Okay, so i know I once had a Highschool of the Dead story before, and that I had completed it with the intention of it's sequel being a crossover with The Walking Dead. I don't know why I deleted it, don't know what was going through my head at the time, I mean I even deleted my Jurassic World story and that was completed, though that looked like it needed some serious redoing again. Anyway, I have decided to bring this story back because I was watching the anime, then I was watching the Walking Dead and it just brought back the story, so you have that to thank.
The OC is still the same, George Edwards, the pairing is still the same which is OC x Saeko.
Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool of the Dead. I only own the OC George Edwards.
Fujimi Academy was built on a large campus with multiple buildings in a fenced off and gated area. The main building and at least two other buildings were four stories tall and connected to each other by walkways on the 2nd and 4th floors. In addition to the main building where most classes are held, there was an administration office building, a dorm building, and a number of smaller buildings. The largest of these smaller buildings appeared to be a gymnasium. On top of the administration office building there was an observatory, which extended above the rest of the school and contained a large telescope and a room for Astronomy students to sleep in.
Standing on the landing of the stairs that were connected to the outside of the school was a young man with slightly pale skin, dark brown eyes and short black hair. He had on his black uniform with a long sleeved, navy blue shirt underneath that he left untucked and a pair of combat boots.
If you were to look at George Edwards, you'd likely say that he's just a perfectly ordinary teenager. And in most cases, he was. George was just your average 18-year-old young male. An American born and raised in Japan. Not many would really look at him and think differently of him. And they'd be telling the truth. He was normal, nothing special, aside from being able to hold and handle a gun, fight in hand-to-hand combat thanks to his adoptive aunt who was an elite sniper on the police force.
George's parents were fairly normal as well, George's father was former military, special forces. His mother was a ex-firefighter though she quit after becoming pregnant. George's aunt, Rika, was a close friend of the family so that's why she was basically his aunt in all but blood.
After the death of George's parents in a car crash, Rika took custody of George since it was in his parents' will that should anything happen to them, George was to be placed under Rika's custody as they know she'd watch out for him. Rika had George put into Fujimi Academy, where George met two friends of his, Takashi and Kohta. But there were at least three things that would always put a damper on his mood. Life was normal for him, and he was joying his time as a normal kid.
George let out a sigh and stared out at the courtyard. Watching some of the students that would walk across it. "When's this fucking period going to be over with?" He complained in frustration. He was skipping his class and trying to wait it out so that he can go to the next one. Why would he be skipping? It's because a certain teacher named Koichi Shido. One of the three things that George considered the downsides of his everyday school life. He hated the man. He was a massive pervert and a snake. Bullying students and giving the girls disgusting looks.
"Pinky-promise. Cross my heart and hope to die…yeah right," said a familiar voice. George looked back and saw his best friend Takashi Komuro walking over to where he was standing. He was a pretty average looking teenager of average height, with brown eyes, spiky black hair, which can occasionally have a brown hue. He wore his black school uniform with a red T-shirt underneath.
"Hey man," George said with a smile, as Takashi walked up to the railing and leaned on it. Looking at his miserable expression, George sighed and turned around, putting his back to the metal and crossing his arms. "Let me guess; Rei?"
"Yep." Takashi forced a smile. George wasn't surprised. The guy had recently gone through a bad breakup with his now ex-girlfriend, Rei Miyamoto. Something about Takashi not understanding or some shit that she didn't even explain. What's worse was that she was now going out with Hisashi Igou, Takashi's former best friend. George was friends with both of them, but could feel like he was just a guy caught in the middle of their bitterness.
"That's so stupid!" And then came the second thing that George could live without. He looked and saw Saya Takagi looking at them with that 'I'm better than you' way she carried herself. She was a teenage girl of under-average height with long pink hair, which she mostly kept in two ponytails on either side of her head, which had two thin, long bangs at the sides, two thin strands of hair over the left side of her forehead, and a spiky larger portion of hair covering the right side of her forehead. Saya had fierce orange eyes and furrowed eyebrows.
"What do you want, Takagi?" George asked with an annoyed tone.
This got an annoyed look from the pink-haired girl. "Well, you're supposed to be in class, Edwards. And every time he has to face something he doesn't like; Takashi has to always come to this stupid staircase too!" Saya said, walking over to them and bent over at stare at George, giving him a good view of her cleavage in her blouse. "And who said that you talk to me like that, stupid!?"
