Ah man, I'm sorry it took this long to get this chapter up guys, but school has been a real pain in the ass lately, making me do all this fieldwork for a final essay that all us seniors are doing (to anyone reading this that's in college, do you have to do fieldwork for your essays?).

The good thing is, that once the next week or two pass by, things will calm down and I can focus a bit more on my fics so that's something I'm looking forward to.

And thank you to you all for reviewing this fic. It really makes me happy to know that you enjoy it.

Here's the next chapter. Hope you continue to enjoy it.

Chapter 9

One by one, more and more of Them walked past the now destroyed barricade that had held them back before. As they slowly advanced down the street, the men that had been near the barricade had ran down the street and back to the mansion, with the exception of one who informed a member of Souichirou's group, a guard, what happened. "The engine stalled and there was an accident! Thanks to that, we couldn't put the barricade back up!"

The guard immediately took out his cell phone to call the mansion, but to his shock, it didn't work. "Shit! My cell phone isn't working either! Go tell someone what's happened!" he yelled at the man before taking aim with his shotgun at the approaching undead. "Die, you bastards!"

The man next to him just looked at Them and began to seriously panic. "I can't stay here!" That said, he took off as if the devil was after him, something that he couldn't exactly be blamed for doing. Well, except the guard who had some words for the fleeing man.

"Don't run away! Are you not a man?" he shouted, glancing back at him for a brief second.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, confusion began to break out amongst the people as some men tried to start up their vehicles while a woman cried out for help. It seemed that her husbands pacemaker has stopped working. Others reported that the computers have suffered the same fate as the other electronics.

Shizuka stood with the others, holding out Takashi's cell phone to him with a few tears in her eyes. "Komuro-kun... your phone... it's broke. I don't know if it's my fault," she said as she handed it to him.

"What?" he muttered as he tried to see what was wrong with it. It was dead. He cursed under his breathe.

"How could that happen?" Saya thought.

"What's wrong, Saya-san?" Kohta asked, taking in everything with a calm, calculating glance. Dante and Lady stood next to him doing the same thing.

"None of your business! You stay there!" Saya replied.

"Was that light what I think it is?" Lady asked Dante.

Dante looked off into the distance, seeming to ignore her almost. Lady was about to ask again when he answered. "Something happened." He tensed up a bit. Dante had this feeling that something big was about to go down.

Saya walked up to Rei. "Miyamoto, try aiming with your gun's dot aim."

Rei looked at her, confused. "What? Why?"

"Just do it! Can you see the dot?" Saya nearly shouted.

"Let's see..." Rei took aim, Saya quickly moving out of the way as it was pointing at her. "No, I can't see it."

Saya quickly turned to Souichirou. "Papa! We need to change our plans! This is probably-,"

She was cut off by a yell. "They're coming!" The guy from the barricade came running through the open gate. "Don't come this way! Don't come this way!"

That was when they saw Them. A few of Them appeared right behind the guy, reaching out and successfully grabbing him by his clothes and head. The guy fell down with Them on top of him. No mercy was shown as three of Them began to eat him alive, ripping out chunks of his body and head with their rotting teeth. It wasn't before long that they got down to the muscle tissue and bone.

"Close the gate! Quickly! Defense unit, assemble! Do not let any of the dead in!" Souichirou commanded in a loud, but calm voice.

"Don! Are we just going to abandon the people who are still out there?" one of his men asked.

Souichirou drew his sword. "If we do not close it now we will lose everything! Do it!"

The guard pulled out the remote to close the gate, but as he quickly pressed down on the button, it became obvious that it wasn't working. He swore and immediately commanded for those closer to the gate to shut.

The men quickly complied, but they found the chore quite hard as the undead were relentless in trying to get past. Even as the gate shut, the walking corpses reached in between the bars, grabbing at the air.

One of Them then somehow managed to squeeze its way through the bars, breaking one of its arms in the process. "One of Them got in!" the man near the gate cried.

"Wh-why are you just sitting there? You have a gun so hurry up and kill it!" the woman that had gather up those people bent on finding a cure for Them cried out.

Kohta sat there, taking aim with his rifle. "I have one... in my pocket," he sang in a creepy voice. However, right when he was about to take the shot, a gunshot rang out close by and the one that got through fell backwards as blood and some of its brains spurted out from a hole in its head. Kohta turned to see Lady holding a smoking pistol in her hand. "Remind me not to get on her bad side," he muttered. To shoot one of Them from that distance with a pistol was pretty damn scary, especially since she didn't seem to have been trying. Although it did make him slightly giddy to see that there was someone as good as him, if not better than him, at shooting.

