A/N: So um…I bet the people who have been following this story are probably really upset with me on how dang slow I am at updating huh…? Yeah, that's definitely something that I need to improve on…Three months and I only got three chapters up. I so fail as a writer in terms of chapter updating. Oh well, enjoy the new chapter!

Where are they… Mio's mind couldn't help but think this with every single second passing by. Every time the tick tock of the clock resounded throughout the clubroom, she would have to endure the thought of being trapped. The clock seemed to mock her when both hands stood completely still one moment, then skipped ahead a few minutes. However, whether it had been twenty-four hours, forty-five minutes, or thirty-three seconds, she lost track of time ever since Ritsu sent her those text messages. The concept of time became irrelevant to her situation, because it honestly seemed endless to her.

The hand started moving again. Another second passed by.

The constant clicking echoed throughout her skull in an endless loop.

To be honest, only twelve minutes have elapsed since receiving Ritsu's messages. The first two minutes she spent gripping her bass guitar. Trembling, yes, but somewhat ready to fight against the horde that would rush through the double doors at any minute. However, no such moment arrived. Luckily, these particular zombies outside weren't well coordinated with their arms. They could bite through the muscles of a human being with ease, but the concept of a locked door seemed to prove a challenge for them.

After standing in the same stationary position for those two minutes, the expression on her face slowly transitioned from forced bravery to absolute terror. Her legs gave out on the spot and her body drooped down to the floor similar to how spaghetti does on a plate. The Fender Jazz Bass fell with a loud thud, which only enraged the horde outside and cause them to try to break down the door faster. Without correct arm coordination though, it might take a while. Plus, the piled stacks of boxes from the supply closet would help as well.

On the floor, Mio decided it was best that she assured herself that they wouldn't push through the door. So, the bassist decided to push more boxes of random leftovers from the Light Music Club against the double doors to completely ensure her safety. That should hold them off for a while, she thought.

The next ten minutes were spent thinking about the current situation. All of her emotions were coming out at once, like the local fireworks display at the Summer Festival. Her mind was buzzing with extreme mental activity as many thoughts came up in her head.

Why did this have to happen to me? Questioning.

If I hadn't yelled at Ritsu, we would all be together! Regret.

Are they still…a-ali…a-aliv…okay? Worry.

The fact of the matter was that these thoughts weren't occurring in her brain one at a time. It was all at once.

The next two minutes were spent banging her head on the wall of the clubroom in frustration, sadness, and many other emotions up to the point where a huge bump disproportional to the rest of her body would appear, as if this was one of those anime she occasionally watched with Ritsu. Where are they…where are they...where are they…Mio decided to settle on that for now. The broken record-esque thought began to fade away though as she felt a headache approaching.

As her forehead began to hurt, she sat with her back against the wall and let her legs hang out in whatever position they desired.

Her eyes wandered across the clubroom filled with an overwhelming number of mementos that triggered the happier times of her life in the light music club. Numerous pictures of previous light-music-club-related events were pasted onto the whiteboard. Mio observed how joyful she was in those pictures, particularly the picture of their training camp in their second year, at Mugi's "small" summer house. Each of the members of the club was lined up together at the beach.

Yui wrapped one arm tightly around her Azu-nyan at one side, with the latter resisting. Ritsu imitated the same action with Mio on the other side, which caught the girl off guard. Mugi stood in the middle, eyes glittering with glee for obvious reasons. Staring at Ritsu drape her arm around her in the picture, she couldn't help but think the same thought her past self had.

Idiot.

Smiling at her comment, she noticed the absolute euphoria her eyes contained, even if her body wanted to smack Ritsu upside the head at the time. Her grey eyes spoke loud and clearly how happy the girl was. Grey would usually be interpreted as an empty color, being monotone and all. However, in the picture, even that color was sparking with life and mirth. Now, however, empty would be the perfect word to describe how her eyes looked. In fact, her whole body looked empty, drained of any positive feelings she felt earlier.

Of course, the reason for feeling this way was completely understandable. After all, she was trapped in her own school in the late evening with a zombie army growing by the minute right outside the clubroom doors.

Being Mio, she saw that as too grotesque of an image, so she imagined it like the standard basis of most fairy tales she heard her mom read to her as a child.

The princess would be trapped in the castle, the brave knight/prince would come save her, and the two would fall in love and live happily ever after. That's sums up most of her childhood stories that were read to the little girl.