George looked away as Takashi started talking to her and Saya bragged about how much of a genius she was. That's when George noticed one of the students that were walking across the courtyard. Someone he couldn't help but stare at, admiring her as she walked.
Saeko Busujima.
She was a beautiful girl the same age as Jack was long, straight and shiny purple hair along with a triangular fringe at the front that barely touched the ridge of her nose, blue eyes, and lips that were a slight shiny pink. She was quite tall for a Japanese girl. And her body was a real eye catcher with curves in all the places, with wide hips, a small waist, and large breasts.
She was the girl George was in love with, but hadn't even plucked up the courage to talk to her.
"Great, now he's just like you," Saya said to Takashi, pointing at George. "Seriously, I don't know why you're still holding on to that stupid little crush of yours."
"Jealous, Saya?" George asked in an aggravated voice. At that moment, he really wasn't in the mood for listening to her being a smart-ass.
Saya was a little surprised by his snap at her. Shook it off and turned away. "Stupid," she muttered and walked away.
Things were silent for a moment, and Takashi looked at his friend as he looked up at the sky. He knew that George had a crush on Saeko. How could he not notice? It was clear as day with how he stared at her every time she walked by.
That's when the two of them heard something. George and Takashi looked towards the source of the sound and saw it was coming from the school's gate. There was a man at the gate. He looked like he was trying to get in, but all he was doing was walking into the metal bars over and over again.
"Who's that?" Tadkashi asked.
"Don't know." George shook his head. Also confused as to what was going on. "Maybe he's some drunk."
"At this time?" Takashi asked with a raised eyebrow.
George shrugged. "Hey, people drink when it suits them best. Some drink in the morning as soon as they wake up for some reason."
Then a group of four teachers approached the man. Three of them were men, and one was a woman; Kyoto Hayashi, the ping pong club's adviser. She had light brown eyes with glasses, reddish-brown hair which she kept in a loose ponytail with long strands hanging down in front of each ear and a full figure with large breasts. George watched as she demanded to know why he was walking into the gate. Which had him stop, but didn't go away. Now his instincts were telling him that something was wrong. Really wrong.
Then the gym teacher, Mr. Teshima, walked up to the gate and aggressively grabbed the man's shirt. Banging him against the metal hard enough that George and Takashi could hear it. "Was that really called for?" George asked, as Ms. Hayashi asked him along the same line.
Suddenly, the man outside the gate grabbed the gym teacher's arm and took a bite out of it. Ripping out a mouthful of flesh. George's eyes widened in shock and horror as Mr. Teshima screamed in pain as he walked backwards, gripping his arm in pain. He then fell to the floor, convulsing in his own blood, before stopped moving entirely.
"What…just happened?" Takashi asked, trying to fathom what he saw.
Ms. Kyoto leaned over to seemly dead gym teacher.
Then it happened. Mr. Teshima, now with grey skin and blank white eyes, grabbed her by her dress, sat up, and bit into her neck.
"Holy shit!" George shouted as the woman screamed in agony as blood splattered out of her wound. He watched in horror as the man started eating into her neck. The other teachers ran away towards the building, screaming for help. "Was…was that really a Zombie?"
The thought of it was insane. But what else could it be? He just saw a man get bit, die, and then come back to life as one! Classic zombie!
"I've got to get Rei!" Takashi exclaimed and ran away.
"What?!" George followed after him. Running as fast as they could to get to the room. George was faster and reached the door first.
He slid open the door and Takashi caught up to him. The teacher was trying to scold the teenager, but he didn't pay any attention to him and walked over to his ex.
Rei Miyamoto was a young woman with long, orange-brown hair with bangs hanging over her face with two strands sticking out above the rest of her hair along with a small, a single ponytail on the back of her head which left the rest of her hair long and reddish-brown eyes. It honestly made her look like she had antennas. Just like almost every girl that George knew, Rei also had a slender figure and ample breasts.
"Come with me," Takashi said to Rei as she was sitting at her desk. He then grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of her chair. "We've got to get out of here."
"Wh-What are talking about?" Rei asked, as Saya stood up for some reason with a pout. Then Hisashi stood up. He's the boy with the gray hair and brown eyes.
