This was not how her life was supposed to go. She was supposed to graduate at the top of her class, go through college, and eventually take over her father's business. Instead, she was stuck in a locked convenience store surrounded by idiots… and hiding from the undead. Yes, her perfect senior year of high school was derailed by the emergence of corpses returning from death with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Azula rolled her eyes at the absurdity of it all and idly twirled the tire iron she had in her hands.
It had been a week since a shambling, blood-drenched girl with dark hair and head bent at an odd angle had come into the gym and started biting people. In the ensuing bloody panic, some students tried to restrain her, some ran deeper into the school, but a lifetime of barking orders at the staff at home had prepared her for this. "Get away from her! Exit the school in an orderly fashion!" a skinny boy with a shaved head stopped his advance towards the gory scene, turned towards her, and nodded after a moment.
"Come on guys, you heard her!" He yelled over the frantic buzz of students. A few other students, namely a pair of what looked like siblings and a barefoot girl, registered his words and made their way to the exit. What followed outside was everything she expected from pop culture. People running, falling down, getting bitten multiple times with a disturbing amount of blood spilling out, then finally going still, and slowly getting back up again with a dazed expression as they stumbled towards others. What blew her mind the most was how many people just kind of gave up. What happened to fighting to your last breath? These people were kind of pathetic.
They made their way across the school grounds, the chorus of screams and shouts fading into the background and spilled out into the parking lot. There were some undead around, but they were far enough away that they hadn't noticed the group yet. The others took a quick break, breathing heavily as Azula made her way over to her car. A cold sensation settled in her gut as she realized that since she had been in gym, she didn't have her bag or the keys or phone contained within! She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What can I do to help?" A soft voice asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. It was the kid with the shaved head. "I'm Aang by the way."
"Azula." She responded quickly. "I need in my car, but left my keys in the school."
The boy brightened and said "Ooh, I can do that!" and before she had a chance to respond, he had run off and come back with a very sharp looking rock. He grinned and slammed it into her driver's side window, which surprisingly shattered into a million pieces of safety glass. It was at this point that her alarm went off, and she cringed as she raided the vehicle as quickly as possible.
"Uhh, guys?" The tanned boy called out, panic rising in his tone.
"Shit!" She cursed out loud. She reached down a pulled the trunk release. "Aang, check the trunk for anything we can use!" He disappeared to the back and she pulled a few granola bars from her center console, before opening the glove box and pulling out a small pistol.
It was at this point she heart a guttural noise and her blood turned to ice. She turned quickly to see a man with short, blonde hair and blood dribbling down his mouth. He was rushing at her with nothing in-between them but the open car window. Azula pulled the gun up and pointed it directly at his face. She tried to squeeze the trigger, but the safety was still on! She screamed in terror and he went to dive in after her… but was stopped suddenly. A black tire iron was across his mouth like a bridle and Aang was frantically trying to pull him back. "Go!" He struggled out.
She kicked her door out, and Aang managed to push the creature into the door as soon as she was clear. It managed to get caught up and they were off running. The siblings and the barefoot girl were right behind them, terrified expressions all around. Azula looked back to the school, and saw students pouring out. No, they were *shambling* out. A distant part of her mind thought of her friends and hoped Mai and Ty Lee had managed to escape and run off to safety. An even more distant and tiny part of her mind hoped her brother had gotten out too. *'Zuzu's too soft.'* She mused to herself. *'He probably got mauled asking one of them what was wrong…'* Azula didn't really believe that, but it was the only normalcy she had allowed herself since this whole thing began, and it made her feel a little better.
The group turned down a side street to take a quick breather and the barefoot girl spoke up. "Okay, I've had enough." She gulped at the air heavily. "Why the hell are we running around?"
Azula snorted. Was this girl stupid or crazy? "Look around, there are z-"
"You can't say the Z-word!" The tanned boy whispered loudly.
His sister rolled her eyes. "Sokka, shut up." She turned to Azula and gestured to the last girl "Toph is blind."
"I'm right here!" the blind girl complained. She looked towards Azula, but her eyes didn't meet for obvious reasons. "So, I take it from the screams, moans, and smells of blood and gore… What is it? Living dead situation?"
