Behold, the plot bunnies! Good Lord, this took so long to plan out – add on the fact that I was going to go to Tasmania for a week (and be without a computer D:) and then got sick (RAWR!). And so, after a while of laughing my butt off at TeamFourStar's Dragonball Z Abridged movie and episodes, I began to write this!
I hope y'all enjoy it (...wut?)
~Miki
Also: I'm sorry, but I just had to do it XD I listened to the fricking hour-long one while typing this, seeing as my phone wouldn't load the 100 hour video... I felt the urge to laugh at the beginning, but that may have been my slow decent to madness... I didn't last the full hour, though XP
"Fuckity fuck," Mei sighed. "I'm fucking bored."
"Wow," Aria said in a monotone. "Could've fooled me."
Mei scowled at the other girl, pelted the can in her direction. Aria barely dodged it in her seat as it squished and sprayed bubbly liquid along the wall.
The carrot-top let out a whistle. "Nice force," she complimented. Something went off in Mei, but something else tried to convince her to keep calm, just curse at her until the fuckers outside let them out.
"Don't say a fucking thing to me, and I won't kill you," she snarled, crossing her arms in front of her. Aria made the action of zipping her lips, then looked around the room in search of something to do. At least this time they hadn't left them with nothing.
You were out for one day, she reminded herself, her thoughts exasperated. One damn day, and then you get yourself back in solitude with Mei, for crying out loud! The fuck is wrong with you?
According to Daniel, a lot will soon be wrong with her.
Speaking of Daniel, she remembered, Alec had managed to help get her phone back from the damn survivor that took it. Aria hadn't checked to see if anything was different, and suspected nothing was – really, who would guess 1234 was her phone code? It was too damn simple, so why guess it?
Aria pulled her phone from her pocket and turned it on, putting in said code and then scanning through her applications. The first she checked was YouTube – she could not live without her YouTube. She then checked on her games, checking if every one worked, and then moved on to her address book and call log. If that moron tampered with her address book...
To her relief, everything was fine. It seemed that none of the evil douche bags outside the room had figured out her phone's number code. Hells yeah, she thought triumphantly.
She checked her YouTube again, smiling evilly when she saw that the internet still worked. Now then, time for some fun...
She typed in a title she never thought she would type, knowing full well that she could last it when it began to play, and then selected the video. As it loaded, she stood and turned to volume up to full, then moved away from the table the two were seated at.
The video began to play, "Nyannyannyannyannyannyannyan nyan–"
Mei's eyebrow twitched. "Turn that shit off!"
"Nyannyannyannyannyan–"
"I will fucking murder you if you do not turn that fucking shit off!"
"At least try and last the hour."
Another twitch of the eyebrow. The music was so damn loud...
Mei sat in her seat with a look on her face that, well... Long story short, it made Aria think the angered girl was constipated. It was obvious that Mei was trying her hardest to sit through it without snapping, but it was also obvious that Aria was going to be the first to snap. There was just something about a cat with a pop tart body farting rainbows that made Aria want to laugh.
Trying to steer away from further insanity, Aria began to sing along with the tune in a high voice, "Nyannyannyannyannyannyannyan nyan–"
"BITCH, SHUT UP!"
Mei leapt up from her seat and dashed at Aria over the table, causing the other girl to break into laughs as she ran and sang while the video played and Mei chased her. It was a while before Mei stopped to catch her breath, panting from exhaustion while Schizo jumped up and down, still singing that fucking song.
Giving up on mutilating the teen with a squished metal can, Mei ran for the door and pounded away like a madman.
"Let me out!" she screamed. "Let! Me! The! Fuck! OUT!"
Mitsuru stood in front of the door, a dumbfounded look on his face as he heard a distinctive, "Nyannyannyannyan," being sung on the other side of the wooden object. He blinked, unsure of what he was hearing, and then jumped when a sudden bang came from the door.
"Let me out!" one of the girls screamed. "Let! Me! The! Fuck! OUT!"
Maniacal laughter followed, only drawing more confusion over the teen. Was that the Nyan Cat song?
The girl that had let Aria out yesterday walked down the hall, the blonde woman with her, and raised an eyebrow when she heard the bangs against the door. Mitsuru merely shrugged in response, knowing as much as she did, and let her investigate.
