Sanji was in the back with Zoro again, because Ace was driving, being the most capable with the area and Luffy decided to shotgun seat because he felt like it. They bumped along with the Ute in silence. Sanji fingered the weapons he picked out from the storage. A pair of pistols, like Ace, and a climbing pick. They were all required to bring a multi-tool thing and a survival knife. He also found knee pads in there, which pleasantly surprised him. He kept the small backpack but also added extra exterior pockets that attached to a belt, which was unnecessary in the face of pants, but he wanted important things in easy reach. Zoro had a sword with him, one in a white sheath and like Sanji, also had the knife and the multi tool. The Ute stopped and the black haired pair got out.

"We're here. Just going to try those two buildings there." Ace pointed to two multi storey buildings. They were an old style, sort of European with framed windows and tiled roofs. The one on the left looked like mansion, or fancy shopping mall. It was surrounded by a towering marble wall with statues on each corner. "Let's not split up. Zombies are infested in here and I'm not sure about the numbers." They walked, keeping a lookout for each other's backs. They stopped at the base of a wall.

"Luffy, go first." Luffy began scaling the wall, while Sanji watched with slight disbelief. It was going to take forever.

"I'll go help him." He broke the circle and took a few steps back from the wall, estimating its height before bursting into a run. He took a few steps up the wall and flung his arms up, grappling the top before heaving himself, twisting and straddling the wall.

"So cool!" Luffy whispered below him. Ace looked mildly impressed.

"You bastard. You know parkour? You so have to teach me." Sanji hauled Luffy up, ignoring the comments.

"So, when you jump down, do you roll? I want to see it!" Luffy's eyes sparkled.

"Shut up idiot. Just wait till we're here too." Ace huffed, hauling his body over.

"Go! Go!" Luffy grinned. Sanji shrugged mentally. Heck, the ground looked clear. Might as well. He jumped, landing on his feet and dropping to his hips before rolling on his shoulder. He looked back and saw Ace muffling Luffy's cheers. He kept a lookout as they climbed down.

"Alright, we'll take apart the door."

"We are not unscrewing the fucking hinges."

"But it's fun Zoro." Ace whipped out his multi tool, grinning.

"I'm wasting my life here. Why don't we bust in, grab what we want and head out?"

"Because Sanji is the only one here who can do that." Sanji remembered why he didn't like company. They always bickered, having ideas they deemed better than others. It was unnecessary and caused noise. Zoro fell silent as Ace wedged his knife in the door jam, sliding it up and down to cut through the hinges. Sanji narrowed his eyes, straining his senses to detect any trace of danger.

Thump. The door shuddered as Ace drew away.

"Well fuck. Zoro, take it away." Zoro unsheathed his sword, cleaving the door in half with whoever was behind it.

"How did you know it was a zombie?" And not a person?

"They didn't say anything," Ace muttered as they stepped into the dim building. "Two blind spots." They crept in pairs, circling around the blind spots until it came into clear view. There was a zombie wedged under a desk, which Zoro disposed of by a clean stab to the neck.

But other than that, the ground floor was clear. Sanji had to admire the ruthless efficiency in this group. They explored the room quickly, emptying out drawers. There wasn't much. They trailed up the stairs.

"There's more. Maybe three." Luffy muttered as they rounded the corner. They stopped, straining for any noises. Sanji detected a faint rustle.

"How can you tell?"

"Gut feeling." Sanji shook his head. How do you gut feel for zombies?

"I think one's near the top of the stairs."

"Didn't we just clear it out yesterday?" Zoro growled.

"I don't like the look of this. We already cleared up around five levels before we came across a shitload in there. There might have been something sweet on the fifth floor but I couldn't tell."

"What are you willing to bet?" Sanji interjected. There must be some point to this scavenging.

"Medicine and books."

"Let's pick between this one and the other for today," Zoro said.

"I think... this one because we have a doctor, well a sort of doctor, but he can do more stuff than we could."

"But he's young. What could he know and not know?" Zoro questioned. Ace faltered.

"I don't know but I'm willing to risk it."

"Let's go then," Luffy prompted. "Kill them all."

"So if that zombie falls down the stairs, Zoro, stick that thing with your sword, preferably kill it. Sanji, finish it off if it's not dead. Back down then wait for the rest." They all nodded to Ace's plan. They heard a moan. Then irregular footsteps as the monster dragged its feet across the floor. Zoro held his sword in front, steady. In a tangle of rotting flesh and dislocated limbs, the zombie tumbled down the stairs, straight into Zoro's blade, spearing it in the chest. Sanji stepped in to finish it off but Zoro jerked his sword up, slicing the zombie clean in half. Blood spilled onto the stairs.

