So, I'd like to say thank you to those who have followed and favorited this fic so far! Things are about to get hairy...

Chapter 7

Nanako's POV

My feet wouldn't budge, as much as I tried to make them move until I felt a familiar hand close around my wrist and begin to drag me along. Thank god for Ritsu Kasanoda.

"Move it Yamada! Come on!" he picked up speed as we split off from the others.

Honey and Mori had gone one way, Majima and Tanaka another way and apparently Sakamoto was sticking with us, the three of us thundering our way down the corridor, trying to find somewhere to hide.

What didn't help was the group of zombies howling and shrieking, probably attracting more of their kind for the hunt and I had no idea if they were still chasing us or if they'd gone after someone else… their sounds were so loud in my ears as we skidded around another corner, trying to find somewhere to hide.

"In here!" Sakamoto skidded to a halt in front of an empty classroom, holding the door open as Ritsu dragged me through it.

Pulling the door shut behind us, Ritsu and Sakamoto wedged a chair up under the door handles after turning the lock while all I could do was pant heavily, hands on my knees as I tried to calm my racing heart.

"Hey you okay Yamada?" Ritsu asked, patting me on the back

"I think so…" I stood up straight again, only to hear the sounds of zombies screeching along the hallway. "You have got to be kidding me…"

I scrambled to crouch down under the large windows that looked out onto the hallway, Ritsu one side, Sakamoto the other as we watched the zombies come tearing past the classroom. Clearly the group of zombies had split off too because there definitely was more than three when the chase began.

"Now what?" Sakamoto asked

"Now we wait" Ritsu dug his phone out and looked at the time "we need to get back to the music room before 10:30 when the auto lights go out… it's half nine now… I say we wait until ten and then make our way back"

Normal POV

Meanwhile, with Honey and Mori…

"I think we lost them Takashi" Honey panted as he and the tallest host hid inside the ground floor bathrooms.

"Mm" Mori nodded "you're right Mitsukuni"

There was nothing, no sounds of running, no sounds of screeching zombies… just the sounds of their panting breaths as they tried to come down from that adrenaline rush.

"I hope the others are okay" Honey sighed "the zombies split after Nana-chans group and Tanaka's group"

"Nanako is with Kasanoda… she'll be fine" Mori watched his cousin un-tense slowly "and Tanaka and Majima can take care of themselves"

"It's Sakamoto you're worried about isn't it?" Honey asked

"Yes… he is bull-headed and impulsive, he nearly got eaten back there for being careless" Mori sighed, leaning back against the stall door.

Honey nodded in agreement "maybe now he can see how serious this all is"

They waited it out for another few minutes before creeping from the bathroom quietly.

Tanaka and Majima…

"Seriously, how dumb can Sakamoto be?" Majima hissed as he and Tanaka hid in the literature room.

"Hopefully not much dumber than he already has proved himself to be" Tanaka mumbled as he listened to the zombies groaning outside.

"Yeah well… next time I see him I'm gunna tell him he's an idiot" Majima eyed Tanaka as one of the zombies thumped its hands against the door.

"If we make it out of here alive you mean?" Tanaka raised a brow as the thudding became more insistent, another zombie joining in.

"We'll get out alive…" Majima was looking around the room for another way out "over there, reckon we can do it?"

He motioned to the grate on the wall that would get them through to the next room. It was about halfway up the wall so they'd need to boost each other up and hopefully high enough that the zombies wouldn't be able to get to it.

"It could work" Tanaka nodded.

The pair of them ran across the room, Majima climbing up onto Tanaka's shoulders to pull the grate open before climbing in.

"Hurry up…" Tanaka could hear the door starting to creak from the incessant bashing.

"Okay, give me your hand, come on" Majima reached down for Tanaka.