"Dude, what are you doing?" he demanded.
"He's right," George said. At first, he was going to stay out of it, but decided to help out Takashi. "We just saw two teachers get killed by the front gate."
Hisashi looked at him with shock and a gasp. "Are you serious?"
"Does it look like I'm joking?" George retorted. "Look, we've got to leave before things get worse."
"Jesus!" Rei yelled in frustration and yanked her arm out of Takashi's grip while yelling at him. "What's going on!? I can never understand what—" Takashi then slapped her across the face. And it wasn't just a normal slap, but like a bitch slap.
"That was oddly satisfying to watch," George said with a slight shocked expression. Rei turned her head to glare at him while holding her red cheek, looking like she was going to yell at him. "Now if you two are done having this little spat, can we please get the hell out of here before we become dinner?"
"What?" Hisashi asked, confused as he followed George out the classroom, Takashid ragging Rei along. "What do you mean by that?"
"There was an intruder at the gate. P.E. teachers went to check it out, but then they got killed. And now they're killing each other, turning into Zombies," George said as they ran down a corridor.
"That's insane," Rei said not believing him.
"Well it happened." George retorted as they stopped outside a supply room that hardly anyone of the faculty ever used. "Now, we'll need some weapons. Sharp or blunt will do."
Hisashi opened a storage room and pulled out two baseball bats, giving them to George and Takashi, while he pulled out a broom.
"I'm still having a hard time believing this. Here Rei," Hisashi said, before breaking the broom near the head with his foot. Turning it into a makeshift spear.
"Aren't you going to grab a weapon," Takashi asked.
"I've got a blackbelt in karate."
"We've got to get out of this school before it's swarmed." George stated.
"Let's call the police. We'll talk to my father," Rei suggested.
Takashi nodded and handed her his phone. "School rules are meant to be broken, right?" He joked as Rei took it and dial 1-1-0.
A few moments passed with nothing but silence. Then the voice of the automatic voice messaging system was turned on. Rei's expression became one of worry and shock. "No way…" She whispered. George knew that there was no help coming for them. "My dad is busy…It's impossible."
Suddenly, the intercom system turned on. Bursting with static that startled the four students before a panicking voice could be heard all throughout the school.
"Listen up, this announcement is for all students. An emergency situation is taking place inside the school right now. All students must follow your teachers' instructions and evacuate. I repeat—"
The sound of a door being forced open could be heard through the speakers. Then there was another thumping sound, like as if the mike had hit the floor. All was quiet as the next haunting moment came.
"No! No! How did you get in here?! Get away from me! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Now's the time we leave." George said seriously with a deadly look. "An announcement like that? It's going to unleash chaos in a matter of seconds."
The screams of panic and terror filled the school as students and teachers ran out of their classroom. Running as fast as they could to the nearest exit. Friend turned on friend as they fought each other to get out. Some were pushed and pulled out of the other person's way. And some were even knocked over and trampled to death. As pandemonium erupted, George knew that it was only a matter of time before they were caught in the chaos and he had to get the three with him to safety.
"Enough standing around. This way," he ordered them and started running down the hall.
Takashi looked confused, as his friend was going in the opposite direction of the other students. "What are you doing? We got to get the fuck out of here!" he shouted.
Hisashi responded. "The building with classrooms is too crowded. We need to go through the main management building," he said before running after George.
When Takashi was about to argue, Rei looked at him with a glare. "Hisashi's right. Shut the hell up and do what he says," she said. Takashi sighed and the two followed after them.
George held open the door and the others walked past him, before he followed. They were now walking on the overpass walkways. They stopped and stared at the sight one of the teachers. But he has already turned, and George got a good look at what the zombies look like. Seeing skin was now grey and his eyes were rolled back and showed only white.
Rei gasped when she recognized the man. "That's Mr. Wakisaka. What's the matter with him?"
"He's become a zombie." George said grimly. The zombie teacher noticed them and started stumbling towards them. George then heard the door behind him open and saw some of his classmates turned into the living dead and were coming out towards them. "Shit! I'll handle these ones!" George ran up and started bashing in the heads of the zombies, pushing them back and trying to keep them away from the others.