"Move!" Ace whispered hastily for them to retreat.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It sounded a lot more than three. "Clear out." Ace drew a heavy dagger as they spread out in a circle surrounding the base of the stairs.

All hell broke loose.

There was too many bodies in too little space. Sanji backed out near the exit, holding up his knife up. This was suicide. Luffy rolling with a zombie, punching it as they tumbled around the floor, which was beyond Sanji when they all held knives. Zoro had just dispatched a pair with a single slash, slicing through the decaying bones and flesh. Ace decapitated one with his dagger, kicking aside the body before pouncing on Luffy's zombie, stabbing it through the neck. He cuffed Luffy across the ear.

"That was stupid." Luffy rubbed his injured area.

"But I'm okay!" Sanji frowned. How did they get through without anyone getting bitten? This group was just purely lucky because that was pretty damn stupid to get in a tousling fight with zombies. Luffy and Ace were still bickering when Sanji saw the swordsman twitch. Zoro steadied his bloody sword, facing the base of the stairs.

"Shut up." Ace and Luffy paused, turning their heads to Zoro, and shut their gaping mouths. "This is going to take forever. I suggest curly brow just climb to floor five, raid everything and get out."

Curly brow?

"That's suicide Zoro," Ace said. "No one would be able to take on zombies in a small space like that.

"We're going to need a quick exit."

"Just let me check outside for a second." Sanji strode out the door and scanned the sides of the building. The marble wall was around five metres away from the edge of the building, an easy jump to make and if he combined the approximate width of the wall, width enough to easily straddle, it'd be possible to jump out from a window, land on wall and escape.

"What did you do?"

"We can escape if we jump out a window and land on the wall. Then we can escape." Sanji paused as the unanswered question hung in the air. Could they do it?

"Yep," Luffy grinned. Zoro nodded.

"This is a parkour crash course!" Ace rubbed his hands. "Awesome!" They were all crazy. Or had guts. It'd definitely a first that a group of people would all agree to jump off a building to land on the wall without training beforehand.

"Let's go." Ace crept up the stairs. The second floor was something of a library, with rows of bookshelves in a maze, leaving plenty of sharp corners and blind spots. Sanji crouched, peering around the corner.

"Let's go!" a voice yelled, startling Sanji. He shuddered. Zoro snickered. Luffy ran through past Sanji, cheering.

Wait a second.

"Luffy!" Ace shouted, coming after the urchin.

Groans arose and the blonde's heart thudded with the quick intake of breath. Adrenaline rushed through his veins. He drew a gun in his left hand and a knife in his right, running after the pair. Gunshots sounded, accompanied by yelling.

The first fight scene.

"No," he breathed. This was a massacre. A beautifully efficient massacre. The bodies of around ten zombies lay on the floor. Bloodied footprints led the way and he followed, keeping his ears strained for any zombie escapees but the pair seem to have done the job.

"Keep moving." Sanji jumped at the voice that growled in his ear. The voice snickered again. He turned his head to see the blasted swordsman standing relaxed, cocking his sword on his shoulder. He flipped the man off before striding ahead.

"Ugh Luffy, why did you have to run ahead like that?" Ace wiped blood from his cheek as he straightened up. This was probably already the fourth floor and something of a luxurious bedroom, well, minus all the blood and guts and dead bodies scattered all over the place.

"You didn't need to come." Luffy rolled his shoulder, deadpanning. "I could've handled this by myself."

"Liar!" Ace pounded Luffy's head sharply. "You'll get killed!" Luffy stuck out his tongue before running ahead once again. "Get back here!"

"Hey." Zoro stopped. Ragged breathing whistled from behind the bookstand. He poked his head around the corner. "Oh- fuck!" He drew up his sword in the nick of time, pushing against the zombie's heavy weight. It'd been a while since Sanji came across any fat zombies before. He disliked them. They were messy to kill from the influx of gas in their stomach, which usually meant they exploded. Sanji stepped in by reflex, pivoting and slamming the neck of the zombie with his heel, snapping its neck and partially dislodging the head. It stumbled as Zoro pushed it back. The head dangled from bloody veins and arteries. An eyeball bungee jumped from the eye socket.