"I feel like I've heard this song before," she said to herself, leaning toward the door. Shrugging, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the room key – probably the one she never returned to Keiichi. She glanced at Mitsuru, who took a few steps back, and then unlocked the door.
Flying out came Mei, the cursing girl that was pounding away at the door. A wild look was on her face, her aura that of murderous rage.
"Where's my axe?" she demanded in a scream, running down the hall in search of said object. Inside the room was laughter, as well as a louder sound of the Nyan Cat song. The three entered the room, spotting Aria rolling about on the floor with her phone next to her, laughing as she tried to sing along to the song she was playing.
A loud hiccup cut her off, causing her to roll onto her stomach and finish her giggles. As soon as she was done, she reached for her phone and switched off the music. She sat up to face the three, her face red and tears just about ready to fall from her eyes.
"Fuck, that was good," she marvelled.
The purple-haired girl sighed with a small smile. "You have a very strange way of amusing yourself," she told Aria. The carrot-top shrugged, a serious look on her face.
"I try."
The blonde woman walked forward, making Mitsuru blush as the excessive movements her breasts were making. "Mr Kuroi said it was okay to take you out for a bath," she said with a smile. "The girls are all having one. Oh, except for your friend, I assume – she just ran out like a woman on a mission, searching for her axe."
Aria paled, smiling nervously. "Yes..." Her eyes glanced left and right. "I fear for my life, now that I remember her axe-wielding skills..."
She then remembered the blonde's invitation. "Ah, yes, a bath." She stood, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. "I could really use one. They'll wash our clothes while we bathe, won't they?"
The purple-haired girl frowned as they began to walk out the room. "Yes, but unfortunately they won't be dry until morning."
Aria let out a groan. "That's over seven waking hours without my favourite jacket."
Confusion was still over Mitsuru. What just happened? Was he seeing things when he saw Mei run out in a hurry to find an axe? And was he hearing things when he heard the Nyan Cat song?
Mitsuru shook his head and left the room with the three others, closing the door behind him when he exited the holding area.
She counted the girls in the huge bathroom, sinking deeper into the water and tucking her knees up to her neck. Somehow this made her feel self-conscious, being in a bathroom that greatly resembled a Turkish bathhouse with a small amount of other women. At least now she knew she didn't like them.
Aria frowned and sank further into the water. The place used to be owned by a guy, didn't it? Why would he have this huge bathroom for women–?
"Oh," she said slowly, barely letting anyone else hear her. "Cheeky sod."
The water next to her shifted as someone else climbed in. Aria lazily checked to see who it was, raising an eyebrow when she saw it was Saeko.
"Hey," the British girl greeted. She quickly looked down at the water in front of her, trying to hide from the people who didn't already know her.
"Any specific reason why you'd be hiding?" Saeko asked, running a hand through her long hair. Knots seemed to have gathered up in it; probably why her fingers became stuck at certain points. "We are all women, after all."
"Meh," she bleated. She sank further into the water, submerging all but the top half of her face, and glanced around suspiciously. She'd never been this paranoid before – especially concerning being in her birthday suit with other women in their birthday suits.
Hmm, she thought. 'Birthday suit' sounds redundant. Maybe 'au naturel'? No; that still sounds redundant. Wait... What the hell does 'redundant' mean?
"God, I'm a dumbass," she said, the water bubbling with her every word.
More movement from the water, this time from her other side, and then she was met by both Iza and Kit. Wendy was right behind them, testing the water with her foot.
"Enjoying your bath?" Iza asked, her trademark smile on her face as she sank happily into the steaming water.
"Meh," Aria bleated again, mouth still under the water.
Kit moved about in the water, smiling nervously as she glanced around. "This is my first time in one of these," she told them. "How about you guys?"
Iza raised a hand partially. "I've been in one; it was an outdoor one, and the view of the stars was really beautiful."
The British girl could only drift away in her thoughts as the others continued to chat. Saeko was smiling as she conversed with Aria's friends, and Wendy had joined them the moment Aria tuned out of the conversation. There was something about that sentence – something about watching the stars – that made Aria feel somewhat nostalgic. A memory tugged at her stomach, reminding her of the old days. She'd been so young, as had Daniel, and the two used to spend so much time together; especially when it came to stargazing. How did they drift apart so much that the only way to talk was through two phones?