A man ran up to Souichirou and his wife. "Don, milady, I have some weapons for you!"

As soon as she was handed the gun, Yuriko threw off the veil that she always wrapped over her shoulders and ripped off a good portion of the lower part of her dress, pretty much exposing all of her shapely legs and if one looked carefully enough, a part of her panties was visible. Combined with the way her dress clung a bit to her ample breasts and they found themselves looking at one hot, armed woman.

Dante let out a wolf whistle, Lady looked annoyed at Dante, while Takashi blushed, wondering to himself if it was really necessary for her to remove so much. Saya blocked Kohta's eyes while looking a bit ready to cry from embarrassment at Yuriko's actions.

"I'm all ready. Are you, Souichirou-san?" she asked her husband.

"Yes, I am. But I... have no use for a gun!" he replied.

"Yes, dear," she replied back with a smile. She turned to face her daughter. "You use it, Saya-chan," she said as she held the gun out to her.

"A luger p08 with a stock and a drum magazine," Kohta said aloud, drooling in glee at the weapon.

Saya look flustered as she accepted the gun. "I don't know how to use this thing! And why do you have a gun?"

"Back when I was working on Wall Street, I took a self-defense course for executives. I might even be a better shot than your father," Yuriko explained.

"Judging from grumpy's attitude about guns, I think the kid is a better shot than him," Dante muttered.

Yuriko ignored Dante's remark at her husband. "Could you teach her how to shoot it, Hirano-kun?"

"Of course!" Kohta responded a bit too enthusiastically.

"... So why are the cell phones and cars breaking down now? It was after that weird light." With this statement from Takashi, who was observing Them stuck behind the gate, everyone began to focus again on the matter at hand.

"It was an e.m.p blast!" Saya replied. "It was a T.H.A.N.E. a high-,"

"Altitude Nuclear Explosion," Lady butted in, angering Saya for cutting her off. "If a nuclear missile detonates high enough, gamma rays overload the air molecules with electrons, causing what is known as compton scattering. The high speed electrons are caught in the earth's magnetic field and are discharged over a large radius, causing an electromagnetic pulse."

"Right," Saya said curtly after Lady finished explaining, "and that's fatal to electronic equipment! The electromagnetic pulse goes through the antenna and burns out the integrated circuits!"

"So in other words..." Saeko began.

"Right, we can't use any electronic equipment," Saya replied.

Rei was definitely not pleased by this. "What? So cell phones and stuff don't work anymore?" she yelled.

"Everything from cell phones to computers is totally useless now! Automobiles that use electronics won't move either. And the power plants are most likely dead as well. If actions had been taken to counter e.m.p.'s then it would be different, but I think only a small part of the self-defense force and government agencies are made for that," Saya explained.

Takashi sighed as he swept a hand through his hair. "Great, so in other words, we have nothing going for us now," he muttered. He couldn't help but think that things were only going to get worse now that electronics don't work and he had a feeling that something like that will be happening very soon. The undead still trying to get through the gate attested to that feeling.

"Is there a way to fix the broken equipment?" Souichirou addressed his daughter.

"If we replaced the fried parts, then we might be able to get the cars working again. There's still the possibility that some cars didn't get affected too badly by the electromagnetic waves so those would still work. Of course, classic cars still work," Saya said.

Souichirou turned to one of his men. "Look into that as soon as possible," he commanded, getting the man to reply in the affirmative before turning back to face Saya. "Saya!"

She didn't expect him to suddenly yell like that. "Wh-what is it?"

"You have managed to keep your head even in this chaos. I commend you!" he said to her, earning a startled expression from Saya. She didn't know how to react; this had to be the first time her father has ever praised her.

Souichirou quickly turned around to examine the gate, which was beginning to fail in holding back Them. The man by the gate tried to keep it closed, but his strength alone couldn't possibly help to stop the combined weight of Them from crushing the gate.

The gate was knocked down now, unable to bear the abuse any longer and a dozen of Them fell with it only to give way to more, which wasted no time in ganging up on the close by man. He fell to the ground, crying out for everyone to run. Those were the last words he spoke as the zombies bite into him, ripping his very flesh from his bones. As slow as they are when moving, they made up for it with their merciless biting as the man's body was soon ripped apart by their rotten teeth.

