Chapter 2: Different Infections
Author's Note Part 1: Hey guys! Here I am writing the second chapter only seconds after I finished the previous one! So in this one, I'll be writing about the rest of the events from the first episode, with a few changes made to it. Some will be kept from my previous version, while others… Well, seeing this is a Re-Write and I only have a few important scenes planned out for later, I don't honestly know what to expect for this chapter at the time I'm writing this. So, I guess you could say that at the moment, I'm just as "in the dark" as you guys. With that being said, I'll get to writing so that you guys can all start to read it soon enough!
3rd Person POV:
The group of four made their way through the halls in an attempt to get to the Management Building, passing by a few unwelcome scenes along the way. Bodies of students that had been trampled to death underneath the feet of their fellow students as they attempted to escape the building, a few students that couldn't take it leaping out of the windows before any of the four teens could stop them, a couple teachers even doing the same, and one scene that might have escalated into a male student raping a female one, if Chris hadn't intervened and knocked the student out, allowing the girl to run away in tears.
The group decided to leave the would be rapist there for whatever things were now roaming around the halls of the school. With the events currently going on, and everything pointing towards an apocalypse, those kinds of people, rapists, murderers and the like, didn't deserve to stay in a safe place. But that didn't mean that anyone in the group was going to kill him outright at the moment, since none of them were ready to take that kind of action against another living human being. Or, at least, three fourths of them weren't ready to. While the last fourth may have done it, he wouldn't in the presence of his friends.
Finally, the four open a door onto the skywalk between the school buildings, and rush out so that they can continue towards the Management Building in an attempt to get out of the school. However, walking towards the middle of the four way intersection from the direction of the Faculty Office was a teacher wearing black sandals, tan pants, and a red vest over a white long sleeved shirt. And as the four teens rush onto the walkway, he turns in their direction. However, Chris notices that he isn't acting "right".
Rei, who's at the front of the group, stops with a slight gasp at the sight of him. "That's Mr. Wakisaka, what's the matter with him?" She asks in confusion, making Chris narrow his eyes to focus on the man a few yards away, before his eyes widen at the sight of a trail of blood leading down his pants, and dripping onto the stone tiled floor. However, before he can say anything, the "man" takes a few steps towards them, and opens "his" mouth as he lets out a raspy breath, a small trail of blood leaking out of his mouth and down part of his chin. And then, as Hisashi notices the same things as Chris, it's too late to say anything as the "man" suddenly starts walking towards them, picking up speed as he gets closer.
When he's a few feet away, his arms stretch out towards Rei, who's the closest, making the auburn haired female backpedal away from him. "Get away from me!" She exclaims, swinging her makeshift spear in an attempt to ward him off. However, it doesn't work as Mr. Wakisaka continues towards her, his arms still outstretched in an attempt to grab her. Realizing exactly what was going on, Hisashi focuses on his girlfriend.
"Rei! Stab him!" He exclaims, making her stare at him in shock at what he's saying. "Give it all you've got! Don't hold back!" The platinum blond haired teen continues, and Rei can only stare at him with wide eyes due to the fact that he's basically saying to kill the man in front of her, since she's yet to realize what was going on. However, that shock allowed Mr. Wakisaka to get close enough to grab her makeshift spear, and push against her, making her step back in an attempt to keep from falling over.
As she pushes back against him, she can only stare in surprise at the former teacher, who was attempting to get close enough to kill her. When she realizes this, her fearful gaze changes into an angered one, and she forces the "man" to stumble away from her as she forcefully breaks his hold on her makeshift spear, and holds it in her hand, ready for use. "Don't fuck with me!" She exclaims as she rushes forwards and starts to beat the former teacher with the broom handle turned spear. "I'm VP of the martial arts club!" She exclaims as she slams her weapon down on top of his head, before twisting, and stabbing him through the area where his heart is.
The result is the body hanging limply on the tip of the weapon, swaying just above the ground, giving a testament to just how balanced and strong Rei actually is, to be able to hold a body in the air at the tip of a makeshift spear a few feet away from her, without losing her stance. And yet, while Hisashi and Takashi "celebrate" over Rei successfully defending herself, Chris can only scowl.