"Don't fuck with me!" Rei yelled angrily, catching George's attention and made him turn around to see what was going on. The brown-haired girl was attacking the teacher zombie. Pushing him back with a few quick attacks. "I'm V.P. of the Spear Martial Arts Club!" In her rage, she stabbed the sharp end of the spear in the chest.
The zombie seemed to have died. George felt a grin spread on his face and Takashi fist pumped and yelled, "Yes!"
But then, as Rei stared at the teacher, she saw it move. The thing grabbed the spear that was still impaled in it and swung the weapon to the side. Forcing Rei to slam into the wall of the overpass. As the zombie moved towards her, and Rei grabbed the handle end of the spear to push back against it. Hisashi rushed forward. The grey-haired boy grabbed the zombie from behind, and Rei pulled her spear out.
"Get the fuck away from him, Hisashi!" George yelled, using the baseball bat to stop a zombie's mouth from clamping on him as he grunted and pushed back.
Hisashi just gave him a smile. "Don't worry, I can take him," he said cockily. Then, to all of their shock, the zombie turned its head and—with a bit of a struggle—turned it a complete around!
It then opened its jaws wide and bit down on Hisashi's arm. The young man shouted in pain, but there it only seemed to bite on the uniform. George, Rei, and Takashi watched in shock. George slammed the zombie's head against the wall repeatedly until it's brain matter was everywhere, then he threw the baseball bat and struck the teacher zombie in the head,, knocking it onto it's back, but it was too late. The zombie had gotten it's teeth into Hisashi and had bitten him.
"Shit." George cursed as he stopped Hisashi from falling and looked at the wound. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"
"Hisashi! Are you okay?" Rei asked as she ran over. George laid him on the ground.
"No, he's not," George said, taking his blazer off. He knew what was going to happen to Hisashi. He was going to turn, just like the teachers at the gate. George looked around before spotting a fire axe in a glass container. George walked up and elbowed the glass hard enough to shatter it. He grabbed the axe and walked over, getting to a knee.
"What are you doing?" Takashi asked with wide eyes.
"There's still a way to save him." George said as he eyed the wound and looked for an area to bring the axe down on it to stop the infection from spreading. "Right now, the virus is spreading from where he was bitten. if I chop the arm off before it gets to the rest of the body, he may make it."
"You can't be serious!" rei yelled at him.
"You want him to die and come back as one of them?" George retorted, making her flinch.
"Do it." George looked at Hisashi when he said that. Hisashi looked at him with a nod.
"Got nothing for you to bite down on, pal." George said with a wince.
Hisashi smiled a bit. "I'll try and take the pain."
George nodded. "Takashi... hold him down. This is not going to be pretty."
Rei looked away, closing her eyes and covering her ears as Takashi hesitantly held Hisashi down. George stood and placed a foot on Hisashi's arm, then raised the axe... and then brought it down.
Hisashi's scream as combined with a glass breaking and a girl down below screaming. Getting bitten by a zombie in her neck.
George kicked open the door to the roof and ran out. Behind him, Takashi came out with Rei, who was helping Hisashi struggle up the stairs. Even though he was able to keep up. After cutting away the arm, the agent was able to stop the bleeding with gauze. They then left quickly as to not attract any more attention from the dead. The plan now was to barricade themselves up on the roof unit help arrived.
However, once he got a good look at the city, George felt his hopes for help dash away. "My God…" he said in horror and disbelief as the other stared with him.
The city was in ruin. There was smoke billowing up from several buildings all over the city, with some even on fire. The streets were crowded with cars, trucks, and people running away from the dead. Some weren't able to get away and were killed and turned, all while sirens blared. The amount of destruction was unimaginable. It was like a warzone.
"It's happening everywhere," Takashi said as they stood still.
"But everything was normal," said a shaken Rei as she watched the horror. "Everything was fine a minute ago!" Suddenly she and the boys were hit by a strong, massive gust of wind. It nearly knocked Rei, but while it did give George a good sight of her panties, Hisashi was able to get her and hold onto her tightly to keep her from flying away.
George turned towards the deafening sound of helicopter blades, and watched as military grade choppers flew right over the school. "Black Hawks."
"American military?" Takashi asked.
"That's not it. That's the Self Defense Force," Hisashi told him with a groan of pain. With no painkillers, he had to suffer getting his arm cut off. "Where did they come from? There's no base around here."