"Aria?" Wendy's voice cut through her thoughts, causing the girl to sit up straight. Aria glanced at the twelve-year-old, a question in her lilac eyes. "You seem depressed – are you okay?"
It took the older girl a moment to realise that she was indeed seemingly depressed. Her frown was gone, replaced by a neutral stare at the water; her eyebrows had fallen without her permission; even her eyes were making her look tired and depressed.
"I..." How would she answer her? A simple "I'm good" wouldn't suffice well enough, nor would a mere "Yeah". Aria was unsure of what to say, to say the least. She didn't know how she was, whether or not she was okay.
Thankfully, Iza replied for her, "Aria's just thinking. That is, after all, her thinking face."
She stared at the snowy-haired teen, a silent thanks sent to her as Iza began to soak her hair in the water. There was something about Iza that reminded Aria of someone; who was it again? Ah, yes, Yomi. Yomi always smiled, like Iza did, and Yomi always knew when Aria couldn't answer something – just like Iza seemed to. There were more things there, as well – both looked to the bright side; both had a way with people; both cared more about people around them than themselves. On top of it all, both could defend themselves if someone tried to mug them on the streets.
Who else reminded Aria of someone? Well, Sora reminded Aria of a girl she used to know – Callie, she recalled, Callie Silverman. That girl could talk and talk and talk, and still had friends to speak of. Aria was pretty sure she knew her in preschool. Weren't they buddies during an arts and crafts activity? Yeah, they were; Callie drew a picture of Aria, and she was the first one to call her Carrot. That girl started a nickname revolution for Carrot.
Who else, who else? Damn, how could she forget? Roberto – he acted like Daniel, some of the time. Both were quiet, smart, caring. Both had a little sister (at least Aria assumed the picture was of his little sister), and both seemed to trust Aria. Actually, it was hard to tell if Roberto trusted her or not – the guy was pretty quiet and kept to himself a lot. The only person he seemed to hang around with most was Jun, the blind chef. Aria still couldn't believe that the pasta was cooked by him...
"She's thinking hard," Iza said, smiling wide. "But sometimes it's best not to think too hard, yeah?"
"Uh, yeah," Aria replied. "Thanks for the advice."
She could feel her face fall into a sad expression, her mind going against Iza's advice. It's best not to think too hard, eh? Was that how she did it? Did she figure out a way to keep away the realisation that impending doom was just at the doorstep, waiting to be let inside? Maybe not – that realisation was pretty hard to ignore.
Maybe Iza knew she'd learned something from Daniel. Why else would she cover for her when Kit asked how she was? No, that just made Iza sound like she pitied the older girl; Aria knew from what she'd seen Iza do that the younger teen didn't pity people. If anything, she supported them.
Setting aside her thoughts, she began to see why Iza gave her the advice. Instead, she opted to start a conversation between the five of them. No, wait, six – Sora just walked in.
"I wonder what we'll be wearing after we get out," Aria wondered aloud. "Our clothes won't be ready until morning – like you said, Saeko – which kinda begs the question."
Saeko's expression turned thoughtful, as did the other girls'. Sora slid into the bath casually, joining them, and chimed into the conversation effortlessly. It was times like this that Aria was glad that Sora could so easily converse with people – after all, having no one to talk to would drive even Aria insane.
The boys all sat in the room, quiet and unspeaking, as they waited for the girls. Mei was the only one that didn't leave for a bath, claiming that she would murder "the Schizo" if she was left in a room with her again. After learning the reason why she would do it, Alec found himself entertaining himself by imagining Aria singing the Nyan Cat song as Mei chased her with an empty soda can for a weapon.
It was kind of funny, actually.
"So," Alec said slowly, glancing at the blonde. "Why are you still hanging around us?"
The blonde scoffed, frowning deeply. "Blunt, aren't you?" he replied. "I'm hanging around because I dislike my cousin as much as you guys."
Alec raised an eyebrow at that. "Who said we dislike him?"