"You idiots!" He exclaims, making the three turn to look at him, before their attention is brought back to the body dangling on Rei's makeshift spear as it twitches and lets off a groan, before moving its body, forcing Rei to stumble backwards as the, what the three teens assumed to be, dead body suddenly started moving again. And as the body of Mr. Wakisaka tries to get to Rei, his movements force the auburn haired girl to let go of her weapon and hit into the side of the railing as she falls to the floor, before she grabs onto her makeshift spear as it swings around due to the fact it's still stuck in the former man's body.
As the corpse continues to move in an attempt to get to Rei, she can only stare up at it in shock and horror. "This is insane! I stabbed him in the heart! How is he still moving?!" She exclaims, before Hisashi runs forwards and wraps his arms around the body's neck, wrenching it backwards to make it so that Rei had less force pushing against her, allowing her to get to her feet as Chris and Takashi watch from a few feet away, not wanting to get closer in fear of hitting either of their friends.
"Are you guys blind?!" Chris exclaims in shock and anger as Rei pulls the makeshift spear out of the body.
"Hisashi, get away from him!" Takashi exclaims, fearing for his friend as he continued to try and keep the living corpse from moving around too much. However, in response to Takashi's words, Hisashi simply sends him a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, I can take him." He tells Takashi. However, what follows horrifies the three regular students, as the corpse's eye seems to turn into its head and face the direction that Hisashi's voice came from, before it twists its neck almost 180 degrees, which should have snapped the thing's neck, and then bites down on Hisashi's arm. And despite the bite not penetrating the skin, on account of the lack of blood, that didn't stop the platinum blond haired teen from releasing a shout of pain in response.
In response to his shout of pain, Takashi Immediately runs forwards. "Hey you! Get the hell away from him!" Takashi shouts at the living corpse, bringing his bat down on the thing's head, and leaving a bloody smear on the wood. Unfortunately, he didn't put enough for behind it to actually cave in the head, and the thing continues its attempts to bite into Hisashi's arm. When Takashi's attempt fails, Rei is the next to run towards her boyfriend.
"Hisashi!" She exclaims, stabbing the corpse in its back, but not doing anything to help the platinum bond haired teen. "Jesus Christ, why won't he just die already?!" Rei exclaims in confusion and horror. Making Chris growl off to the side.
"It's because he already is dead!" He exclaims, before rushing forwards, his right hand clenching into a fist, and causing the bracer on his arm to eject two claw-like protrusions, which he then stabs into the head of the living corpse, detaching it from Hisashi's arm, and causing the body to go limp at the ends of the claws. When Chris unclenches his fists, the claws retract, and the body, now actually dead, falls to the ground in a limp heap.
However, as he turns around, it's to the unfortunate sight of Hisashi cradling his arm to his chest, the clothing where the living corpse bit into completely gone, and a trail of blood leaking from some bite marks. It was apparent that he hadn't gotten there in time, and judging by Hisashi's facial expression, he realized this as well. Thinking about their options, he turns to his other two friends. "Takashi, Rei." He says, making them turn towards him. "You two scout on ahead for a path to the roof, it should be fairly clear up there, so it's a place that we can barricade ourselves to actually relax for a little while and think of a plan." He says, making the two think about it, before nodding.
Rei looks over at Hisashi one more time, getting a nod from the teen, before the two leave Chris and the platinum blond haired teen behind as they look ahead to look for a path to the roof, and clear it out if they need to. Once they're gone, Chris immediately reaches for one of the disks at his belt, and flicks his hand so that small blades protrude from the circumference, frowning at Hisashi as he does this, who frowns back. "You know this is going to hurt, right?" He asks, getting a nod in response.
Chris gives his own nod, before reaching into his bag, and pulling out a smooth piece of wood partially wrapped in cloth, some gauze, and a bottle of pain killers. He hands the piece of wood to the platinum blond haired teen, who immediately puts it into his mouth and clenches it between his teeth, before Chris helps him hold the injured arm out straight, perpendicular to his body. "Alright Hisashi, I'm gonna do it on three… One… Two!" He exclaims, bringing the bladed disk down just below Hisashi's shoulder on the second count, catching the platinum blond teen off guard so that the pain is lessened slightly, though that doesn't stop Hisashi from letting out a strained yell through the wood that's clenched between his teeth.