It didn't take long for Them to move about the area, going after anyone that attracted their attention. One of the people that was targeted by Them was the woman who had so eagerly boasted of forming a group to try and help Them. Takashi and the others only watched as she picked up a butcher knife and viciously chopped away at one of the zombies before her, tearing through the weakened and rotting skin of its face, working the blade past the equally rotting muscle tissue. She didn't get the chance to continue though as she was easily overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Them.

"Papa, we should get into the house -," Saya began only to be cut off by her father.

"Our goal is to defend ourselves! They broke through the metal gate. Even if we went into the house, they would break in and we would be eaten!" he exclaimed. His men immediately began to arm themselves and the faster ones were able to run forward and crush in the skulls of the shambling undead. One of them went up to Souichirou to report the possibility of being able to reclaim the gate.

With a nod of his head, Souichirou shouted out his orders. "Our targets are those that have broken through! Men who can fight, prepare yourselves! Women and children who want to survive, get in back!" He then turned his head to look at Takashi, who merely observed his actions. "You have your filial peity, do you not, Komuro-kun? It is time that you went on your way!"

"Yes, sir," Takashi replied with some hesitation.

"Hirano-kun, I entrust my daughter to you," Souichirou said to Kohta right after Takashi spoke.

Saya was surprised to say the least when she heard that. "Papa! What the hell do you mean by that?" She was thrown for a serious loop when her mother slapped her suddenly. Saya caressed her hurt cheek in shock at the stern expression on Yuriko's face.

"Souichirou-san and I have a role to play, Saya-chan. Having you in the care of Hirano-kun, Komuro-kun, and the others is one thing that we as your parents want for you! Don't think for a second that it doesn't kill us inside to do this. Please don't make us suffer anymore!" She cried. "Just go!"

Everyone was quiet at her words, even Dante had a look of seriousness about him. After all, he can understand where Saya's parents were coming from as they somewhat reminded him of his own deceased parents.

"Auntie..." Alice spoke as she came closer to Yuriko.

Yuriko bent down to face the girl. "You're a good girl. Auntie's daughter is a good girl too... listen to your brothers and sisters."

Saya just observed the touching moment before speaking. "Papa! Mama!" When she had their attention, she cried out her final words. "I love you!" And with that she took off as her mother and even her father smiled.

Souichirou faced the incoming zombies. "Throw the dynamite!" he ordered. Not even three seconds later, a huge explosion rang out as his men complied, blowing many of Them sky high.

"What are you doing? C'mon!" Saya said as she passed by Takashi and Dante.

Shizuka protested, wanting to wait for the others while Kohta just stood around wondering how they were going to leave. However, as that thought crossed his mind, he remembered seeing a prototype of a military vehicle earlier. Saya smirked a bit at she the realization on his face.

They made their way to the garage and found one of the many men under Souichirou's command, a man by the name of Matsuda finishing up the car. He seemed to know what they were thinking. "I've looked through it a few times and it all seems to be good. The electronic parts and battery cables are all isolated. It's good to go!"

"But, what are you going to do?" Dante had to ask. One look at the vehicle told him that all of them were not going to fit.

"The woman I'm in love with is here with everyone else," he simply explained. As Saya got into the back of the vehicle with Rei, who had caught up with Alice, Matsuda addressed her. "Milady Saya. Go with good health!"

"I'm always in good health," Saya said with a sad smile.

Dante stood alongside the vehicle with Takashi and Kohta. Lady was in the backseat, squished alongside Rei, Alice, Saeko, and Saya. "First things first, make a path for the damn car," Dante said with a grin. He said this with justified reason as while Souichirou and his men did take down a good number of Them, more were still around to block the way and more just kept on coming.

He picked up Rebellion and performed his Round Trip move, launching the huge sword at the very top of one of the undead's head. It sliced right throw the top part of the skull, the bone mixing with the blood and brain matter that flew out from the force of the throw. And as most of Them were around the same height as the one he aimed at, they were suffered the same fate.

Dante snapped his fingers and Rebellion spun back towards him, much to everyone's surprise, except for Lady. He turned to face Takashi and Kohta. "Come on guys, it's about time we had ourselves a little party before we go," he said before walking up to the huge crowd of zombies. He punched one casually in the face, crushing it entirely. The zombie fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

This signaled Kohta to take aim with his rifle and put down several of Them with a shot to the skull. Takashi ran up to join Dante and kicked a zombie back with devastating force. It flew back into other zombies and skidded along with them for several yards before stopping. Its head was crushed underfoot by Souichirou as he made his way forward towards the gate with his wife and men at his side. Dante whistled as he watched Souichirou cut down three of Them with a single, well aimed slash from his katana.

