Takeo sat alone on the black leather couch of the living room. Although he was bored, he wouldn't really tell anyone. The gloomy weather was actually destroying his mood and no one was around to keep him company. Judging by the faint screams of mercy from the basement, Richtofen was in his lab for the day. Nikolai was recovering from a hangover, as usual. And Dempsey was... out on a date. Yes. A date. That was new.

The woman was a blonde, with blue sparkling eyes. If you stared close enough, you could see the galaxy inside of them. Not really, but they were gorgeous. She had milky white skin. The woman was nearly the same shade as Dempsey and enjoyed video games almost as much as he did. She would never tell, but Takeo could see it in her eyes when she came to pick Dempsey up. Her hair was up in a neat bun and her bangs sat on the right side of her face, just below her eyebrow.

Yes, Dempsey had bagged a good one. He just wondered how long it'd be until the woman ran away at the sight of Milz, the undead infant. Takeo had gotten used to him. He was a sweet, charming zombie, who wanted nothing more than to play and be amazed by the world.

Just as the thought of him popped into his head, the child crawled into room wearing a white, long-sleeved t-shirt, a black beanie and a diaper. On his back was his azure and white panda that he'd gotten for Christmas, riding on him like a cowboy.

"Da da!" Milz smiled, making his way over to the Japanese man who rested on the couch. He paused by his leg and extended his hands up, his panda falling from his back.

The Samurai leaned down and picked the baby up, sitting him on his lap. The zombified baby pointed down to his panda that lay on the floor, babbling something in his high-pitched, satanic voice. Takeo caught the drift and picked the panda up off of the floor, distributing it to the child. Milz hugged it close to him, biting at one of the furry ears.

How was this dead thing so cute? He'd barely been in the home for 2 months and was already swooning the survivors with his adorableness. Even Dempsey got pulled into it, as much as he'd hated zombies years ago while they were trying to eat him alive. Milz watched the darkened screen of the TV intently, as if he were watching something. Then, he gave a joyful laugh, kicking his feet excitedly. Milz really thought that he was watching TV.

Takeo concealed a chuckle as he picked up the remote, that Dempsey and Nikolai fought over on the daily, and turned on the big screen. Small whimpers crossed the finish line first and wails came in last place as Milz began to cry loudly, staring at the bright screen in front of him. The dark-haired male turned off the TV as quickly as possible and the child stopped his cries, his face softening into one of relaxation. He stared at the blank screen for a few seconds, then laughed again.

How weird. Takeo turned on the TV again and Milz responded with crying, tears beginning to roll down his grey cheeks. After the TV went blank, he stopped, laughing happily at the darkened screen.

"Milz?"

"Ba?" the undead newborn responded, tilting his head back to look up at his father.

"...nothing." Takeo grinned, picking the child up and heading into the kitchen.

His stomach growled angrily at him and Milz growled back at it. The Samurai was confused, but maybe it was a zombie thing. He didn't know. Pulling open the refrigerator, he mentally slapped himself. He had completely forgotten that he was the one that had to restock the food supply.

Takeo remembered how they'd played Richtofen's game of straw pulling. Richtofen got the longest straw. Of course. He'd always rig that game so he'd win. Cheater. Takeo ended up getting the smallest straw and that's when all hell went loose. The Doctor made a comment about how the straws also stood for one's "size" and everyone began to tease the poor Samurai. As usual. He never really did get respect around the home, but he was use to it. At least Milz loved him dearly. That's one thing he could count on.

After placing Milz on the ground, the honorable man prepared himself for the journey to and from the grocery store. He wrapped a scarf around his neck that also covered his mouth. After pulling on his leather jacket, shoes and gloves, he picked up the keys that sat next to the front door on the table and began to exit.

"Da da..."

The Samurai halted, the cold air from the outside world rushing into his humble abode. He glanced down to the floor and spotted Milz looking up at him pleadingly with his sunny eyes. The baby held his tiny red coat and socks with him, hoping that his Asian father would catch his drift. Then, it struck Takeo like a bullet. He wasn't the only one that was lonely today. Milz was just as lonely as he was.

The arrival to the Maxis Market wasn't as crowded as it was a couple of days ago. There weren't as many people scrambling around for last second Christmas stuff and sales. Takeo placed the zombie baby into the seat of a cart and began his trip. He handed Milz the shopping list that he'd made before he left.

"Don't eat it." he told the baby as he walked into the first aisle of the store, looking over the choices he had to choose from.

The shopping went smoothly. Milz was as good of a list-holder, as he was a star-holder. Although he couldn't really talk much, he could understand English perfectly and listened to directions like a good boy. Takeo pushed the cart into the dairy section and Milz stretched his hands up towards the ceiling. This was his absolute favorite section. Milz enjoyed the bright white lights and different colors that he saw. The cold change in climate appealed to him and he got giddy when he saw the milk section. The red tops, the brown tops, the pink tops. He was one weird child but that's what made him interesting.

The cart bumped into something and the Samurai looked up and realized that he'd bumped into a person. He was swift to apologize, observing that the person was indeed a woman.