"I hate his fucking guts," Mei quickly cut in. "Locking up Schizo one day, and then both me and her the next? He's a fucking messed up shit."
"Pretty much," Blondie agreed. "Kinda makes me wish I never came here from Hirakawa. At least then I'd still be with my family."
The eyebrow went down. "Wait, you're not from Tokonosu?"
Blondie shook his head. "Nope," he said. "Hirakawa, born and raised."
"The fuck are you doing in Tokonosu, then?" Mei demanded. She looked suspicious of him, like one wrong move would be his last. The fact that Mei's axe was right next to her just added on to the appearance.
He shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "Folks thought I should bond with my cousin, and I just so happened to be taking a year off from my studies. They saw that as a win-win situation; I get my gap year, they get me to do some 'male bonding' with Keiichi."
"And...how old are you?"
It was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "Nineteen," he replied. "Why?"
Alec looked to the dark-haired boy next to him, grinning as he teased, "Congratulations, Roberto; you're no longer the old fart in the group."
Roberto merely frowned and continued to stay out of the conversation.
There were footsteps coming down the hall, as well as voices of girls that Alec could recognise. It seemed that their bath had finished and that they were coming to join the guys. Mei sat up in her seat, smiling a little.
"And now I get to spend some time with Iza," she sighed happily. Alec stared at her, narrowing his eyes as he leaned forward.
"Mei," he said in a serious tone, "I'm almost embarrassed to ask this, but...are you a lesbian?"
The Korean-American girl's face lit up like a red light, her voice strangled as she stood and screamed, "WHAT?"
Before she was given a chance to even start strangling him, the door to the room opened and in walked the girls they were waiting for. The first one to catch their attention was Wendy, who'd switched her bloodied school uniform for an oversized shirt and baggy shorts. A tired expression was on her face as she rubbed an eye and pushed away some untied hair. Mei's rage dissipated almost instantly.
"So...cute..." Alec heard her say under her breath. "Yet...so...young..."
The other girls were behind Wendy, causing all of the men to cross one leg over the other – aside from the blind Jun, of course.
"What?" Aria asked, a worried look on her face. "Oh, by the way, does this bikini make me look slutty, or just like a ho?"
No one answered her, which caused Iza to laugh. "First time in a two-piece, I take it?" she asked Aria. The British girl nodded, trying to cover her exposed stomach with her arms while frowning at the boys.
"If I see any eyes peeking past the chin, I will not hesitate to neuter any of you," she threatened. Kit stepped forward, thankfully a bit more covered than the older girls, and made her way to Wendy.
Freddy just stared at her, causing Alec to wonder what was going through his head at that very moment.
"Come on, Wendy," Kit said, taking the younger girl's hand. "Let's go lie down – you look dead tired."
"An excellent idea," Aria complimented. "Both of you go hide in the room from any pedo-bears lurking around this hellhole. I don't want to have to spend my surviving time hunting down someone for touching you two..."
"Um," Wendy said, fighting back another yawn. "Thank you?"
Kit giggled a little and led Wendy out of the room, turning for their bedroom once they were in the hall. Freddy immediately stood and straightened his jacket, a slight tinge of red on his face.
"Right, then," he said. "I'll go keep watch over–"
"Nah-ah-ah!" Aria stood in front of the door. "You will sit down. Saeko and I will keep watch of the kids' room. Understood?"
The fourteen-year-old went to argue, only to sit back down in embarrassment. Her word was final, apparently.
Alec dared to investigate what each girl was wearing, covering his mouth with his hand as he leaned his elbow on the arm of the chair. Each girl was wearing some sort of bikini, giving Alec a reason to wonder how they'd acquired them. They were each different – Iza's was the only frilly one, while Sora's was the one that consisted of three colours. Aria's, ironically enough, was the same shade of orange as her hair. Saeko – the girl that had managed to get the key to the solitary room – was the only one in a tube-top bikini, her hair also braided into two pigtails.
Alec pressed him mouth into a firm line, and then blurted out, "I wasn't bitten when they tested us, was I?"
The girls gave him a quizzical stare. "I mean, this isn't some kind of coping mechanism my mind is making so I don't freak out over being a zombie?"