"OVER HERE!" Rei shouted at the top of her lungs while waving her arms above her head.
"Don't bother," said Hisashi, clenching his stump. "I wouldn't even waste your strength. That's the Self Defense Force. They must have some special kind of mission." He pointed to something. "They're not even doing anything about that."
George heard a girl screaming a looked towards the sound. He saw a girl being held by zombies. Two held her arms and another one held up her left leg.
"Jesus. We're not imagining things. The Dead are coming back to life." George said to the other three. "They die, and then they live again, but dead. Walking the earth. Roaming around looking for food. You get bit, you get turned into them, and the only way to kill them is to remove the head or destroy the brain."
George looked up and noticed that the roof had a lot of Dead on it. All of them coming out to get them. The gunfire and helicopters most have attracted them. He then noticed a set of stairs that lead up to a large storage closet.
"We need to get to higher ground and barricade ourselves until we can think of a way out of here." George said. "The roof's getting surrounded, and we'll be zombie food if we don't move!"
With the Dead coming closer, it looked like there wasn't any other opinion. They nodded to him and got ready to run. George readied himself too, ready to lead them to safety.
"Let's go!" He shouted and the teenagers ran towards the stairs. He was faster than them and cleared a path with his axe. Takashi and Rei ran behind him and in front of Hisashi, killing any Dead that came for them.
George knocked a zombie out of his way when he reached the stairs, and then another. He ran up the stairs and waited for the others.
"Hisashi, are you okay?" Takashi asked, help his friend up the stairs to their safe place, as George used his axe on several more zombies that got too close.
Rei ran up the stairs before stopping and turned back to face a zombie that followed them. She let out a battle cry and stabbed the roamer in the chest, which also made her boobs jiggle.
George saw this and looked at her in disbelief. Was she trying to be a badass or did she forget about what happened with the teacher zombie? "Rei! Aim for the fucking brain!"
The zombie then grabbed Rei's spear and used it to slam her against the wall. She fell on the stair step and the zombie moved towards her. Only to get an axe driven into it's head. Blood, brain, and bones exploded from its head, before it fell over. Rei had raised her arms up before it happened and then the zombie died, she looked towards George, who gripped his axe.
"Move your ass!" He yelled. Rei got the memo and picked up her spear-boom and slowly walked up the stairs. George saw another one walking behind her and pushed Rei to the side. Slamming the axe to the zombie girl's head, he killed her dead. "Don't slow down!" Rei actually ran up the stairs and joined Takashi and Hisashi.
The four of them then got to work on the barricade. Making a quite sturdy wall of tables and chairs, even though it was all held together by duct tape.
It was the late afternoon, and the sun was starting to lower. The teenagers were sitting down and resting. Well, Takashi, Rei and Hisashi were, George was pacing back and fourth as he looked out at the city.
'If we can get to Rika's house, it'll be a good place to lay low and has supplies, as well as Rika's weapons and the ones she gave me.' George thought to himself. He came out of his thoughts when he heard Rei.
"Why? Why is this happening?" she asked, looking like she was about to cry.
"Something I want to know myself." George said as he walked over and looked out at another part of the city. "Something has caused this. A virus maybe."
As some of the remaining Dead banged on the makeshift barricade, Hisashi suddenly started coughing. The others turned towards him and saw the grey-haired boy coughing up blood while hunched over. Slumping against the railing and having on hand on it to keep himself up.
"Hisashi!" Rei ran over to his side to check on him. "What's wrong with you?"
George walked over and put a hand to Hisashi's forehead and whistled. "Jesus, that's one hell of a fever." He said. "Your head's burning like it's lava."
"I can feel it myself." Hisashi grunted. "I... I don't think you managed to get the infection at just my arm, George. It is just like in the movies. They bite you…and that's it. You're done for. It spread too quickly when you kick off my arm."
"This can't be true! The watch is wrong! What you see in movies will never happen," Rei cried, burying her face in his shirt.
Hisashi turned his head towards George and Takashi. Struggling against the pain all over his body. "Takashi…George…will one of you help me," he asked, making George look back at him.
"Help you with what?" asked Takashi. He and George knew what their friend was going to ask of them.