"Don't cut it through the stomach," Sanji cautioned. It'd really been a while since he used kicking. He tried to ingrain using knives and guns first but his feet always moved first when he wasn't thinking. Zoro severed the strands, kicking other body aside before pressing on. The smell of putrid flesh filled the air. The body began to sizzle.

"Run!" Sanji shouted, gagging in the gas. "Run! It's going to explode!" Eyes streaming, he clung on Zoro's wrist and dragged them to the stairs before the zombie detonated.

The explosion shook the house.

Luffy stumbled. Ace cursed as they felt the rumble through the floor.

"I hope they're ok."

"They will be." Lufffy nodded, crushing the skull of a zombie.

Sanji heaved, wiping his eyes. Fuck, that was close. He straightened up and turned to check on his partner.

"Hey are you-" He stopped. Blinking for a few seconds, unable to comprehend the situation before him.

No. Fucking. Way.

He saved a fucking zombie?! So he grabbed a zombie by the fucking hand and dragged it up the stairs?

Where the fuck was Zoro?

That was definitely a first. Well, luckily, the zombie was one of those scrawny poles that didn't have the strength to do shit. It shuddered and groaned, collapsing on its own flimsy legs. Sanji hesitated. He should kill it, just in case.

"What are you waiting for?" A slash decapitated the zombie. Zoro huffed. "Where the hell did you go?"

"I grabbed a fucking zombie." Zoro snorted his laughter.

"Did you hold hands?"

"I'm surprised you didn't get killed."

"You're the one who went on a date with a zombie." They bickered, only with their mouths.

"Idiot marimo."

"Marimo?"

"It's a green algae ball. Like your hair. Is your head full of kelp?"

"Dumbass Prince."

Shoving could come later.

"Hey Luffy, this is it!" Ace pulled open drawers, scanning the documents quickly before stuffing them in his bag. They looked medical enough so maybe Chopper would make more sense of it. "Aw sweet!" More pills. Hell, he might as well cram as much as he could. Luffy emptied out more contents into his bag.

The building shuddered. The floor tilted.

"The explosion!" Ace gasped. The building was going to give way. "Sanji! Zoro!" he yelled. "Hurry up!" Sanji and Zoro emerged from the stairs, heavily cursing from the steep angle of the floor. Sanji ran around the perimeter of the room, seeking an appropriate window to jump from. This one. It looked like a pipe ran down the length of the house.

"Slide down then jump onto the wall." It should be doable.

"Ten more seconds," Zoro called, slicing apart the window Sanji stopped at. The blonde peered down, grunting in satisfaction at the confirmation. He joined Ace and Luffy briefly, swapping his empty bag with theirs. "Let's go." Zoro pulled Luffy, who was protesting violently. Sanji lingered, stuffing in more medicine while Zoro relayed instructions. Luffy went first, sliding down the pipe and fast disappearing out of sight. Then it was Ace. The building screamed, and the other half of the floor caved in, crashing into the depths below.

"Hurry up!" Zoro called, head slipping past the window. Sanji waved him off. He zipped the backpack shut and slung it on, crossing the floor. The floor slanted further, threatening to tip Sanji into the gaping hole. He looked down, judging how far the three were down. It looked like Luffy made it to the wall and Ace was pretty close. Zoro was pretty fast so a few more seconds couldn't hurt. The floor dropped half a metre, teetering for a few seconds. Sanji knew what was going to come. This mansion was a goner.

He jumped.

The wall came up to him in slow motion. He saw the trios' face morph from shock to apprehension as he fell through the air. The wall was too far. He wouldn't make it.

Time for Plan B. Sanji stretched out his arms, body slamming into the wall as he grappled for a secure hold, bruising his chest and knees. A multitude of hands gripped his wrists and hauled him over. That was close.

"We have to get down. Ready?" Luffy asked. Sanji nodded, winded. They dropped to the ground, rolling with an almost perfect imitation of Sanji's demonstration earlier.

These guys were freaks.

"Let's hurry," Ace called as they ran to the Ute, clambering in. He gunned the vehicle and they made a break for it, speeding away from the collapsing building. Clouds of dust and debris billowed out from it, threatening to suffocate the four.

"That was so cool!" Luffy hollered, poking his head out from the car window.

"No it wasn't," Sanji muttered, wringing his stinging hands.

"It was," Ace admitted. "It was like one of those movie scenes where everything goes in slow motion when the hero is like falling after an explosion. Anyway," he added, riding over Zoro's snort, "We got what we came for. Mission accomplished."