Chris immediately drops the severed limb to the ground, and starts the process of heavily bandaging the amputated area, making sure to cover the wound completely, before opening the pill bottle, and handing Hisashi two of them as he takes back the piece of wood, Hisashi immediately swallowing the two pills, even as tears leak out of the corner of his eyes from the pain of having his arm cut off. As Chris packs the items back into his bag, he glances over at his friend. "You realize why I did that, right?" He asks, getting a nod from Hisashi, even as he swallows to keep himself from screaming in pain.
A few minutes later, the other two return, and their eyes widen at the sight of the two that they'd left behind sitting against the railing, with Hisashi's amputated limb lying on the floor a few feet away. "Hisashi!" Rei exclaims in shock and horror as she rushes over to her boyfriend and helps him stand, while Takashi simply stands in place and stares at the limb with wide eyes.
"I'm alright Rei. Chris was just amputating the limb to keep any infection from spreading. We don't want this to be like the movies, right?" He manages to say in a pained voice as Chris gets to his feet a few feet away, making the platinum blond haired teen turn to look at him. "I think… I think I'm okay to move now." He tells Chris getting a nod in response as he turns to Takashi, who swallows as he forces his gaze away from the arm lying on the ground, and nod to Chris.
"There's a path that leads to the roof that was clear when we went through. And it didn't sound like there was anything around either, so it should still be fine." He tells Chris, making him nod in response, before turning to Rei, who gives her own nod, despite a majority of her attention being on Hisashi and his current condition. When he sees this, Chris turns his attention back to Takashi.
"Aright, feel free to lead the way." He tells his friend, getting a nod in response. As they leave the area, Rei and Takashi take one more look at the limb laying on the ground, before leaving it behind as they walk into the building that would give them a clear path to the roof so that they could hold out.
When the four got to the roof, Chris immediately closed the door they exited behind them to give them a little more time if any of the Zombies made their way up towards their position, but refrained from locking it in case any other survivors had the same idea to escape up onto the roof. Once that was done, he turned around to find the other three standing in front of the railing, and just staring out towards the city. When he sees this, Chris feels dread creep into his stomach, and he slowly walks over to join them. When he walks up next to Takashi, his expression becomes grim as he simply stares at the sight that greets him.
The entire city was in ruins. Looking at the streets, Chris was greeted by the sight of cars packed tightly together in some, while in others, it looked like a warzone with cars tipped over, and people running around in an attempt to find some way to escape the area, shambling shapes revealing clearly where the zombies were. And in a few streets, Chris was able to make out shadows running out of the front of shops with broken glass, large objects being carried over their shoulders. It wasn't hard to imagine that with the city going to hell, theft would be fairly common. And that type of thinking was infectious, since the more people that did it, the more hopeless the situation would seem so that more and more people would commit similar acts.
Looking at a different part of the city, Chris could see that the factories and other industrial buildings were ablaze, most likely due to accidents that happened within the buildings after the Zombies showed up and started to wreak havoc. With those fires going on, along with others that spread out over the city, it wasn't hard to imagine that those parts of the city were already done for, with the rest of the city likely to follow behind. And looking at the parts of the city that contained the regular houses, Chris could see even more fire, with shadows running around in an attempt to escape the city as it fell into chaos.
However, while his friends continued to focus on the different aspects of the city falling apart, there was one detail that Chris noticed after a few seconds, that he then focused on in order to see it better. Because spread out over the city was a substance that appeared to be a mix of dark grey and black, which covered streets, and the bottoms of some buildings. And when he recognized the substance, he was bombarded with more memories of his past.
The whole front of a house covered in the black and grey substance, with a large, skinny shadowed figure leaping out of the doorframe, only to let out a screech when it notices the human looking at it.
Metal brought up to meet the figure, flashes of light exploding out of the metal, while loud bangs fill the air for a few seconds, before the figure crumples to the ground in a heap, and ceases any movement.