"Here goes nothing…"

Tanaka took a running jump and grabbed Majima's hand, using the wall to walk up so Majima could pull him up easier. Once they were both in the grate, Tanaka pulled it shut behind them just as the sound of smashing glass caught their attention. One of the zombies had been hammering on the window, having seen them making their escape and was now climbing through the hole.

Fortunately for Majima and Tanaka, once the zombie piled in, the rest followed, four zombies stumbling around the room trying to find the humans they'd been chasing.

From their position in the vent, they could see the classroom next door was empty so as quietly as they could, they opened the other side of the vent and lowered themselves down onto the bookcase below it and then down onto the floor.

"Okay… we need to get out of here and find the others… come on"

Nanako's POV

We waited for what felt like an eternity before Ritsu spoke up.

"It's almost ten…" he sighed "have they left yet?"

"I don't know… hold on…" I peeked up through the window and to my surprise the corridor was empty "looks like it"

"Great… maybe we can leave" he stretched and moved to stand "hey Sakamoto, you okay?"

I yawned and stretched, pulling myself to my feet and stretched again before slinging my bag and the gym bag across my body. I moved over to the door and removed the chair, unlocking the door slowly, wincing as it clicked. Opening the door as quietly as I possibly could, I peeked my head out and looked up and down the corridor… nothing! Wonderful!

"Hey Sakamoto?" I heard Ritsu ask again.

Turning round, I saw Sakamoto sat leaning against the wall and he looked… sweaty, like an unwell kind of sweaty… a sinking feeling came over me.

"Kasanoda… don't go any closer…" I said quietly, tugging his arm to try and get him to move towards the door.

"Sakamoto" he tried again "you okay?"

"I… I'm fine…" he swallowed hard, pushing himself to stand "really… I'm fine… just a little exhausted from all the running…"

I looked at Ritsu and raised a brow. The guy looked like he was going to keel over, yet Ritsu gave me a look that suggested I don't over react to the situation. I guess that was fair, who knows right? He might be exhausted from all the running and he'd already almost gotten us killed earlier so shock was likely.

"Okay… well the zombies have gone so we can head back now…" I said quietly, turning and slipping from the classroom.

Something about the way Sakamoto was moving, the lethargic energy he was giving off really didn't sit well with me but as long as we could get out of the room we were in, it would be easier to assess the situation.

"So… do you think the others are okay?" I asked, keeping my voice low as we began to walk.

"I hope so" Ritsu sighed "Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai should be okay… I don't know about Tanaka and Majima though… I don't really know them"

"That's fair" I shrugged "I don't know them either but they seem like they can hold their own"

We walked a little further down the corridor until I noticed I could only hear two sets of footsteps. Pausing, I grabbed Ritsu's arm and turned my head slowly.

"Sakamoto…?" I asked cautiously, my eyes settling on him leaning against the wall and man did he not look good right now.

"Woah Sakamoto… are you sure you're okay?" Ritsu asked as Sakamoto panted softly.

"Fine… really…" he swallowed hard again.

"You sure?" I nodded to Ritsu, fingers curling around the shinai I was carrying with one hand as I approached Sakamoto.

"Yea… just… tired…" he puffed a little

"Did you want to stop for a moment?" I asked as I got within arm's reach of him.

"Yea… if you don't mind…"

He really didn't look well at all and I was honestly fighting with myself not to just leave him behind. I mean sure, he could just be suffering from shock, they say it takes a while to set in but that would mean leaving him behind to get attacked by zombies… but at the same time… if he was infected, I'd be bringing him back to a group of uninfected people where he could turn and cause havoc.

"Okay we can stop for a minute… come on" I opened the door to the French classroom and let Sakamoto go inside first.

I watched as he shuffled over to a desk and sat down at it, leaning back in his seat. Giving Ritsu another look we walked inside, leaving the door open because if shit was about to go south, a quick exit would be the best plan.

"I've got some water in here…" I dug into my bag and pulled out a bottle of water and a cup that I'd snagged from the kitchen.

