the windowsill he looked down, freezing for a moment. "I hate heights…" He said shallowed hard, he tried to figure out how far it was down. Though all the swaying and shaking of his vision made it hard, if he had to guess at least 15 feet down.

"M-Maybe this wasn't su-" His words were cut off as something slammed into his back, it wrapped it's arms around him in a tight bear hug sending him and one of Them out the broken window to the ground below. Nao slammed his eyes shut ready for the end since he was now going head first, he could feel the world spinning around in the darkness of his eye lids.

"FUCK!" He screamed to the sky above, and a moment later the roof greeted his back. Though strangely the once predicted hard landing was somewhat soft, also his head hadn't hit the metal roof either. Instead it was wrapped in something soft but cold, opening his eyes quickly he could only see the sky above.

"Am… I dead?" He asked, the arms that once wrapped him in a bear hug came loose falling with to soft thuds on the metal roof. Blinking he sat up on the soft object looking back at what it was, his face turned slightly red as he saw it was one of the schoolgirls he landed on top of. And his head was well… buried in her cold breasts somehow cushioning his landing but killing her…

"…I never believed in that luck of the Irish bullshit…"

…

..A little while ago..

…

"Come on let's get inside!" A young man said to his classmates, as they ran into the Faculty Office. The large young man from before knelt picking up the drill Takagi used to kill one of Them in self-defense. Though as he went to stand up he noticed an arrow embedded in the dead teacher's spine…