AN: Uploaded close to chapter 1 as it was initially meant to be one chapter total but I changed it and made it two ^^; Anyway, enjoy! (hopefully)

Chapter 2 - Up in Flames

Character Storyline - Ichigo Kurosaki (I-G)

Ichigo glanced out the side of the helicopter, his mind racing to make sense of the situation, this had all started so fast. Exams were once his biggest problem...he severely doubted that now. Things had escalated rapidly. An evacuation? People swept with panic everywhere he turned? He was beginning to get frustrated with the lack of information, people always had a tendency to never tell him anything unless he had to force it out of them. He continued surveying the city, it was normally breath-taking and beautiful when seen from the sky. What he saw was not even close to that anymore.

Smoke billowed from buildings, blazes of flames ran rampant in the streets quickly engulfing anything in their path. People were running frantically, trying desperately to find some refuge. Even from this distance he could hear the blood chilling screams, each a cry of panic or despair that sent frigid chills down his spine as his thoughts turned to his friends he'd seen earlier. Mizuiro, Keigo, Chad, Uryu...Tatsuki and Orihime hadn't even shown up today. He held back the thoughts decaying his resolve, he grasped the shards of hope he had and reassured himself once again. "They'll be ok..." He murmured under his breath.

He flinched as he heard a gunshot, first only one then many followed in a rhythmic pattern. He quickly glanced down to the streets again seeing the people in black suits firing on the mass of people, only enraging the screams. "What they hell are they doing?!" He cried out as he watched in shock, they were shooting innocent people, so many of them falling to the ground in seconds. It had only taken seconds to take all those lives and that was what made Ichigo burn with anger, the blood boiling in his veins as he observed the sickening scene. "Why aren't you answering me!? I'm sick of all the secrets, just what the hell is going on!?" He yelled at the passengers in the helicopter, he wasn't asking for answers anymore he was demanding them.

Kenpachi completely ignored him, brushing off the questions as if they were dust before the blue haired officer stepped in and broke the suffocating tension that hung the air. "Look it ain't as simple as 'oh god, they're shooting people' anymore," He mimicked in a mocking tone as his eyes narrowed at the situation below before flashing back to the impatient red-head. "They're not people, well not anymore that is." Ichigo stared at him, his face completely expressionless as he tried to take in the words. "They're not people, what does that even mean?" He questioned as he turned away, unable to continue watching the massacre below, a sickening feeling making him feel light-headed.

"They're infected." Kenpachi grunted as he eyed the teen. He was clearly not in a cheerful mood, his glare icy and distant. Ichigo flinched as the pilot coughed harshly, seemingly clearing his throat before the conversation continued. "It's a virus, spread by contact of blood or saliva...anything with their DNA that can get into your blood really. Once infected a person has a span of anywhere between four and nine hours before they start showing lethal symptoms, becoming aggressive and contagious." Grimmjow quickly explained after observing that his captain wanted nothing to do with it. "So, like zombies?" Ichigo questioned before receiving a harsh glare. "If that's how ya' want to see it."

"How did this even start? Does anyone know yet?" Ichigo inquired again, now he'd started getting answers he was hoping it wouldn't stop. "No, no-one knows why this began. All we know is we've got to evac as many people as we can now, and figure things out later. Saving lives while we can is all we can do right now." Grimmjow turned away, a grim tone to his voice as it trailed off, becoming lost in the roar of the helicopter blades. More raspy coughs came from the pilot, this time he was heaving for breaths almost as if he were asphyxiated.

Blood splattered across the window as he gasped for air, the more seconds that ticked past the more blood he shed as the coughing worsened. "Shit! He's infected!" Kenpachi yelled as the helicopter lost all direction and began diving towards the city. "Grimmjow, get the kid down!" He cried over the sirens of the helicopter that were predicting the impending crash, the bells in his hair were swaying wildly in the rush of wind that ripped through. The blades were damaged as they contacted one of the nearby skyscrapers, a shrill metal cry erupting from the side of the hull.

Ichigo and Grimmjow were violently thrown to the back with the cargo that near broke all of the red-head's ribs as it impacted him, beating all the air from his lungs in the process. He rasped for breath as Kenpachi tried to steer, fighting to gain control again but failing miserably due to the broken blades and damaged hull. "Damn it! I can't steer this thing!" He yelled back at them while continuing the futile attempts. "Get down!" Grimmjow cried out as the spiraling ground drew closer and closer, all three of them braced for the inevitable impact.

Ichigo shut his eyes tightly, panic shutting off the agonizing pain in his side. The final moments lasted an eternity as adrenaline coursed through his veins, the darkness consuming as he heard Kenpachi cry out something inaudible. Suddenly a jet of dense, heavy liquid hit him, rapidly throwing him sideways and out of the torn hull while forcing shards of metal to dig deeply into his arm making him lose the remaining air he had, lost in a burst of bubbles and a muffled cry.

He felt weightless, his hair wavering wildly in the water as he descended. Watching the aircraft submerge above him as golden light provided a dark silhouette of the wreck. He began feeling the gripping cold pierce through his body as he plunged further into the icy depths, continuing to sink into the abyss below. He felt his vision blurring as his lungs burned, begging for the oxygen he couldn't grasp. He slowly raised his hand, staying there paralyzed in pain, longing for the surface.

His eyelids felt heavy like lead as the world around him became lost in the blur of water and darkness, the only thing he could make out was the debris from the crash, falling to the same fate as him. Colour seemed to drain from the world before he fought to focus one last time, only able to just make out a shadowed figure with it's arms reached out to him. It was coming.

Is this it? ...Am I going to die here? Were the last thoughts in his mind as the darkness consumed him. Plunging him into the unbearable silence as the remains rained down around him.