Goodbye cup, you are a worthy sacrifice… I didn't plan on taking it with us and I'd only grabbed a couple of cups in case we got trapped somewhere so we wouldn't be sharing each other's germs. Opening the bottle, I poured some water into the cup and set it down on the desk.

"Water might help" I encouraged as I rifled through the gym bag, retrieving a gauze pad, which I soaked with a little of the water before tucking the bottle away in my bag safely.

"T-thanks…" he clumsily picked up the cup, slopping a little of the water as he bought it to his mouth.

"This might help too" I approached carefully, totally thankful that Ritsu was close enough to try and stop anything happening.

Gently, I dabbed his face with the wet gauze, across his forehead, down his nose, across his cheeks and down to his neck, where I dabbed away, trying to clean away the sweat from his skin. It was only as I dabbed near the collar of the shirt he was wearing did I notice the one thing that I hadn't wanted to see, a bite mark that was concealed by the shirt collar. Swallowing hard myself, I tried to keep my cool as I finished dabbing and stepped back.

"Sakamoto… why didn't you tell us?" I asked quietly as I watched him shakily set the cup down, sloshing more water over the desk.

"What didn't he…? Oh" Ritsu suddenly realised what I meant.

"I… I…." Sakamoto stammered and I could see he was crying "because… I didn't want to… believe… this was happening… It all… happened so fast… in the kitchen… I didn't realise until… after it was dead…"

I kept a firm hold on my shinai now, with both hands because things could get ugly real quick.

"I just…" he sobbed "I… I thought… I'd be okay you know? I didn't… turn immediately like… like some of the others… I haven't turned…"

He had a point… some of the others during the mass panic that lunch time had turned within moments of being bitten yet it had taken him nearly an hour to get to this point.

"I don't want to die Yamada… you understand… don't you?" he sniffled, watching me with bloodshot eyes.

"I understand… but we can't take you back with us…" I bit my lip softly "surely you know that would put everyone in danger…"

Ritsu was looking a little twitchy, I could see it out of the corner of my eye so I shot him a look that he hopefully read as 'back down I got this' as Sakamoto responded.

"I… I know… but I thought… I was okay you know?" I could hear the desperation in his voice and it was literally breaking my heart "m-maybe I'm not infected… maybe… maybe I'm immune…"

His skin was starting to look mottled and blotchy, his eyes far too bloodshot to say he was healthy and he'd developed a twitch. I was prepared to stay here with him until he turned but was Ritsu prepared to wait that long? Sakamoto began coughing into his hand as I turned to Ritsu.

"Look…" I stepped closer to Ritsu and spoke quietly so Sakamoto wouldn't hear "I think he's going to turn soon…"

I peered back over at Sakamoto who was shaking with fear as he saw he'd coughed up blood.

"You think?" Ritsu whispered "he doesn't have long left Yamada… I say we do him now while he's still mostly human and get out of here…"

"You think you can do it while he's still alive? I know I can't" I hissed back, eyes narrowed "I'd feel like a murderer…"

Ritsu grumbled a little "fine… I know what you mean…"

I stepped closer to Sakamoto, offering him some more tissues, which he reached out to take before freezing up.

"Oh god…" Sakamoto gasped as he began to heave, his body convulsing as he tried to hold back the inevitable.

I quickly moved back to where Ritsu was just in time for Sakamoto to spew a mixture of blood and vomit over the floor, his body tensing hard as he retched. I turned my head away and shuddered. I felt so sorry for him but I knew soon it would be over and he'd be like the others… and then we could free him from this nightmare.

I could feel tears burning at the corners of my eyes as I listened to Sakamoto gagging and retching, the sounds of his bloody vomit hitting the floor echoed in my head… was this what life was going to be like now? Watching people all around you succumb to this disease until maybe… possibly you are the last one left? And then you die a painful, lonely death surrounded by the undead? I sniffled, trying to hold back the tears as the retching stopped and slowly I turned to look at Sakamoto who was leaning back in his chair, barely there anymore.