Sokka looked around at the chaos and responded. "Nailed it. Speed is somewhere around Day of the Dead, not quite up to 28 Days Later."
The Blind girl grinned in victory. "Well, what's our next move? Katara?"
The older girl looked around and sighed. "You two are the movie experts, not me."
"Azula?" Aang's voice cut through the conversation and all eyes turned to look.
She clicked the safety off the gun with an audible *click*. "We need the basics first. Food and shelter. I'd prefer something with multiple levels, so we can isolate entrances and exits, but I don't think we have time to be picky. Is there a grocery store or a gas station near here?" Falling back into a leadership role was easy. A little too easy.
The bald boy spoke up. "There's a Quik-Mart a couple blocks from here. Would that work?" His gray eyes seemed way too innocent and trusting, but Azula could admit it was a solid idea.
"Alright, let's head out."
They broke into a sprint, Azula and Aang leading the way, and Toph being pulled by Katara in the middle. Sokka lagged behind, his head on a swivel. They rounded a corner and began heading down the street. Up ahead, a couple of undead noticed them and stood up from their still twitching meal. Azula crossed the street carefully, her gun trained on the closest one, a brunette woman in glasses and a business suit with blood running down her head. It peeled off from the other one, a portly bald man who was missing his lower lip and stumbled after her. Azula took a breath she didn't know she had been holding and watched it get closer. The business suited undead was too close for comfort as she finally squeezed the trigger. Its' right eye disappeared in a bloody mist and a deafening crash, and time seemed to slow down as the body fell back motionless against the concrete.
Her eyes shifted back across the street. The balding man had turned away from the rest of the group. 'Perfect', she thought to herself. Her gaze swept over them and lingered a brief second over Aang. His eyes looked full of concern *for* her. As she watched them move up the block her sight was pulled away by the shambling man, who had gotten closer. She aimed once again, between its' bloodshot eyes, but the creature's foot caught the curb and it stumbled as she pulled the trigger. The bullet grazed the top of its' head and she grunted in a mix of surprise and pain as she was tackled.
Panic rose up in her chest and a scream tore itself from her throat before she could think. Her gun had flown from her hand and she was staring into the lifeless eyes of her attacker. She instinctively put her hands up to try and keep distance between her vulnerable flesh and its biting jaw. Something crashed into it suddenly, and in a flash she was on her feet. Aang had rushed it without a second thought for his own safety!
She unwillingly turned her gaze away to look for her gun, but another crash of a deafening shot rang out. Sokka was holding her gun with a grim, determined look on his face. A tightness in her chest asserted itself, and she turned back, fearing the worst. The two bodies didn't move for a moment, blood had puddled around them, but slowly, Aang pushed the bigger body away from him and stood, a pained grimace on his face. Both his face and chest were covered in blood, and a half-sob wracked her body as she went to help.
"Aang! I'm so sor--"
He cut her off with a reassuring gesture and an easy smile. "I'm fine Azula! No need to apologize!"
The sound of the others running up let her take a moment to breathe. He was okay.
"Wow Sokka, what a shot!" The bald boy beamed.
The older boy was rubbing his head, and glared back at his sister. "Thanks, man. At least SOMEONE appreciates my contributions to the team!"
Toph was holding onto an angry Katara's crossed arms. "Oh calm down. She hit you because you could've killed Aang."
"How many times have I killed the wrong person, Toph?!" He exclaimed.
The blind girl snorted. "Considering that was your first kill, zero."
"THANK YOU!" He said and went to hand Azula her gun back.
The girl swallowed painfully, obviously rattled. "…You keep it for now."
As Sokka began to gloat to his sister about Azula's newfound trust, Azula felt a genuine smile tug at her lips. Everything was going to be okay. "Let's proceed on, shall we?"
The group quickly agreed and they began their trek again, a hopeful mood in the air.
Aang held himself back a step, and his easygoing look was replaced with a pained frown. He lifted his arm and gazed at the circular puncture marks of teeth that tore into his bicep and the little bit of thick blood that slowly began to ooze.