Aria groaned, slammed her hand onto her forehead, while Iza smiled nervously and Sora gave him a laugh. Saeko seemed to be the only one keeping a straight face.
When he got no answer, Alec stared up at the roof with a smile. "Thank you," he whispered happily.
"If I'm left in a room with Keiichi and I'm armed, don't hold me back."
Saeko nodded in agreement as the two girls leaned against the walls next to the door. Sora had already gone to bed (with the promise that she would not say anything and wake the younger girls), which left Aria and Saeko to defend the room from, as Aria had previously put it, pedo-bears.
They both had already collected their weapons, but unfortunately had to hold onto them as they stood guard. It didn't help that the carrot-top also held her phone in the same hand as her dagger, pretty much preventing her from unsheathing both her sword and her dagger without dropping the sheathes. But, she never knew when someone close to her would call. A message from anyone alive was good enough for her – even if it was hate mail.
Aria shivered a little, pulling the jacket a little tighter and frowning. The boys had been chivalrous enough to lend them their jackets, but it still did nothing to stop the chill in the hall creeping up on them.
A small vibration in her hand brought her attention away from the chill, urgency settling over her as she checked the caller ID. She let out a breath and answered as calmly as she could.
"Hey," she greeted. "What's wrong?"
Daniel sighed on the other end of the phone. "Before I tell you the bad news, I just want you to know that I should be in Japan within a couple of days; we're on this oil rig, I think. The guys are refuelling the chopper and getting a rest for the night."
"And the bad news?"
He didn't answer for a moment. Panic moved over the urgency. "Daniel?" she squeaked.
She could hear him gulp. "Holly's school was lost. She's gone, Aria. On top of that, I haven't heard from Mum. I'm afraid that we may be the only ones left, unless we have family out there that we've forgotten."
She almost went to ask, But what about Dad? It wasn't until a second of silence passed that she remembered: Dad was dead – killed himself from the insanity. The insanity of the whole zombie-thing or the insane side effect of something else, neither of the Lamberts knew.
"Okay," she said finally. Her voice cracked as she said, "Thanks for telling me. I'll see you in two days."
"Aria–" She hung up, clutching the phone tightly as the other girl stared at her. The carrot-top didn't know what to feel at the moment. Unhappiness? Sadness? Rage? Grief?
...Jubilant?
It was just messed up – in and out. She didn't even know if she liked that fact.
"I'm just..." She sighed and pushed away from the wall, taking a step away from the room. "I'm just gonna go outside for a moment. I'll be back soon."
Saeko nodded and watched her leave. Aria merely counted the steps she took as she walked through the house, trying to keep her mind away from what she'd just learned. But it was too hard to forget what he'd said.
Holly's gone.
She could feel some kind of rage welling up in her stomach as she arrived in the dining room, making her way through to the lobby. Her little sister, dead. It was preposterous! Holly was a survivor!
Out the front door and sprinting past the cars, she fell to the ground and dug her hands into the grassy earth. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair!
Aria slammed her head onto the ground and let out a scream, her emotions finally clear to her. Hearing about Holly's death – it killed her a little. It was hard enough that Dad had gone insane and Mum was off the radar for the moment, but Holly's death?
She let out another scream, the sound slowly turning into sobs as her hands loosened their grip on the earth. It wasn't fair. Tears fell from her eyes freely, and she made no attempt to hide them. They still proved she was human, still proved she felt emotion. That was good – being human and a world full of monsters was good.
But was it worth the loss?
Her phone vibrated again. She lifted her head, expecting another call from Daniel. The phone only vibrated once, revealing that it was only a text, and then ceased moving once more. She unlocked the phone and spied the message, checking the time it was sent. The time zone was Japanese, and it took Aria a moment to realise that the message was a delayed one – it was late, despite the difference between England and Japan.
She opened it, eyes widening at the sight of the number. It was Holly's. The message was a simple two sentences, but it was enough to bring a world crashing down:
I love you. Don't forget me.
ENGLAND, BLANCHET PRIMARY; EARLIER THAT DAY
"I wanna go home!"
"Where's Mummy and Daddy?"
"Mrs Brown, I'm scared."
She frowned and took in a deep breath, glaring at her feet with an almost angry expression. Hearing everyone crying and complaining – she couldn't stand it.