Some of the inside of the house is covered in the same substance as the outside, while a few green objects are sitting on the ground. Metal is brought up once again, and the green objects are reduced to pieces in a matter of seconds.
A different room with a similar layout, but with the top of one of the green objects opened. A small figure darts around the room, before heading towards the human being that had walked in, only to curl in on itself after twitching as metal is brought up to meet it and cause it's death, the human in the room going still as the green objects are once again destroyed by the metal object they hold.
Chris forces himself to shake the memories away, and focus back on the events that are occurring at the present time, turning to look at Takashi as he starts speaking. "Holy shit, it's happening everywhere…" His friend says in disbelief, his wide eyes looking out at the burning city below, with Hisashi having a similar facial expression.
"But everything was normal… Everything was fine a few hours ago!" Rei exclaims, her brain refusing to believe what she was currently seeing. Before anything else can be said, a large gust of wind suddenly hits all four teen's backs, which causes Rei stumble forwards a bit, making Hisashi take a few steps forward to use his only hand to grab onto her to keep her from falling onto the roof. After making sure the auburn haired female wouldn't fall, the four turn to look in the direction the wind came from, only to see four helicopters go flying by the school, and head in the direction of the city.
"Blackhawk… American military?" Takashi mutters in disbelief at the sight of the four army-like helicopters flying towards the burning city.
"That's not it. That's self-defense force. Where did they come from, there's no base around here." Hisashi responds, the last part posed as a rhetorical question, since it was obvious that none of them would know the answer to it. After a few seconds, Rei steps away from the other three, and waves her arms in the air as she faces the retreating helicopters.
"Over here!" She exclaims, making Chris frown.
"Don't bother Rei. If that's the self-defense force, then they must be on some sort of special mission. Whether it has to do with the shit show that's going down right now, or something else entirely, it doesn't matter. Because no matter what their current mission is, it definitely doesn't include us. Otherwise, one of those things probably would have stopped on the roof to let us on. Or, they'd be using the machine guns in the helicopters to take care of that." He says, gesturing down to the schoolyard below, and making the other three look down at everything taking place.
The few survivors that were still in the courtyard were being turned one by one, with the exception of the ones who didn't have a chance to turn, due to the fact that their entire bodies were being used as a food source by the students who'd already been killed. "And if that's the shit that's going on out where we can see it, then I don't think any of us want to even try to imagine what's going on inside the school…" Chris continues with a grimace. In response to his words, the other three are silent, before Hisashi frowns as he looks at the ground.
"This is all like a disease caused by 'Them'…" He says, making the other three look at him in confusion.
"'Them'" Takashi asks the platinum blond haired teen, getting a nod in response.
"The dead are attacking people left and right. But this isn't a movie, or video game. That's why it's 'Them'. 'They' bite people. And then they come back to life as one of 'Them'… And it looks like smashing their heads in is the only way to get rid of them." Hisashi tells the others, and Takashi and Rei look like they understand, before Chris speaks up.
"Don't be an idiot, Hisashi." He says, making the three turn to look at him.
"What do you mean?" The platinum blond asks in confusion, making Chris scowl in response.
"You might not realize it, but even if this isn't a movie, or a TV show, or a video game, that doesn't change one simple fact." He says, before pointing at the living corpses that were walking around in the schoolyards. "Those aren't 'Them'. They're Zombies." He tells them. "Giving them a different name in real life isn't like a TV show or movie, where the producers simply want to be different, or they have an actual reason behind not using the word zombie, or some shit like that. No, in real life, giving Zombies a completely different name that doesn't fit what they are, is another way of trying to deny what's actually happening. And the more people who do that, the more that denial will spread." He tells the three, making their eyes widen as they think about what he said.
He was right. Rei and Takashi were quick to agree, because it made it so that they didn't have to put truth into words about what was actually happening to the world. Even though they knew what was going on, and they weren't arguing against it… That didn't mean that they were completely okay with that fact. And so, their brains had immediately agreed with a completely different name for the walking corpses, in an attempt to make things "better". However, they're brought back to their current situation when a Zombie a few yards away lets off a groan, making the teens turn their attention to it.