Mio thought of herself as the trapped princess in this case, and the brave person who would come save her was actually a group of five people, although she was focusing mostly on Ritsu because of her regret from cussing at her earlier.

Mio blushed when she thought about the ending of those fairy tales though; Ritsu and her were best friends, sure, but falling in love with the brunette? As if that would happen! A blush still appeared on her face regardless. Anyway, the point was that she was stuck in the clubroom, awaiting her rescue crew to come save her.

Looking at her phone for the time, she noticed it had been fifteen minutes since Ritsu had sent her those last two texts.

If you're in the clubroom, STAY INSIDE THE CLUBROOM. You have plenty of tea and sweets to keep you content. Stay there until we arrive.

Mio felt conflicted at this particular message. Although the clubroom was basically a safe haven for her, with enough tea and snacks to last her a good week or so, waiting in here was complete agony. Never did she imagine such a horrible experience could be had in this room, the same room filled with so many good times that surpassed Yui's ability to count, at least in English. And she definitely never expected herself to be stuck in this kind of situation, what with the zombie apocalypse.

Nonetheless, she couldn't stand to just sit and wait here anymore. Her own best friends were out there in the thick of battle with merciless creatures that shouldn't even exist, all trying to rescue her.

I can't just sit here and let them…d-d-d-die out there…That thought was obviously not a pleasant one, even more so obvious from her mental stuttering. I have to go out there and help them!

B-b-b-b-but…all of the…you can't, you can't! Mio's breath hitched for a moment. An opposing side of herself, the rational side, spoke up.

But they're my friends! She argued back, aghast at how her other side even thought about leaving her friends out there. I have to save them!

H-h-h-how do you expect to g-g-get through all of them…? You w-w-won't make it!

Mio realized how annoying her stuttering was when she was scared. Sure, cute at first but it would start to bug people after a while, including her.

Even so, I have to try! Her confidence was beginning to rise up. I can't just leave them out there with all of those zombies! If she had the time, she would celebrate being able to say the word "zombie" without any stuttering. I'm going!

The girl stood up from her spot, legs not feeling so jelly-like anymore.

Didn't you hear what Ritsu said, you idiot? Mio stopped dead in her tracks. The tone from the earlier nervous Mio was completely gone; a new, darker and more serious one replacing it. Mio stayed silent for a while, trying to come up with a response to herself.

Actually, this whole conversation was awkward, considering how she was arguing with her own self. Nevertheless, she let the other side of her continue since no response came to her.

She said to stay in the clubroom. What happens if you can't find her? She'll experience what we went through! She'll open the doors, expecting to see us! But we won't be in here if we're out there!

It was a valid point that was hard to argue against. She was right though. If somehow, the group of five happened to pass by Mio on the way to the school, they would each be in a precarious zombie-filled situation.

Mio thought hard about this decision she was about to make; however, doing so would definitely be easier if her mind wasn't boggled with the vast amount of emotions she was currently experiencing. As much as she wished she could huddle up in that same corner in the room, fall asleep, and have this situation completely disappear, she knew such a thing wouldn't happen. The girl had to choose between sacrificing her own life to save her friends, at the risk of her friends not being able to find her in the first place.

Groans of monsters that definitely needed some lotion interrupted her thoughts, reminding her of the limited time she had.

The girl lifted her head up toward the double doors.

No longer would she hide from these creatures.

No longer would she be that helpless princess in the castle either.

I'm sorry but my friends could be in trouble right now. I have to go out there! Everybody's waiting for me.

Mio made her decision.

She stood up from her spot and grabbed her bass guitar forcefully. She was in the exact same position seventeen minutes ago, only now, her face wasn't filled with her trademark scaredy-cat expression. Mio looked absolutely ready to kick some serious zombie ass.

A few last words of advice before I go: Be ready to fight. Ritsu's final text message echoed in her mind.

For your sake Ritsu, for the light music club's sake, for all of my friends' sake…I am ready to fight.

However, there was a little hurdle she had to overcome before she could assist her friends in the battle between humans and zombies that would probably be discussed for centuries if they survived. So…ugh, how should I plan to get out of here?

If this was an anime, multiple sweatdrops would be present on Mio.

In the dim-lit clubroom for the Occult Club, two girls stood still in the middle with their expressions covered by their bangs. The only source of light was the light bulb hanging from a thin string, casting shadows across the features of both girls' faces.

