This is kind of short but anyhow, enjoy!

Chapter 3: Madness

Malory counted her bullets. It wasn't hard to do. What was left were three rounds rolling on the palm of her hand. She had counted them eight times.

"One, two, three." She pushed each lead away with her thumb, counting them for the ninth time. Alice watched her count again and it began to bore her, but she didn't complain. It beats pacing the room.

Tristan returns from the kitchen with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. He placed them down on the table with care and pushed one of it towards Alice.

"Here." He said with almost a whisper in English. Alice thanked him and picked the mug up by the handle. She watched the thick liquid swirl slowly to a stop before taking a sip. Her lips and tongue burned for a moment but she managed to taste it.

She stared at the rim of the white mug where a mark had been left by her lips. She's tempted to take another sip but she'd decided to let it cool down. She placed it back on the table and held it for warmth. Tristan, with a puzzled look, questioned her.

"Is it too sweet? I could make another one for you."

Alice was startled but she composed herself and declined the offer. "It's okay. I like it this way."

"Do you live here?" Malory spoke out but her eyes were fixated on her rifle. Her hand reached the tip of the barrel and she started twisting the metal, cylindrical, device loose.

"Uh… yeah. How did you know?" Tristan looked around the living room. It was a simple room with no pictures or portraits on the walls. Most of the things had been taken away, leaving a huge couch, a dining table and four wooden chairs behind.

"You picked the key up from under the doormat, and went straight to the kitchen after offering to make hot chocolates for us." She stood up from the couch, gripped the silencer tightly and pointed it at him. "All of this... Strange isn't it?" The hostility in her voice grew. "I don't know what you're planning but I ain't drinking that." She moved her arm and pointed the silencer to her untouched mug, next to Alice's.

Alice, slowly understanding the situation, drew back from her seat, startled and confused. She placed a hand to her lips, wondering if it was true.

"D-Did you d-drug it?" Her voice was a soft quiver. Her other hand points shakily at the mug.

"No! I didn't!" Tristan, innocent, drew closer to Alice. He didn't want to be labelled as the bad guy when he's clearly not! He wants to reassure her and the girl with the rifle.

"Stay away from her!" Malory picked up her rifle and pointed it at him, stopping him from reaching any closer.

"No stop!" Alice redirected its aim with a slight push of its barrel. "W-We can talk this through! Ri-right?"

Tristan nodded haplessly.

XxX

Vivian kept herself close to the wall before peeking the corner. Even though They're blind, she's not going to take the chance and run into Them. Kazuko's close behind, watching her back.

"How many rounds left?" She asked in a whispering tone. Kazuko ejected the magazine and counted the rounds he has left.

"Two." He answered and shoved it back in. "What's the plan?"

"We get out of here. That's the plan." She turned the corner and started with a brisk walk. Kazuko had no retort for that idea. It's simple and effective. The stairs were just around the corner but what Vivian saw, made her stop.

"Stop." She ordered. "There are six of them."

"What are they doing?" Kazuko asked, unable to see what's going on.

"They're wandering the infirmary." She answered. "Is someone inside?" She asked, curious.

"Who knows?" Kazuko shuffled uncomfortably, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "Want to check?"

"That's not the plan." She reminded.

"Okay. Let's find another way then. I'll lead, follow me."

Kazuko back tracked and headed to block C; a part of the school that's mainly for culinary. The corridors were quiet and more cleaner than the rest. It's probably because no students were around when the evacuation happened. The stairwell was in sight. No obstructions, no walkers.

Both of them descended to the ground floor two steps at a time. The ground floor corridor was dark and they could only see two meters ahead of them.

"I saw a flashlight in the faculty room nearby." He informed and walked ahead. Vivian followed closely, not wanting to loose sight of him.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Vivian tugged at his sleeve, stopping him. There's silence. Kazuko held his breath and listened closely.

Static? As soon as he had heard it. The sound disappeared.

"Someone's in the faculty room?" Kazuko held the Beretta firmly and headed to the faculty door. He pressed an ear and listened. "Voices..." He muttered. "Survivors? Since when?"

"We should be careful." Vivian reminded. "We don't know if they're friendly."

"Well, let's find out."

Kazuko turned the cold, steel knob and pushed the door open.

XxX

The door opened with a soft creak.

Seiji? Ryoko wondered. To her surprise, it was another survivor. What stood out was the gun he's holding on to. Alarmed, she backed away slowly.

"Who are you?" A menacing tone. A teenager with a collapsible staff took a step forward, inquired.

"We're just survivors." Vivian answered for Kazuko. "We're friendly."

"When did you get here?" Kazuko asked, curious. "Last time I checked, the school was deserted."

"An hour ago." The girl in the back answered. "We're stocking on some first aids but..."

"Well," The teenager with the collapsible staff cut in. "We sent one to gather supplies but he's not back yet. It's been half an hour since."

"First aid?" Vivian muttered to herself and walked the length of the room. She picked up the hanging flashlight and checked to see if it was working. It was. "Infirmary?"

"Yeah. How did you know?" The teenager questioned.

"He's trapped, if I'm not mistaken." Kazuko informed.

"Oh god... Well, you have a gun! You didn't help him?" The girl pressed.

"He would have done it if he could." Vivian backed him up.

"Then you left him there?" The teenager asked, narrowing his eyes on him.

"Two rounds left, and there are six of them. It's a suicide run."

"Tch." The teenager clicked his tongue in slight annoyance. He exhales and scratched his hair. The tension in his face suddenly disappears and what replaced them was a calm look. "Okay, I'll get Seiji."

"I'm coming too." Kazuko intervened.

"No." A strong disagreement from Vivian. "You need to rest and this is a great time for you to do so."

"But I feel f-"

"No mate, just stay and rest." She cut him off firmly of his retort. She leaned closer and whispered softly. "You see that girl over there?" She gestured subtly at the girl who's talking to the boy with the staff. "Stay here and protect her. Be a man."

"I thought you asked me to rest?" Kazuko turned to her with a look of mocked displease.

"Are you ready to go now?" The boy directed the question to Vivian. She responded with a nod and a raise of her machete.

High School of the Dead. SZD 3.

I know most of you are disappointed at the long wait and ended up with a short chapter but I will assure you, I will keep on writing! Thank you all for your OC's and I will still keep putting them up and showing them out.

I'm busy with life and working the best as I can to be a Film Maker and Visual Effects Artist. I'm preparing myself to go to Polytechnic and hopefully be accepted to a school that I want. If you guys want to know what Polytechnic is, just simply Google that up.

I have a YouTube account so feel free to check that out...though I don't have a lot of videos. SinLimitless. It has a picture of a circle with 'SLMT' in it. Thanks for reading! See ya!