Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, blah, blah, blah, or zombies.

Chapter Two: If You Never Meant To Leave, Then You Only Had To Stay

The endless view of white had dissipated, just a little today, because the ground was now a field of flowers, white and yellow lilies, to be exact. Where as he didn't know why, it was still a welcome change as was the faint voices he would hear from time to time. He thought he could hear his brother on occasion, which was a comfort and not at the same time. He was sure he'd died, so then had his brother died too? How? How had he died himself? The more he tried to piece it together, the more he seemed to lose, so he gave up for the time being. He also wondered who the girl was that he kept hearing, her voice was sweet and soft, unlike the gruffer, louder voice of his brother. Then there was that other voice, the one that cursed profusely. That one he didn't know what to make of.

Z: "So, you protected Cloud?"

A: "Who?"

Z: "Cloud. The blonde guy. My brother, you saved his life from the Remnants?"

A: "Well, yes. But who wouldn't have? I was just trying to be helpful."

Z: "… I really owe you one. Hmm…How about one date?"

A: "Excuse me?"

Z: "One date. Me, you, a romantic evening. Well, I guess we should wait until after the world settles down a little, but I swear, after this nightmare ends, I'm gonna take you out, at least once. Okay?"

A: "… um, okay."

Z: "Score!"

R: "Get a room! (mumbles some unintelligible curses) I'm trying to sleep over here you mother-"

Z: (ignoring Reno) "I'm Zack, by the way, I already told you about Cloud, the loud and obnoxiously rude one is Reno, and we call him Red XIII. Sorry, I forgot to introduce us earlier, Aerith..."

R: "'Cause you were too busy flirting! Dou-"

Z: "Anyway, I have a question for you Aerith, so, you said that there were, Remnants outside, lots of them, so why aren't they trying to get in still?"

A: "Well, did you guys notice the blood on the walls outside?"

R: "Yeah, it was effin' creepy!"

A: "Well, Remnants don't eat each other, right? So me and… my mom, we covered the walls with their blood after we managed to kill the first wave of them that came here after we first escaped."

Z: "Where'd you escape from?"

A: "The slums of sector 5 in Midgar."

R: "Midgar's overrun!"

A: "No! But the slums… there just wasn't anyone down there to protect anybody, and they all just… "

Z: "What about SOLDIER? Weren't they stationed to defend in the slums?"

A: "They got called back to the upper city when all this started, so…"

R: "Well, at least the upper city's still good. Who cares about the slums."

*Whack*

R: "Geez! What was that for Zack?"

Z: "Idiot. Hey, Aerith, where is Midgar in relation to here?"

A: "North, about-"

R: "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

A: "Do you guys have vehicles?"

R: "If we did, we wouldn't be here, why?"

A: "Because it's about a five hour walk from here to the city, and I don't know about you guys, but the prospect of walking down the road or even into the city in the dark isn't exactly the brightest idea to me."

R: "…oh. Well, da-"

So they spent the night in the church, Reno complaining of something or another every five minutes just to hear the sound of his own voice and Zack too busy taking in Aerith's form as she bent down to take care of the flowers that grew in the middle of the church to even care about Reno's complaints. True to what Aerith said, the Remnants all but left, and so the group was allowed a peaceful sleep once more. Early the next morning, however, Reno did succeed in getting Zack's attention as he woke him up and asked him to follow in a highly cryptic manner.

Z: "What's wrong? More Remnants?"

R: "…possibly. I don't know yet."

Z: "What do you mean you don't know yet?"

R: "Well, it's like this, I actually got attacked by one of the Remnants yesterday, and today, I feel kinda off, like sick, y'know? So I wanted you to just… kill me."

Z: "…What?"

R: "Dude! I am not going to die and be reanimated as one of those things! Not going to happen, so just do as I say and f-"

Z: "Reno, what are you saying?"

R: "… seriously? Okay, look, plain English. Remnant bites you, you get sick, real sick, then you die and come back as one of them things."

Z: "Are you sure?"

R: "Am I EFFIN' sure! I seen it happen! Why do you think I was in Banora? I just got back from killing my boss, that's why! And one of my partners! I killed him as he was EATING HER SPINAL COLUMN! AND SHE WAS STILL ALIVE! …felt every moment of it …put a cap in her head too, just to be safe …She swore he was just sick, that the bite wound had just gotten infected, right up until he bit her… Stupid Elena, she just didn't have the guts to end him, but the truth is you're already dead as soon as you're bitten. …so just... kill me."

Z: "…you're sure you were bitten? That's what I meant."

R: "…oh. Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure. It got the back of my neck, here."

Z: "…"

R: "See, I was right wasn't I?"

Z: "No. But there is still a piece of wood splinter still sticking out from the wound."

R: "… how?… Idiotic thing must have had some splinters on it, actually it did have a few twigs sticking out of its arms and it's tattered clothes… Stupid MOTHER-"

Z: "Yeah, I'm guessing it missed when it tried to grab you, but the wood must have hit you. Why didn't you just have Aerith check the wound when you first came in?"

R: "Dude. She beats the brains out of those things with a metal rod, like really hits 'em hard. So, whereas I'd say after the eighth hit I'd be out cold, I didn't want her beating on me while I could feel it! Your method of a quick beheading is much more my style."

Z: "So that's why you had me bring my sword!" (fist hitting palm)

R: "Uh, yeah?"

Z: " Alright, well let's go back now, seeing as I don't have to kill you anymore."

R: "Okay, but one more thing. Anybody finds out about this, I'll kill you."