Suki's brown hair was absolutely unruly due to the difficulties they faced just to make it to the clubroom. It ran all the way down her back, right above her bottom. Her face bore a few scars from the zombies, including one that scratched right across her forehead. The headband she would normally wear was discarded, allowing her bangs to cover the embarrassing mark.

Kyo's hair wasn't completely black but an extremely dark shade of navy blue, almost fading into the background of the room due to the horrible lighting. It was equally as messed up as Suki's, several strands protruding everywhere. It was considerably shorter, hanging right above her shoulders.

As Suki's amber eyes stared at the girl in front of her, she couldn't help but feel horrified.

"You can't possibly force me to go back out there!" she yelled.

"Suki-chan," Kyo's tone of voice turned calm despite her friend's woeful one. "Will you kindly shut up and look at the facts? Standing around here won't help us out at all. We need to find that book to stop this madness, and I'll need all the help I can get." Kyo's concern was almost always covered by a few tinges of rudeness, just because that's how she was.

Silence filled the room for a fair amount of time with Suki still trying to decide. I know we have to go out there eventually but…facing them earlier was already traumatic enough! She quickly recalled what had only happened a few minutes ago, where four zombies charged at the pair. Luckily, Kyo was more of a fighter than she was, disarming (literally) one of the zombies and beating the second one with said arm. This leads one to wonder why she would be in a club such as the Occult Club.

"Meh, just wanted to try something new for once." She once said to Suki at the beginning of the year. This was both Suki and Kyo's final year in high school, with both friends planning to attend the same college. Kyo wanted to try out new things since they would soon be filled to the brim with homework in the near future, so she joined a bunch of different clubs. Eventually, she settled with the Occult Club since the supernatural forces interested her most out of the ones she joined. Suki followed her along so she wouldn't feel so lonely.

"So, what's your decision?" The raven-haired girl's voice snapped her from her flashback.

"I'll go with you," she finally agreed. "But…where are going to find that book?"

"My first guess is that we should check out the nearest graveyard since that's where the incantation would need to be performed."

"But that's assuming that she's still there! What if she isn't? What if she's leading this zombie army?"

"Don't worry your goddamn head so much, zombies don't work like that. They don't really follow any leader or anything; they just live and bite other people. So when she raised them from the dead, they probably just got her. I have no idea why that girl would think she could become the leader of the zombies, or why she would want to be. Exact revenge? World domination? Hell if I know, but we need to stop these guys."

The brunette nodded at this, despite half of her being scared to near paralysis at having to face a whole army of zombies.

"Look, it's not like it's just us…" Kyo said nicely for once in her life after noticing the obvious hints of worry on her best friend's face. "There's bound to be other survivors out there just like us, who want this to end. We'll take anyone we can at this point."

At least we're not completely alone, Suki thought. "Thanks for that, Kyo-chan." At this, a small smile crept its way onto her face.

"Hey, it's only because we're in such a crisis like this that I'm being nice. If I spent all day cussing your ass out, we probably wouldn't get past the front of the school." At this, Suki's smile faltered.

Kyo sighed. "…Well, we are best friends too, so ya know…I gotta comfort you too." Suki's smile was instantly restored.

It proved to be contagious as one began to appear on Kyo's face. Despite her expression, she couldn't help but feel worried as well. To be honest, I'm definitely scared as hell. But I gotta stay strong for Suki-chan, or else, she'll break down and we'll be a zombie's next meal.

"So…are you ready?" Suki asked.

"Hold up, let's see what we can find in the supply closet as weapons."

The girls were able to find a few brooms, knives for cutting open whatever Occult members cut open, and a metal pole. Where was this metal pole from? Hell if they know, and hell if I knew, but it would do some good damage to a zombie's head.

"Okay, on three, I'll unlock the door and we charge out…" Kyo stated. "You sure you're ready?"

Suki nodded, yet her best friend could still detect the slightest hint of worry again. Even the smallest ounce of fear I noticed on you worries me so much… Ugh, okay…just stay strong Kyo.

"One…"

I just gotta keep my cool…

"Two…"

We're gonna survive…

"And..."

We kindly show these zombie bitches back to their grave!

"THREE!" The door was flung back, revealing the dark atmosphere of Zombie land. The girl who opened said door, Ritsu, felt fear worm into her as she saw those zombies from earlier. Oh God, I'm scared, was her first thought as soon as she saw the first zombie.

