Apologies, this ones a teenie bit late and also a teenie bit short... but its worth it!

Chapter 10

"Renge?!" Nanako gasped "Holy… where have you been hiding?!"

Renge stood by the door, a triumphant smile on her face and a set of keys in her hand.

"Did you really think a few zombies would take me out?" she let out that almost manic laugh she was so well known for "please… and leave my poor Kyoya to fend for himself?"

"Renge, how nice of you to join us" Kyoya sighed "and for the last time, I am not your Kyoya"

"Semantics" Renge waved her hand dismissively "I have been hiding out in the supply closet near the gym… and I must say, it's quite comfortable in there"

"So… are you the one who's been taking care of the messes around school?" Tamaki asked, his eyes sparkling with how impressed he was.

"Well not just me… I have a couple first years that I let take refuge with me and we've been going out during the early eaaarly morning to do it… well them and the black magic club"

"Wait… Nekozawa-senpai is here?" Haruhi asked in disbelief "but surely… we'd have seen them since the host club is next to the black magic club?"

"That is the beauty of this school!" she exclaimed with a grin "they have been there all along! Nekozawa-senpai is just scared you guys would make him go out during the day so he kept his club quiet and pretended you guys weren't there!"

"Great" Ritsu scowled "so you've been spying on us"

"Oho! I wouldn't say spying Kasanoda! Merely observing… anyway, you want the keys to the minibus am I correct?" Renge twirled the keychain around her index finger.

"Yes Renge, that would be favourable" Kyoya took charge of the conversation since he knew how to get what he wanted from her.

"Hmm… I don't know…" she mused with that little smirk on her lips that suggested she wanted something in return.

"If you give us the keys, you are more than welcome to join up with the other half of our group that are in the music room" Kyoya smiled "I am sure they could use your expertise during these trying times"

"Will you be coming back?" Renge asked, head tilted, eyes fixed on Kyoya.

"There is a good chance we will once we've done what we need to do" Kyoya gave her charming smile.

He didn't confirm nor deny whether they'd be back and Nanako had to wonder if that would be enough for Renge to hand the keys over… and it looked like it was, which was confirmed when Renge stepped forward and handed Kyoya the keys.

"Then I look forward to your return my darling Kyoya!" she gushed "I'm going to get my little group and head to the music room! Ciao!"

With that she was gone.

"Renge certainly is some kind of whirlwind isn't she?" Honey giggled softly.

"You could say that" Ritsu pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to centre himself… Renge always made him a little twitchy.

"Well I suggest we head off before she changes her mind and decides to join us" Kyoya muttered and the group filed out.

Nanako's POV

I walked beside Ritsu, not saying a word as we approached the main doors. I was doing my best not to have that sinking feeling of dread as we all stopped to look out onto the world. Looking over at the parking lot had nerves bubbling away in my stomach because there was most definitely zombies out there and they outnumbered us at least two to one.

"So how are we going to do this?" I asked, looking across at Kyoya since he seemed to be our strategy captain.

"I say that three of us go out there, get to the minibus, get it unlocked and start the engine and then the rest of us just run for it" Kyoya looked around the group "unless anyone has a better idea?"

Wow… just wow. For someone who could come up with some of the most elaborate schemes in the world, that plan was seriously lacking the style and finesse worthy of coming out of his mouth.

"Well I mean… sure that works?" Hikaru shrugged

"Yea, hey Mori-senpai, if you're driving, why don't you take a couple people with you, start the engine and draw up here so we can get in?" Kaoru asked.

"That would attract zombies to the building though" Ritsu eyed him "or you trying to get the others eaten?"

Kaoru sighed "no because the zombies would be too busy chasing the bus to worry about the building… d'uh"

"Did you… just d'uh me?" Ritsu growled.

"Okay okay…" I stepped between them "that idea isn't half bad… the zombies would probably chase the minibus until we gain enough speed and hopefully that'll be outside the gates so they'll just wander off"

"I saw that in a movie!" Honey piped up "and it really worked!"

"See?" I smiled "so let's do this… I volunteer as tribute"

"Me too" Ritsu nodded.

"Okay then, Mori-senpai, Kasanoda and Nanako… good luck" Kyoya smiled, handing the keys off to Mori.

Hikaru cracked open the door and the three of us slipped through it, out into the grounds of Ouran Academy. We scurried along, using the bushes along the side of the parking lot to our advantage, crouching a little so we were concealed… though Mori had to really crouch thanks to how tall he was. We passed by several zombies as quietly as we could, using a gap in the hedge to squeeze ourselves through once we were near enough to where the minibuses were parked.

"Which one did she give us?" I whispered as Mori checked the tag

"Minibus three" Ritsu whispered after taking a peek at the tag.

"Great…. Is the registration on the tag?" I mouthed because how the hell were we supposed to know which one number three was?

Ritsu mouthed the registration to me and I nodded, looking between the three buses to see which bus was going to be ours for the foreseeable future.

"That one" I pointed to the bus in the middle and the three of us scuttled over to it.

Using the keys we got from Renge, Mori unlocked the bus door, climbed inside and motioned for me and Ritsu to follow him. The bus was spotless and smelled of that pine air freshener that most vehicles had. Not that it was unpleasant; it was just a surprise since we'd kind of lost touch with nice smells the last couple days.

Sitting down in the driver's seat, Mori slid the keys into the ignition and turned them, the lights on the dashboard coming to life… so far so good! The fuel gauge looked to be at full, so we shouldn't have to get fuel for a little while and once he turned the key fully, the engine came to life.

"Yes!" I grinned, high-fiving Ritsu who also seemed in high spirits.

Mori carefully backed out of the parking spot and maneuvered the bus so he could turn it in the right direction, coasting to a stop outside the doors of the school.

We had a slight problem though… the zombies? Yeah those gross, shambling shells of humans? They had noticed the moving vehicle and were heading our way at speed.

"Come on guys!" I called, moving to the side as the rest of our little group ran up the stairs onto the bus.

"Okay we need to go like now" I nodded to Mori as I pulled the door shut.

Putting his foot down on the accelerator, the bus came to life once more, pulling away from the school building and off towards the gates. We had safety on wheels, at least for a little while and I couldn't be happier about it…. Okay I lied. Once the bus had passed through the gates and we were finally on the road… then I couldn't be happier about it. As we cruised through the open gates, we had a handful of zombies chasing after us. We were one step closer to finding out if our loved ones had survived and we were starting with Haruhi…

Ranka… here we come!