"Everyone, calm down," Mrs Brown advised. "Someone will be here to help us."
It'd been too many days for help, Holly knew. People weren't going to help them, not after this much time had passed. They'd be lucky to have a police officer stumble in and attempt to help them. Attempt.
Maybe they did have a police officer stumble in. There was a car outside – a car that belonged to Daniel's police friend. Maybe Daniel had called him and asked him to find her. Or maybe he'd come of his own accord, willing to save the last remaining students in the school.
There weren't many of them – at least half a class. How many did a class consist of, again? Well, Holly's had about twenty-six, including her. How many were left, exactly?
She glanced around the room, taking in everyone's appearances.
Bobby Civil; he was the oldest one, being in the sixth grade and the only one from the east side of the building to make it to the classroom unharmed.
Juliet Summers; she was from the joined class, and best friends with Lois Lee – someone who wasn't with the survivors.
Ava Tenant; a girl from Holly's grade, but not someone she'd like to be alone with.
Trent George; one of the twins from first grade. He was the taller one, also the more athletic one.
Lulu George; Trent's older twin sister, and the smarter of the two. Also the shorter one.
Devon Blakely; a tubby little boy from third grade and the record-holder of his age group for Most Hotdogs Eaten In One Sitting.
There were others, but Holly didn't know them too well – she couldn't even remember their names. There was a girl with a broken arm, as well as a blonde boy that never left her side. She was pretty sure they were the cousins. There were also three children from preschool, who had come for an orientation day. There were a couple of teachers with them, both from Blanchet and from the preschool.
Yeah, that was about half a class of survivors.
There was a bang against the door, making a couple of kids scream and cry. The teachers (Holly only knew Mrs Brown) tried to shush the students, but to no avail. More bangs followed, as well as creaks in the slowly breaking door. The lock wouldn't hold for much longer, judging by the sounds of the moans outside.
Holly swallowed a lump in her throat and raced for her bag, opening it as fast as she could. Her hands fumbled as she tried to pull out her phone – used only for emergencies, her mother had told her – and searched for the first number in her contacts list. The number so happened to be Aria's.
The young Lambert pushed a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear, exiting her contacts list and going straight for her messages. She hurriedly typed a message for Aria, hearing the door slowly snap off of its hinges, and made sure to read it twice. It was short, but she knew it would be enough to tell her she wouldn't be there anymore.
The door slammed open, screams from children as they ran filling the room. Blood-covered people rushed inside, mouths open and teeth bared as they reached for anyone moving. A couple came in Holly's direction, causing panic to arise in her stomach. She hurriedly sent the message.
A hand gripped her arm, followed by a moan in her ear. Holly shivered and whimpered, then felt the pain of teeth sinking into her shoulder. More teeth followed, as well as more hands. Blood coated Holly as she dropped the phone, knowing that she wasn't going to see her family anymore.
...Um... I just killed Holly...
I was going to post this in school (thank you, Children's Lit.!) but the whole damn school server was down – that's the longest I've gone without having to find a definition of a word on Google! Yeah, I'm too lazy to look in a dictionary... Not that my school has any in sight...
I wrote this over the course of three days and tried to make it longer than my other chapters (is it? IDK). All the while, I made sure to never ever type in Nyan Cat in YouTube search again and just listened to some good songs – I can't seem to stop listening to Kill Everybody and Fighter, especially when the latter has a really awesome Mirai Nikki music video to go with it.
New picture was going to be of Kit, but I kinda messed up the pic and need to redraw it. Instead, the new pic will be of...Mina Alabaster – a character I drew out of boredom one day (and, y'know, my USB with all my chapters was gone...). A little info on Mina – she's like Aria (cheeky and funny and has a British accent), she's Vietnamese, she hunts monsters (hells yeah!) and her natural hair colour is purple. She is just the best character I've come up with that hasn't been written about much. I'm pretty sure I've only written one chapter with her appearing in my original story, Monster Hunters... Damn...
Next chapter will absolutely, positively include a picture of Kit. I pinkie-swear!
~Miki
(Did anyone else know it's hard to act out being bitten by a rabid hamster? I sure didn't...)