Seeing said creature charge at her with its mouth wide open was enough to snap her out of her stunned state. "Ergh, take this ya undead freak!" She swung her frying pan in the direction of its mouth, earning a loud bang that resounded in each of the girls' ears.

The zombie's head was completely disfigured, and lay down on the porch in front of the brunette. "Heh, how do you like that?" she yelled in victory at achieving her first blood.

Looking at the drummer, everybody's fear slowly began to dissipate as confidence soon welled up inside them. If Ritsu was able to overcome the fact that they were killing the once innocent residents of this area, they should be able to as well.

However, the girls still tried to avoid smacking zombies unless they were forced to. Ritsu, on the other hand, was going on a killing spree, smashing any unfortunate zombie that happened to be in her path. Quickly turning into a running riot, Ritsu ended up getting ahead of the group.

"Ritsu-senpai, don't get too far away from us!" Azusa shouted toward the senior.

"Don't worry Azusa, it's all under control!"

"Ritsu-senpai, watch out!" Azusa's warning was too late as a zombie lunged at Ritsu from the sky, catching the brunette completely off guard. Holding her down with one arm, it sent its mouth at the girl's other arm to snag a bite out of her. She struggled against it, vigorously pushing her open arm against its mouth to subdue it.

"Somebody help me out here!" she yelled out. Azusa was about to head over to her when three more zombies charged at her. She raised her pan in a fighting stance, ready to take each of them on when she noticed three people appear in front of her.

"Azu-nyan, you go help Ricchan!" Yui stated firmly.

"Let us take care of these for you!" Mugi said.

Ui, albeit having a worried expression on her face, nodded violently at her best friend as well. Mouthing the words "thank you", Azusa ran straight past the zombies, confusing them for a quick moment. This moment proved to be their downfall when they received three frying pans to their jaw bones. The sound of these bones breaking echoed in the junior's ears like a firecracker.

"Ritsu-senpai!" Azusa called out as she quickly pounded the lunging zombie away by hitting it in the right in the face, bones instantly cracking and blood instantly spewing onto the street pavement and their uniforms. "Are you okay?" She checked Ritsu's body for any scratches or wounds.

"Tch, of course I am!" The girl instantly stood up, a big grin on her face. "I'm not gonna die this early in the apocalypse!" Seeing that smile instantly reassured the smaller guitarist that she wasn't bruised badly or anything.

"Oh, senpai, your headband..." She pointed toward the bangs now flowing freely down from Ritsu's forehead.

"Dang it; it must have fallen down the sewage drain when that zombie pounced on me," she stated, eyes staring at the water drainage system.

Soon enough, the other three girls regrouped with each other after killing their share of the miniature zombie horde. They managed to get past their first wave of the horde with only a few minor scratches and bruises that could be easily shrugged off. For a group of girls whose world seemed to be all happy and worry-free, they handled this situation pretty well.

"I'm starting to get scared though…that zombie that attacked you seemed different from the others…" their kouhai stated.

"Yeah, you're right about that Azusa," Ritsu agreed. "This one was way faster; got me on my back in less than a second. I guess this means that not all of them are mindless bodies that have no strategy at all."

The now-headband-less girl began to think for a second when a realization hit her. "That zombie was just like the one from Left 4 Dead! It was just like the Hunter zombie!"

"Hunter zombie?" Mugi thought aloud. "Well, if the zombies we're dealing with are similar to the ones in that video game…that must mean there are more types as well!" The gentle Ojou-sama looked distressed and scarred for life. It's hard enough that we have to deal with hundreds of these regular zombies…but there could also be more dangerous types as well? The thought of the various kinds of menacing abilities they could have begun to reduce not only Mugi's but everyone's hope of making it out alive.

Yui tried to keep her usual smile on her face but it was beginning to crumble. Some of the monsters she just killed weren't actual zombies in the true definition but neighbors that were infected by them. Yui, being one of the most kind and caring people in the world, just had to slam a metal pan into innocent little kids that lived on her same street. They didn't deserve to die like this! She thought as she looked upon their dead bodies.

Ui wasn't fairing any better either, the realization of different zombie types had also worried her, making this situation all the more grim.

"Guys, come on…" Ritsu tried to get their attention but it was no use; their hope was beginning to lower.

