A/N: Part 2 is here! I am truly excited for what's to come. There's some awesome plans for the future; be prepared for some cameos! Anyways, hope you enjoy this next chapter. I get to develop the characters more thoroughly, and some more background stories are revealed.

I'm gonna take a break from this story for a while, let it set into the site. If I get some good feedback from reviews, favorites, and alerts, I'll continue the story. So speak up if you want to see more!

Der Reise, Part 2

"I hope they don't surrender. I hope we get to kill every last one of them."

The words echoed in Merriel Shelton's mind like a broken record. He remembered staring at Eugene Sledge after he made the bitter declaration. He wasn't shocked or disgusted, but had more of an intense curiosity. Sledge was like a lab rat to be studied during that war, an experiment unfolding before him. And Merriel watched as his character crumbled and his humanity thinned to almost nonexistence. His friend developed a hatred for the Japanese that Merriel never had.

Not that he liked the Japs; He couldn't care less about the yellow bastards. He proved that at Peleliu, throwing rocks into the partially destroyed cranium of a dead Jap like he was tossing them into a lake on a Summer's day.

Yes, Merriel knew how to deal with the dead people. Dead Japs, dead Krauts- it didn't make any difference to him. They were just more corpses to harvest gold from, more skulls with which to play brain basketball.

Merriel chuckled. "Brain Basketball." He liked that. But back to the present.

The group had taken refuge in what looked like locker rooms. Lacking windows and having only one point of entry, it was an ideal place to rest up, change clothes, and maybe scrounge some food.

Mmmm, food. Merriel could sure go for some of that. Some shrimp gumbo with wild rice, and a tall glass of sweet tea, just like his mama used to make. His stomach grumbled hungrily, as if agreeing with his thoughts.

"We'll stay here through the night." He heard Lena say. She was leaning her shoulder against one of the lockers, looking at her wrist watch as she spoke. "From what I've observed, those things are most active from dusk to dawn, but they don't move much during the day."

"It's because of the experiments." Sophia explained, her voice sudden and her words fast. She was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, hands clasped behind her back as if she was giving a report to a class. She blushed slightly when the three looked at her, lowering her voice and gaze before adding meekly, "We fed and tested on them at night. There wasn't much activity during the day."

"So yall think they still hold habits?" inquired Eugene, who was sitting on a metal chair across from her. He leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees, clasping his hands loosely infront of him. His dog tags had escaped from beneath his shirt, and they now dangled freely from his neck.

Sophia shrugged. "Maybe... I mean, to some extent. From the last few test results I remember, their brain activity was devastatingly low, almost nonexistent. But I suppose they could retain some sense of routine, like a dog used to meal times."

It was the most words any had heard her speak, and she blushed profusely when she was finished.

"Whatchu feed 'em?" drawled Merriel. He always sounded drunk; looked drunk too. He was leaning against the lockers next to where Eugene sat, head tilted back to rest against the cool metal. He put on his crooked, menacing smile. "Limbs and organs?"

"Snafu." muttered Eugene as a reprimand. "Come on, she's just a girl." Sophie said nothing.

"Come on. Let's go get washed up." Lena's voice was soft and gentle as she moved beside the girl, nudging her in the direction of the showers. She shot a quick glare at Snafu and hissed, "Maybe you can make yourself useful for once, and find us some food."

Snafu just retained his sloppy smile as a response, waving to Sophie as the two left the room.

"You haven't changed at all." Eugene murmerred from beside him, shaking his head in disappointment.

"An' that's a bad thing?"

"Considerin' you?" he turned his head slightly, showing his pale profile. It looked even paler under the florescent light. "Yes."

By the time the two women had returned, Sledge and Snafu had scavenged enough food to hold them over for the night. Their dinner was comprised mostly of candy, with honey cakes as the main course.