Aerith was asked to bandage the back of Reno's neck as Zack didn't know how and neither Reno nor Cloud could and Red XIII, well, he's a dog… She was not given the exact details of what had caused the injury, although she did know that both he and Zack had snuck off earlier and she did hear Reno yelling some awful profanities after a little while of them being gone, but neither would speak on the subject. Zack just looked sheepish and innocent when she asked and would giggle, but Reno would just glare in the direction of Zack and not say anything. Boys!

They stayed at Aerith's church for about two weeks when all three of them realized that it wasn't going to work. The church was safe, and Reno and Zack double teamed getting firewood to cook with while Aerith tended her meager garden amidst the flowers, but their supplies were not limitless and Zack ate a lot. Reno had been begging, quite literally begging, to go to the upper city in Midgar, so today he was finally getting his wish. It had taken a ton of convincing the day before to assure Zack that the best way to make sure Cloud was safe was to leave him there in the church instead of dragging him along with them. The Remnants had not bothered them for the whole two weeks, they hadn't even seen them after their first day at the church, so it was safe. Reno consented to let Red XIII stay in the church with Cloud even, but it wasn't until Aerith talked Zack's ear off for about three hours that he finally agreed. Geez, the guy was stubborn. So they were setting out today, at around 6 in the morning so that they would be sure to get to Midgar with plenty of daylight left. Reno, deciding he was bored, instituted a new game to pass the time on the long walk.

R: "So, Zack, you were in SOLDIER right?"

Z: "Yeah, why?"

R "Just curious. What division were you in?"

Z: "…1st."

R: "1st! Holy sh-"

A: "Is that really important or something?"

Z: "I guess."

R: "Really important? You guess? Dude that's like, an elite squad, there are only like, what, FOUR people in it?"

Z: "Yeah, but it doesn't make me God or anything."

R: "Straight up, that's me. God."

A: "What were you, Reno?"

R: "Me? I was… in, uh, acquisitions? sorta?"

Z: "Pfft! Where?"

R: "Shin-Ra Electric Power company."

A: "Wow, that's cool. They're a huge conglomerate. Um, Zack? How about Cloud? What did he do?"

Z: "…Infantry. He was in the infantry."

R: "I knew a couple of guys in the infantry, what unit?"

Z: "Nibelheim defense regiment."

R: "Nibelheim? Ain't that halfway across the world? Past the big ocean?"

Z: "Yeah, well, he's from there. I was raised in Gongaga by my grandparents, sort of the son they lost, I guess."

A: "Wait, aren't you guys brothers?"

Z: "Well, yeah, we are. But only half brothers. My mom wasn't from Gongaga, but she married into the Fair family that was from Gongaga. Gongaga's made up of a lot of old people... so my dad was kinda a local celebrity, I was too, but then... the reactor, there was an incident and... my dad worked there... he died when I was little. So my mom moved back to Nibelheim where she was from and married a guy named Strife. My grandparents never really liked her, and so they fought over me, who would get custody, y'know? My grandparents had me up until they died, when I was about, hmm... 12? Then I went off to a military school... I wasn't ever really there for..."

A "..."

R: "Well, that's depressing... NEXT! You cutie, what about you?"

A: "Well, my real parents died when I was little, and my mother, my adoptive mother, adopted me. Elmyra was nice and kind, and we were all each other had, because her husband, who I never got to meet, died in the war. We were very happy, but then... all this happened... She left to go get her family in Kalm, but I haven't heard back from her yet, and..."

R: "... New subject! (Geez, am I the only one around here without a sob story?) Okay, um... I spy..."

They continued on for about four and a half more hours, listening to Reno listening to the sound of his own voice.

Blinking, he shifted slightly so that the sun couldn't invade his eyes anymore. Where was he? He sat up and observed the musty, flowery smelling place, looking at the garden in the center of the room and observing all the displaced pews and finally leveling his gaze at the dog? No, wolf that was sitting right next to him staring him straight in the eyes. He sat there blinking a minute before he found his voice and with a yelp and a thud landed firmly on the floor. The dog didn't move but continued staring at him until it yawned and laid down. He wasn't quite sure where he was or what was going on, but one thing he was sure of, he really had to pee...

Author's Note: Yes, so I realized that Zack and Cloud had different last names, so one patch job later... and all's well. Oh, and yes, I realize some of you peeps are like, "Hello? Her name is Aeris because that's what it said on Final Fantasy 7, puh-lease!" But okay, so yeah, I'm one of those "I don't care whether it's Aeris or Aerith" types, (actually I usually write Aeris because I'm lazy and s is a lot easier to find than t and h) but I'm not the greatest person with possessives, so adding an s to the end of Aerith to make it possessive just makes it easier on me, so... um, get over it. Um, oh yeah, so I'm trying to make Zack a little more in character, but really? When the crap hits the fan, he gets serious. (Example, when he "kills Angeal" or thinks he's killed him anyway... when he gets the Buster Sword... he gets serious for like a whole three scenes, but still, serious.) And really, Aerith has a horrible history (which I am making worse...heh.), so yeah, even though Reno is probably the worst off here, (I'll get to that later...) he doesn't see it as so, 'cause he's Reno, and Reno only cares about Reno and getting paid, the other Turks, well he cares for them a little too... (And yes, I am going to kill off any and all characters which I see as unnecessary just so I don't get the whole "Well, where was so-and-so? Shouldn't they have been here, because in the game…" I'm not rewriting the game, so no, so-and-so was not there and actually they died, the end. Sorry to all you people who that just hurt, but I get annoyed with the whole, "according to the storyline" that I'm not USING! bit.) So, yeah, I killed off Elena and Tseng... but they died kinda cool... sorta... more baggage for Reno! Oh well, so I'm done ranting... Thanks! R, R, and R peeps! (No, seriously, I have like no reviews. I'm about to not sign in and review my own stuff as anonymous, so please, review!)