Hisashi raised his hand and pointed towards the railing. "I don't want…to ask George to kill me," he said, struggling to speak. "I don't want him to…have to… carry that pain. So…Help me…over the rail. It's straight to the ground from there. It should be enough to crush my skull on impact."
As the boys looked at him in shock, Rei gasped. "What are you sayin—"
"I DON'T FUCKING WANT TO BE ONE OF THEM!" Hisashi shouted, before coughing much more violently. Blood came out of his mouth with each one. Now looking like he was having a seizure. George and Takashi continued to look at him in shock. "Come on…do it for me. I want to stay myself…until the end." He coughed up blood again and fell to the ground. Withering in agony and clenching his chest.
Rei kneeled by him, crying as she begged him to let her help and to not die. Jack couldn't image what it must be like for the girl. Though there were some things about her he didn't like, Hisashi was still her boyfriend and his friend too. They were all friends, and now one of them was going to die a painful death. It was like feeling a part of himself die.
Then it was silent. The remaining boys were silent as Rei wept on Hisashi's chest. ISAC was right. Hisashi really was dead. But not for long. George saw Hisashi's hand twitch. He knew want was coming.
George's eyes shed tears, as he gripped his axe. "I'll do it." he said in a emotionless tone.
Rei heard them and turned towards them. Her eyes widened when she saw the pistol and used her body to shield Hisashi. "No! You can't do that! He's not turning! e's not going to turn into one of them! He's going to be fine!" She shouted as Takashi walked over to her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Wanting to get the girl away from the zombie as much as possible. Rei tried to struggle out of his grip, but couldn't. "No! Stop!" Hisashi's body twitched, which was noticed by his girlfriend. "Look! He's getting up! He's…"
Her false hopes were dashed away when the zombie stood up, and she took notice of its appearance. Hisashi had turned completely and there was no mistaking it.
"Hisashi…?" Takashi quickly pulled her back with the zombie tried to grab her with its one arm. He pulled her back behind Jack. "No way! This can't be true! No!" Rei exclaimed, as she stopped struggling against Takashi.
As the zombie limped closer to them, George let out a shaky breath. "Forgive me." he said in a shaky tone before he swung the axe and decapitated the zombie in one swing. George dropped the axe as a tear fell down his cheek before he walked away, leaning on the railing, trying to overcome the trauma of this whole thing.
Rei cried as kneeled beside what was once her boyfriend. akashi was still surprised with what his friend had done. He then turned and went into the storage closet, and then call out with a towel. He walked over and placed it over what was once his friend's head.
"Why? Why? Why?" Rei cried.
"He would have bitten you." Takashi pointed out. "George made sure that didn't happen."
"I didn't ask him to save me!" Rei screamed at her ex. "And I would have been willing to get bitten…better to die that way, than surviving by doing some shit like this! Oh, I know…you must have hated Hisashi right? Because he was dating me!" She mocked him, going a little insane.
Takashis tared at her blankly before he started walking towards the barrier. He didn't even say a thing. Nor make an attempt to deny what Rei said.
"Where are you going?" George said, finally looking at him out the corner of his eye, finally speaking.
"To take out some motherfuckers." Takashi said with a blank expression. "Take care of her, man. She obviously doesn't want me around."
Rei was shocked by his words. Takashi turned and continued his way to the makeshift barrier. As she watched her ex-boyfriend about to climb the barrier, she started to feel bad for what she said to him. What she said to Takashi and George.
"Wait, stop!" She ran forward and grabbed Takashi's arm. Pulling him away from the barrier. Rei started to cry again, while clinging to his arm. Not willing to let go. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I really didn't mean what I said to you and George! I'm sorry, Takashi! Don't go!" She shouted.
George looked at her in surprise. He was sure that she never wanted anything to do with him after what happened. As the teenager watched from where he stood, Takashi climbed down the barrier and wrapped his arms around Rei. Comforting her in a hug. Rei was surprised by this, but after a few seconds, she hugged him back.
George gave a small smile as he watched before he looked away and looked back out at the city, sighing as his thoughts turned to a certain purple-haired woman he was in love with, wondering if she was okay or... had become part of the Dead.
And that's it for the first chapter of this story. I hope you all enjoyed it, as I did making it. I won't delete this again, not even when it's completed. I'm intending to finish this and get onto the Walking Dead/HOTD sequel crossover.