"I made these for my sister's birthday." Sophia murmured softly as she handed out the cakes from a brown paper bag. Her usually curly shoulder length hair hung strait down her back, still wet from her shower. It soaked the collar of her navy button-down blouse, which was tucked into her matching, knee-length A-line skirt. Her brown oxfords squeaked across the floor as she continued around the room, continuing in a sad voice, "I don't think she needs them anymore..."

"You don't know that." Lena said suddenly, her words stern. Her hair, too, had lost it's frizzy curl because of the shower, and clung to her back and arms. She had changed into Marine green trousers, and a pair of black suspender rose up her fitted white tee to cross at her back. A long sleeved marine green jacket and a pair of boondockers completed her look. She gave a sharp shake of her head before repeating, "You don't know that."

She was referring to the thought that flickered through the everyone's minds: the outside world was dead. Everyone they ever knew... everyone they ever loved... was dead. A grim silence fell as each person idly fingered their food, their appetite lost. All except Snafu, of course, who smacked loudly on his Mars bar.

"So how'd y'all get into this shit?" he asked unexpectedly to the women, his mouth still crammed with chocolate. He wiped a hand on his white T, adding a chocolate smudge to his growing collection of accumulating stains. His pine green pants were in no better shape. Sophia looked at Lena to see if she would explain, but the woman was in some sort of daze, lost in dark thoughts no one could imagine.

"I've been with the Group 935 since I was 15." Sophia began. She sat down on a folding table and crossed both her legs and arms, signaling that the story she was about to unfold would be a long one. She closed her eyes for a moment, gathering the dark memories she wished she could erase. "I felt so honoured to be a part of so great a cause." She slowly reopened her eyes, allowing them to float across the room. "This place... held such potential. We were on the verge of the greatest discovery known to man. Super soldiers... immortals who felt no pain, no loss, no fear. We would produce a force of such power that no one could stand against."

She paused for a moment, a soft smile tugging at her lips and a flush of color growing on her cheeks.

"Our leader was Dr. Maxis, the most brilliant man I had ever met. His intelligence would cast even Einstein into the shadows. The world was truly blessed to have such a scientist as he..." Her voice trailed off, and she sighed softly.

"... so how were the zombies created?" asked Eugene, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen. Sophia blinked, blushed vividly, and cleared her throat.

"Yes, yes, the zombies." she said quickly, nervously slapping her blond hair away from her face. She gave a short huff before continuing, "Dr. Maxis was performing a series of experiments... I'm not sure what was involved or what the purposes were. Something was injected into them... Element 113... 123...-"

"115." Lena interjected softly, her voice low and dark. Her mind had apparently returned to the present. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the lockers. "It was element 115."

"Yes! That's the one." Sophie replied, pointing at Lena as if she had won a game show. Her voice was a little loud and high pitch. She cleared her throat once more and continued meekly, "The tests were continued... the subjects brain fuctions got worse. As time progressed, each participant struggled more and more with random spasms of rage. Many subjects had to be... eliminated."

Her eyes then grew dark, her voice shaking.

"Then, the incident happened. Edward Richtofen, Doctor Maxis' colleague, betrayed him, betrayed us all..." Her eyes glistened with tears as her throat closed, cutting her words off. "He... he..."

"He trapped Dr. Maxis and his daughter with a Hellhound, a crude manifestation of what used to be a canine." Lena finished for her. It was amazing how much stronger her voice was than the girl's. She used a head to rub her temple and gave a sigh of regret. "Dr. Maxis' fate can only be assumed... The loss of him and his daughter was greater than any of us could handle..."

She placed a hand on Sophia's shoulder, who was now crying silently.

"That was when all hell broke lose." she muttered, her voice hoarse. "The experiments could no longer be controlled. Only a few escaped at first... But that was just enough. They hosted a virus that no one could withstand, and everyone we knew... became infected..."

She lips pressed into a hard line, her words fading into silence.

"So here we are." choked Sophia, her eyes red-rimmed and her cheeks raw from crying. A broken smile flashed onto her face and faded just as quickly as it appeared.

"Yeah..." Eugene murmured bleakly. "Here we are."