"Ugh…EVERYBODY LISTEN UP!" Everybody perked up at this outburst. "Look, with this kind of attitude we're showing, there's no possible way we'll be able to make it out of this alive! There's no way we'll be able to save Mio!" At the mention of Mio's name, the emptiness in their eyes disappeared.

Ritsu calmed down by taking a good long inhale and exhale, not wanting to flip out like she did before. "My point is, if we spend every interlude between our fights sulking like this, we'll never make it to the school. We have to stay hopeful and positive if we can ever think of saving Mio!"

"But Ritsu-san…" Everybody's heads turned to Ui, who hasn't talked since they were back at her house. "After we find Mio-san, then what are we going to do?"

"We'll get off of this island, that's for sure!"

"We barely made it through this one fight; how are we supposed to be able to push through ten more of these alive?"

"…well," the sound of a zombie cry interrupted their conversation. "We'll just have to try our best!" Raising her frying pan in the air, she began to move in the direction of the school once more.

Reluctantly, everybody else followed her.

"Ui, don't talk like that…you're making me feel sad," Yui said to her little sister.

"Oh, I'm sorry Onee-chan!" Ui apologized.

"Just, try to stay positive okay? I know it's hard to in this kind of situation but, can you just try to at least…? For me?"

It's hard to…if only you knew…what happened… "I-I'll try to…" she said with a small smile.

"Good…I guess we can't hold back now though…Ui, hold my pan for me." Once Ui got a hold of Yui's frying pan, the guitarist kneeled onto the ground and took the guitar case off of her back. Unzipping the case, she whispered closely to her guitar. "Gitah, I'm sorry…but for us to survive, I'm going to have to use you as a weapon…" She then raised her Les Paul, ready for any more fights to come their way.

If Onee-chan is starting to get serious about this, then I will have to too! Ui thought.

There was a loud deafening roar that pierced through all five of the girls' ears, startling them to near fainting. The source of the sound was a good distance away, but its growl was so loud that it echoed all the way to them.

"That sounded just like…" Ritsu began, but she couldn't finish her sentence.

"What Ricchan? It sounded like what?" Yui asked, getting worried at the horrified expression on her friend's face, yet trying to maintain a brave expression for her younger sister.

"It…it sounded like…" she took a deep breath. "Guys, we have to keep moving toward the school and save Mio. Then from there, we'll try to find a way to get out of this zombie infested place. Let the government take care of this. Got it?"

Everybody nodded in agreement.

"Ritsu-san." All of their heads turned toward Ui. "I think…you should tell us more about the zombie types you encountered in…Left 4 Dead."

"…Yeah…it's probably for the best that I do. Can't promise that the zombies we'll fight'll be exactly the same but, hey, I guess it can't hurt to tell you."

After a good few minutes of cautionary walking, Ritsu spoke up again.

"One more thing guys." The golden-haired girl's eyes stared at each of the girls straight. "Promise me that you won't hold back, please? If you do, then we won't ever be able to make it out of this alive. Give it your absolute all! Even if we do die, let's die with a bang!" As soon as her fist was raised in the air, the group morale was once again restored.

Ritsu-senpai…Azusa thought. She's becoming such a good leader…keeping her cool in this kind of situation…At this act, she began to feel more respect toward her senpai. If it wasn't for her, we'd all still be sad about this at Ui's house...

"Ricchan, there's a group of zombies heading toward us!" Mugi exclaimed, pointing her finger at the small horde.

Before she had a chance to respond, Yui spoke up. "Well then Mugi-chan, I guess that means we got to hurry and save Mio-chan, right?" With that statement, Yui sprinted toward the group with Gitah held tight in her grip, followed by the other girls.

Tsumugi nodded and joined their attack. I guess there's no other choice but to fight them! We have to if we want to save Mio-chan!

All earlier feelings of not wanting to attack the once-innocent neighbors were gone. This was a battlefield where the rules were to either kill, or be killed.

With that, the sound of cracked skulls and bone detachments never sounded sweeter to the blonde.

A/N: Major thanks to my now official beta, majestic mucus! Your tips definitely helped make this chapter better, so thanks a lot! Anyway, the next chapter is definitely going to be where more zombie-filled action starts to take place. I am excited but also nervous for this part, as it will be my first attempt at doing an action sequence. Hopefully, all will go well in the more action-y parts of the story, and I'll stop being such a lazy bum and update faster.