"I am sorry."

"Aww, it's fine. You've got a cute baby there." the coffee-haired lady told him, placing a hand on her hip.

The lady had a hat on her head and her hair was in a ponytail, sticking out the back of the hat. She wore a pair of ripped jeans and ebony combat boots.

"Thank you. He is." Takeo agreed, petting Milz's head.

"What's his name?" the woman asked, walking over to the other side of the cart and standing next to the Japanese male.

"Milz."

"How adorable! He looks like he's interested in the milk section. Cute little guy." she grinned. "He's got some bright eyes. Those suckers are like LEDs."

Before Takeo could respond, the woman was dragged away by a young man in a pair of glasses and black hair. He thought to himself. He felt like he'd knew them from somewhere, but shook it off.

After pulling into the driveway and shutting the car down, the Asian took the undead child from the back seat who was drinking away at a bottle of blood. He'd noticed a white BMW parked in front of the house, but decided to ignore it. It probably belonged to their neighbors. He opened the door and stepped into the house, the roasting air punching him in the face.

Looking on the couch, the Japanese man noted not one, but two blondes sitting on the couch. One with spiky hair, the other with silky hair that sat in a bun. The blond on the right looked back at him and he became aware that it was Dempsey. The American watched him with wide blue eyes then mouthed the words Get. Out.

Takeo realized that the blonde on the left was his date, the one with the galaxy eyes and mesmerizing curves. Milz drunk his blood cheerfully, unaware of the woman's presence. Tank mouthed the words again, doing his best not to attract the woman's attention from the television. She looked over at him anyway and questioned in her soft, deep voice:

"Tank, is everything alright?"

"It's all good, baby." the American lied.

"Da da!" the zombified baby screamed, excited to see his blond father again.

"Da da? Why didn't you tell me you had a child, Tank?" the woman laughed.

"I-" But the Marine was too late. The woman had already turned her attention towards the doorway where Takeo stood.

She looked at the baby, then gawked at Takeo. Baby, samurai, baby, samurai, baby, samurai, baby-

"Tank, who is this?"

"That's Take-"

"Don't tell me you're g-"

"Whoa! I am not a fruit like Richtofen!"

"Who?"

"Nobody. That's Takeo. He's my-"

"He's your lover, isn't he?"

"No, of course not! He's just a good friend of mine!"

"Um... hello." Takeo awkwardly greeted her.

"Good afternoon and what is... what is that?!" the woman with the sparkling eyes squealed, jabbing a finger towards the undead infant in Takeo's arms.

"That's my son, Milz." Dempsey explained, attempting to approach the problem in a calm manner.

"That's your SON?! That thing is your son?!"

"He's not as bad as he looks! I promise!"

"That's... a zombie. It's a zombie!" the model stood to her feet and let out a high-pitched, terrified scream.

Milz giggled loudly, enjoying how high the scream was. Just then, Richtofen emerged from the basement and into the living room. He wore a white lab coat and his signature black gloves. He would've looked presentable if her weren't drenched in blood and holding a spleen in his right hand and his scalpel in his left.

"Da da!" Milz shouted.

"Vhat is zhe problem? Vhy is zhere so much racket up here?! Oh, hallo." Edward said, recognizing the beautiful woman in the room.

"Did that baby just call him Daddy?! Who is he?! Why is he drenched in b-b-blood?!" the curvy woman screamed, pointing in Richtofen's direction.

Tank had no excuse for Richtofen's terrifying appearance. He had no excuse for the zombie baby in the Japanese man's arms. He had no excuse for anything.

"I'm leaving! I'm leaving, I'm leaving, I'm leaving!" the blonde woman with the galaxy eyes announced, grabbing her light blue coat off of the coat rack and pushing her way past Takeo.

The Marine got up from his spot on the couch and went after her.

"I vonder who zhat vas." the Doctor thought. "She vould've made a gut patient."

"I... got groceries." Takeo spoke.

"Oh, vunderbar! I'll help you in a little." Edward told him, heading back down into the basement.

Dempsey sulked into the house and plopped back down onto the sofa. He then covered his face with a pillow. The Samurai watched him sadly and stepped over to the couch. He placed Milz on the American's stomach. Dempsey removed the pillow from his face and gazed up into disappointed lemon-colored eyes.

"Da da... gah ba."

"It's fine, kid. Just fine." the Marine reassured him, placing the pillow back over his face. "It wasn't your fault."

Milz laid down on his father, doing his best to apologize how he'd scared the woman away with his appearance. Takeo walked back into house holding several weighty plastic bags. He stopped by the couch and fished a blue Gatorade from one of them. Handing it to Milz, he left into the kitchen to put the groceries away.

The American lifted the pillow from his face and spotted Milz still sitting on his stomach. The baby held a blue-bottle of Gatorade towards him and Tank gave a spirit-lifting grin. He sat up from the couch, hugging Milz close to his muscular chest. Then, Dempsey plucked the energy drink from the baby's hands.

"Thanks, kid. Apology accepted."