When they do this, they also notice that the roof behind them actually had a small crowd of Zombies, which wasn't too hard to understand, seeing as most of the teens in the school had immediately rushed for the exits on the ground floor, so it wasn't hard to believe that only a few that had been turned had come up to the roof. Although there was still quite a few of them. "There are too many of them…" Rei says, making the three males look around, before Hisashi notices the observation deck.
"Let's get up there and block the stairs." The platinum blond haired teen suggests, getting a nod from the other three in response, before Chris focuses back on the Zombie a few yards away, and feels his blood freeze as he notices something about it that he should have noticed right away.
"Fuck…" He says in a whisper, looking at the hole that was present in the center of the thing's chest, which to him, meant that only one thing was possible, and had him scanning all of the shadows that he could see for any signs of the creature that he knew was either up here on the roof with them, or downstairs in the rooms below. However, it was better to assume that it was still up here, since assuming that it was already gone would be liable to get him and his friends killed if he was wrong. As he tenses up, the rest of the group gets ready to sprint for the observation deck.
"Let's go." Takashi states, getting nods from the others in response, before they charge forwards, with Takashi letting off a war cry as he charges forwards in front of everyone. As they charge forwards, Takashi uses his bat to swing away at any Zombies that get in the way, since luckily, there weren't too many to deal with. When they get to the stairs, Takashi ducks under a female Zombie's attempt to grab him, and flips it over his back onto the ground, before running up the stairs. "Hisashi, are you okay?" He asks his platinum blond haired friend, helping the teen up the stairs as he slows down a bit near the top.
Rei is right behind them, with Chris taking up the rear. He looks behind him when he hears a groan, and finds a Zombie shambling up the stairs after them. When he sees this, he's quick to clench his hand into a fist, unsheathing the claws from his bracer, which he then uses to decapitate the creature, leaving the body to fall down the stairs and knock over a second Zombie as he follows his friends up onto the observation deck. When he meets his friends at the top, he immediately started to help them construct a barricade out of the tables, chairs and the like that they found inside the storage area.
Surprisingly, it held fairly well, considering that it was made out of anything and everything that they could find inside the storage area. A few minutes later, the group is either sitting, or leaning against different parts of the observation deck, the events of the past half hour or so finally catching up with them. "Why? Why is this happening?" Rei asks helplessly, and the other three look over at her.
"…This has to be happening for a reason." Hisashi says in response. "Maybe if we can figure out what's causing it, we can stop it… Or at least, protect ourselves." He admits with a sigh, making the other three look at the floor in response. As a cloud passes in front of the sun, the four start to realize just how dark it is on the roof without light, and it makes one of them worry a bit more than the others.
"Guys, we need to look around a bit more." Chris says, getting the attention of the other three. "Find matches, a lighter, something that we can use to light a fire, along with anything that we can burn to keep that fire going. If we don't get a fire going now, we'll be completely fucked when it gets dark." He says, making the other three think about it, before nodding in agreement. After all, from the looks of things, there weren't any lights up where they were. However, before they can do anything, Hisashi suddenly starts coughing, and after a few seconds, splatters of blood appear on the roof.
At the sight, Chris frowns, and looks at the ground. Apparently, he was too late. But Rei doesn't seem to know this as she immediately rushes over to the platinum blond haired teen. "Hisashi! What's wrong with you?" She asks him hysterically, before turning to the other two males. "Takashi, Chris! Hisashi is-" However, she's cut off as Hisashi places a hand on her shoulder, before raising his head as he attempts to take steady breaths. As he does this, Rei's eyes widen as she realizes what's happening.
"Sorry Hisashi… Guess it's just like that movies… And I was too late to help." Chris admits from his place leaning against the wall, making Hisashi turn his attention to the raven haired teen.
"Hey… Chris…" He says, taking a few more breaths. "Don't worry about it… At least… We tried…" Hisashi says, Rei tearing up at his side.
"But what happens in the movies can't happen in real life." She tries to argue, making Chris frown at her denial.