And so it continued after that, Kohta shooting down Them while Dante and Takashi would use their fists to cave in the heads of the ones that Kohta didn't shoot. It wasn't long before they cleared a path for the car to go through, albeit a path littered with the bodies of Them. Shizuka reeved up the car. "Come on!" she cried for the guys to hear. Kohta quickly got in and they took off to get Dante and Takashi.

The two saw the car coming and before Shizuka could slow down, both jumped on without a word. They drove past the remaining Them and eventually out of the gate.

Yuriko watched as the car drove out of sight. "Have they gone?" Souichirou asked.

"Yes. Our daughter is in the company of young friends who care about her," she replied.

Souichirou smirked despite he and Yuriko being surrounded by Them. "I regret nothing!" he yelled happily as he and his wife once again took up their weapons against the approaching zombie crowd.

Now outside the mansion are, Takashi and the others drove past the ruined barricade and Shidou's flipped bus. There were no signs of him or his twisted students, a fact that didn't seem to bother the group. It wasn't as if they actually cared if the bastard died.

Unfortunately, they didn't get very far. "Hey babe, stop the car," Dante said.

Shizuka blushed at being called a babe so casually, but she did as he said. She may be a ditz, but she knew from the fight he had with Takashi earlier that he knew what he was talking about in life and death situations.

"What is it?" Kohta asked him nervously. He wasn't very comfortable being around the guy regardless of what he had said to them after the fight.

Dante chuckled a bit. "Looks like we have some late guests."

No one was able to question him on what the hell that meant when Takashi spoke. "Oh shit," was all he said. His reasoning for why he said that was revealed as they heard a loud roar that sent shivers up some of their spines.

Out of nowhere it seemed, two Assaults appeared. They crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, kicking up dirt. One of them let out another roar and several Scarecrows slowly made their way from past the corners of the street.

"Heh, looks like they were waiting for us to leave the mansion," Dante said with a smirk. He climbed off the car and as soon as he did, one of the Assaults launched itself at the car, more specifically Shizuka and Takashi, who sat in the front seats.

Takashi reacted almost automatically once he saw that it seemed to be aiming for him more than Shizuka. He threw himself out of the car as well and met the Assault in the air. A cracking sound could be heard as they collided and they fell to the ground.

The Assault was the first to get up and whacked Takashi hard with its shield, knocking him back past the car. It then jumped high into the air and came crashing down, intent to stomp on him. Takashi, although a little more than groggy from the hit, saw it coming and wasted no time in rolling out of the way. He jumped to his feet and threw a punch only for the Assault to raise its shield.

His fist made contact with it and he let out a grunt as his fist began to hurt. Takashi didn't know what kind of material the shield it's made out of, but it sure was tough to say the least. His opponent went for a swipe with its other arm, its claws poised to tear him to bits with a single hit, but Takashi got in close and slammed both arms into the Assault's elbow joint. It stopped the attack and hurt it a bit, but also enraged it.

However, the short tussle between the two ended aruptedly when Dante ran behind the Assault and sliced its head clean off with Rebellion. A green liquid of sorts spurted out of the stump for a second before the body fell to the ground. He flicked his sword to get the green blood off. "Looks like you aren't ready just yet to be hanging with one of these bad boys," Dante remarked, smirk still on his face.

The other Assault roared in rage at its fallen comrade and now charged at the duo. The Scarecrows shambled along with it as a Mega Scarecrow made its appearance. Rei and Saeko had just gotten out of the car and gaped a bit at the size of the Mega Scarecrow, but quickly got ready to take on the Scarecrows while the Assault went to take revenge on Dante and Takashi. Kohta moved into the front of the car and loaded his rifle, getting ready to give support to the girls. Lady got out of the care as well and moved up next to Saeko, the Kalina Ann in her hands.

Dante looked back at them for a second. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit at how they got ready for a fight so quickly. "All right, let's get this started!" he cried as he held Rebellion at the ready. Takashi, standing next to him, couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was wise of him to be fighting alongside a possibly insane comrade.

And done! Hmm, well it turned out a bit different than I planned as I had intended for it to be longer, with the group fighting the small army of demons, but then I thought that it'd be better to do that in the next chapter so that I can really draw out the fight (without making it too long of course).

Anyway, sorry if I disappointed some of you for ending on a cliffhanger like that, but I hope you still liked the chapter.

I should be getting the next chapter done within the next few weeks. And don't forget to review!