"S-Sakamoto?" I choked the words out "I'm sorry… so sorry this happened to you…" I felt the first hot tear of sadness trickle down my cheek.

"H-hey…" his voice was hoarse "b-better me… than… than you r-right?" he let out a dry chuckle.

"No… not at all… I wish this wasn't happening to anyone right now" my voice wobbled as I tried to keep it together.

"P-promise me…" he wheezed "promise… me… you'll try… try and survive… f-fight til… til the end…"

"I promise…" I whispered, not trusting myself to talk any louder

"G-good…" he paused to wheeze some more "Kasa…noda… l-look after… her… get… through this… p-please…"

"I promise" Kasanoda had such a calm façade right bow but I bet he was breaking inside… this wasn't exactly an easy thing to watch happen. "I'll keep her safe Sakamoto… her and the others…"

"T-tell… the others… I'm sorry…" Sakamoto had tears rolling down his discoloured face as he wheezed the words out.

"You have nothing to be sorry for!" I gasped, unable to stop the tears from falling.

"I… I fucked up… could have… killed you all…" his voice was getting raspier with each passing moment "I… never t-told you this… Yamada… b-but… I… the note… it… was me…"

The note? I frowned as I tried to recall and then it hit me. The second week of school, I got a note in my locker from a secret admirer, confessing their love to me, which I had thought was strange because it was only the second week of school but now it made sense… although I didn't know Sakamoto personally, we'd gone to junior high together and the note said he'd loved me from afar for a while and when the time was right he'd tell me in person… I guess now was the time?

"I… l-love you Na…nako…" his voice gargled like he was choking on something, coughing again as he began to dribble blood down his chin.

I couldn't leave him without an answer… not on his deathbed… I looked to Ritsu and then to Sakamoto and swallowed hard.

"I love you too Hideki… I'll never forget you…" I sighed the words out.

His face twitched into a smile before his body began convulsing hard, choked noises and gargles fell from his lips as I sobbed, Ritsu coming over to put his arm around me.

"Oh god… Hideki…" I covered my mouth with my hand and turned my head away, sobbing into Ritsu's shoulder as Sakamoto took his last breath.

The room was eerily silent for a long moment, the only sounds were my sobs and Ritsu's breathing. I sniffled and dabbed my eyes on the sleeve of my hoodie before looking back at Sakamoto's body, which was now limp in the chair.

"Do we… just leave him?" I asked Ritsu, knowing my voice sounded pretty hollow right about now.

"I think… we should bring him peace…" Ritsu nodded firmly, though his hands were shaking as he swapped his shinai for a large kitchen knife. "But first… Why did you tell him you loved him?"

"Because… he was dying Kasanoda… I couldn't let his declaration of love go unanswered or be rejected… I wanted to give him one last moment of happiness before he died…" I thought it was a reasonable thing to do for the poor guy.

"Sounds fair…" Ritsu looked at Sakamoto and then the knife "stay back…"

I nodded and retreated back to the doorway, watching as Sakamoto's body began to twitch back to life, or unlife… whatever. I saw Ritsu's body stiffen as he anticipated what was to come and boy did it come.

"I'm sorry Sakamoto…" Ritsu sighed.

Sakamoto launched out of his seat, a gargled hiss was the only sound he got to make before Ritsu stabbed him right between the eyes, twisting the blade and watching as Sakamoto's lifeless body hit the floor.

"It's done…" he reached down and yanked the blade free, wiping it on Sakamoto's pant leg before stashing it back in his bag "let's go"

Something had changed in Ritsu in that moment. He'd had to kill to survive… that can't be easy on anyone. He grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the room; my last look back at the room was to Sakamoto's body that lay crumpled on the floor.

Hideki Sakamoto… words can't express how sorry I am. May you rest in peace.