"Rei… In case you haven't noticed, it did happen, and it's still happening… I'm sorry, but we tried our best." He says as he looks at the ground. In response to his words, silence is the only thing heard on the roof for a few seconds, before Hisashi speaks up.
"Takashi, Chris… Will you help me?" He asks them, making them turn to face him.
"…Help you with what?" Takashi asks, although Chris has an idea as he slowly stands up. And as he does this, Hisashi weakly raises his hand to point at the railing.
"Help me… Over the rail. Straight to the ground… Impact from the ground should smash my head." Hisashi says, making Takashi and Rei turn to look at him in shock, while Chris simply looks at him in sadness.
"But why-" Rei begins, only for Chris to cut her off.
"Rei." He says as he walks over, and slings Hisashi's only arm over his shoulders, helping the platinum blond teen to his feet. "It's what he wants… He wants to be himself until the end… He doesn't want to become one of those things." He says to Rei as he slowly helps his friend towards the railing. As he does this, Hisashi continues to hack up globs of blood onto the floor. And as they get closer to the railing, Rei finally starts to lose it.
"No… No! Stop Chris!" She shouts as she gets to her feet and rushes towards them. However, Takashi choses this moment to break out of his own shock, and grab Rei to keep her from stopping them. "No! Takashi! Let me go! He's not going to turn into one of them! Stop! Chris!" She screams, attempting to fight back against the raven haired teenager as he keeps her in place while Chris and Hisashi finally reach the railing.
"…I'm sorry." Chris mutters to his friend, Hisashi weakly rising his head to look at his friend.
"…It's Alright…" Hisashi continues says, before stopping Chris just before he helps him over the rail. "…Thanks…" He manages to say, before coughing up another glob of blood. In response, Chris simply nods to his friend as Hisashi uses his arm to try start to pull himself onto the railing…
And then Chris gives him a small push.
"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
Author's Note Part 2: And I'm ending it here guys! Don't worry, the after credits scene will show up in the next chapter, it's not like I've forgotten about it or anything. I just figured that this would be a good place to cut it off for now. You know, especially since the next episode has all sorts of POV changes that I won't be including in this, so as a result, a bit of extra content that I'll be able to add to the next chapter should make it so that I can keep my 5,000 words minimum per chapter for this story.
So in this chapter, I've made quite a few changes. The one that I'm sure all of you noticed, Chris helped Hisashi fulfill his final wish… Yeah, I figured that Takashi just wouldn't have the ability to do that at this point in time, no matter what. So, I made it so that Chris did it for him, since with the events that he's gone through, he'd know that as a final wish, Hisashi had a right to have it fulfilled. Another thing that I changed? The part on the stairs where Rei stabs the zombie through the chest, and ends up in the "damsel in distress" situation again.
I mean, really? Yeah, it's a good way to start off the series and all, but when you then go on to watch the actual episode, and see that, not only did it happen to Rei once before, but Hisashi literally told her and Takashi seconds beforehand that they had to destroy 'Their' heads, that kinda makes the situation seem a lot more stupid. So, I changed that around as well. Also, the AVP aspect is coming into play even more now, and a bit more of Chris' past has been revealed.
(Addition: Responses to the reviews from the previous chapter.
Anime PJ:
Yeah, I was pretty happy to see that I managed to do that, and I was hoping that the extra details would be fairly easy to notice. As for the slight change in the relationship between Jack and Saeko, I'm glad you agree with how I've managed to make it more realistic. Thanks for the compliment on the added character depth. That's one thing that I've only just started to try, so it's nice to see I'm doing a fairly good job at it. As for more of the re-write, here's the second chapter!
KingSora3:
Well, ask and ye' shall receive! And thanks for the compliment!
Notros:
Well, if that's what you wanna call yourself… Anyways, thanks for the support behind the thing since the beginning, and I hope you're liking the re-write so far!)
Anyways, that's about all I have to say, so thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I hope to see you all next chapter!
(Fun Fact: During the process of writing these two first chapters, there have been multiple instances where, instead of writing Chris, I wrote in the name "Alex", due to the fact that my two most recently updated stories have their MC's named Alex.)
