I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING FROM HOTD!

05:23:23 AM

Tokonosu, Shintoko Third Elementry School

...

The rooftops were crowded with people, civilians were crying and screaming, violently pushing against one another as military personnel attempted to herd them towards the evacuation helicopters. It was total, and utter, chaos.

They had gotten into the school's courtyard somehow, biting and ripping into whoever was closest. Everyone ran, scattering about and only causing more problems for the guardians of the school. Fires were lit throughout the school and through the front courtyard, the fallout from the two attack helicopters whose guns ran dry, choosing to crash into the ever-growing horde of Them, buying the remaining survivors of this hell just a little bit more time.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gunshots erupted from the crowd, causing Takashi to spin on his heel. They were spilling through the two roof doors, and a group of soldiers was trying their best to hold off the growing threat. Saeko turned as well, meeting the dull gaze of Takashi, she almost read his thoughts immediately. He broke off from his group and ran back towards the soldiers, shotgun in hand. There were several shouts from the crowd, but none seemed to reach the teen as he turned his shoulder, running into an infected that was about to take a chunk of one of the soldiers. There was no time for the man to thank him though, as Takashi immediately stance'd up and sent shells downrange, using the skills Hirano had taught him to thin the group of zombies out.

The soldier Takashi saved couldn't be any older than the teen, Takashi only noticing after having to back up with the squad of men after the horde started becoming uncontrollable. It was insane, so many of those things cramming themselves into the tight space of the roof door and all flooding outward unto them was terrifying, although it didn't phase him. He simply kept shooting, watching as random soldier after another was grabbed down into the horde, each time Takashi sent pellets directly at the soldiers, hoping to end them before they faced a fate worse than death.

It was down to Takashi and the young soldier now. The rest of the panicked man's squad was gone, all dragged down and assimilated into the wall of undead that they now faced. Takashi had run out of shells long ago, and so had his temporary comrade. They resorted to bashing away the hands and teeth of rotting corpses that attempted to reach them. The roof was almost clear now, the last chinook helicopter finishing its loading process.

"Private!" A deep authoritative voice screamed, causing the soldier to turn his head towards the helicopter, a zombie taking the millisecond distraction to lunge at the man, only to have its head taken off by the damaged butt-stock of Takashi's shotgun. "Come on!"

"Go!" Takashi demanded, putting a hand on the man's back and pushing him towards the chopper. The brown-haired teen noticed his own group piled into the helicopter, it was stacked to the brim with people, all screaming and yelling to fly away. They were to the helicopter in seconds, easily closing the short distance between them and the rushing horde. "Get the fuck in there!"

"There's a weight limit! We're over capacity! We'll fall out of the sky if we try to take off!" Another soldier screamed from inside the cockpit, watching as Takashi kicked the younger soldier inside of the aircraft. He watched as the older soldier, the one who yelled from before, squeezed into the already overflowed helicopter. His hair was grey'd slightly, and a picture was situated in his helmet, him and a small blonde girl, seemingly his daughter.

"Takashi! Get in!" The teen heard, looking up to see Saeko and Kohta rise from their seats, ignoring the yelling from the pilots. He hesitated, watching as another soldier with a panicked expression stood up and aimed his rifle at his friends, screaming at them about how they couldn't fit anyone else in the helicopter. Saeko looked enraged at the man, Kohta raising his own rifle at the soldiers. "Big brother!" Alice screamed from within the aircraft, tearing Takashi's attention from the war going on inside of the chopper. He watched the pink-haired girl try to stand within the isle, only to be pulled back by Rei and held tightly, the brunette looking pleadingly towards Takashi.

"Kid! Get in the fucking helicopter!" Rika commanded, being held back in a rage by Shizuka who was teary-eyed. "Now, goddamn it!"

"We'll all die if we take on more people!" The soldiers panicked bickering reached. Shouting commands at the teens and threatening them. "You can't get on! Tell them major!"

Takashi blocked all of it out, the loud sounds of the helicopter's engines starting up drowning out any other noise. He turned his head towards the wall of corpses approaching the aircraft, they were close, time was running out. The brown-haired teen smiled, specifically at Saeko, admiring how angry she was getting for the sake of him. His gaze met Rika's sensing the panic in the tanned-woman's face, she screamed more, desperately. This set off a chain reaction within his group, all zeroing in on Takashi who kept his smile.

The teen took a step back, then another, and another, throwing his ruined shotgun down onto the concrete. He watched as the older man looked up at him, a singular tear trailing down his face as he tossed his sidearm at Takashi, the boy catching it easily. He simply nodded towards the teen, a clear sign of respect.

"Hold them back!" The older man ordered the soldiers, all falling onto Takashi's group, who were all trying to run off the chopper. "Take off, now!"

"Takashi! No! Please!" Saeko cried out, her voice cracked and shaken. She had several people holding her down in her seat, tears streaming down her beautiful face.

He chuckled softly, finding beauty in the woman's desperation. Takashi said nothing, opening his mouth to word 'I love you' before turning on his heel again, facing his own doom. The helicopter took off soon after, leaving Takashi and the horde. Memories flooded through his mind, his entire life playing out before him as they got closer, and closer. His dream stopped when he pictured the smiling face of Saeko, his steel, and the one person who kept him sane throughout this. 'Thank you.' he thought, watching as the first undead finally lunged at him.

Takashi slashed through five more, the small garden sickle he found proving itself to be more than just a gardening appliance. He was completely surrounded on all sides, yet continued to fight, what seemed to be minutes, dragged on for several hours, not once did the endless waves of Them halt. He was littered with bite marks, blood spray from himself and them, and gore from the endless bodies on the roof. His arm was torn to shreds, and his face bloodied from having a small bit of his cheek bitten off.

Just then, after slamming the sickle through another jaw of one of Them, it shattered. Intense fatigue which froze him also set in, allowing the undead to lunge at the teen, grabbing his arms and leg down, beginning to rip into him once more. He felt it all, the searing pain of jaws ripping into his already damaged flesh, the light-weird feeling of being low on blood un-helping to his situation.

More pounced on their chance, bringing the barely alive teen to the ground and sinking their teeth, claws, whatever they could into him. Spurting blood onto several of their faces. He didn't bother shouting, he was too weak, and no one would hear him. So he stared upward at the orange sky, unable to do anything as his flesh was rent from his bones. Within a few more seconds he was dead, the warm rays of the setting sun colliding and highlighting his torn, lifeless form.

THE WARRIOR FALLS.

END

A/N: Been a decent period of time, huh? I've been stuck up with college applications and school work so I haven't been allowing myself time to write, but recently I've finished with my applications and gotten back on track so I wrote this one-shot to clear my writer's block and refresh myself. But now that I'm back, hopefully, expect an update on HOTDA very soon!

Thank you for reading, leave a comment, review, suggestion, or whatever you'd like, I'd greatly appreciate it. Maybe even shoot me a PM if you've got any story suggestions I should write.

- Yozora