Day 402, 12:40 AM

Stumbling through the street, Sero heads for the house where Shiozaki said she'd be turning in for the night. He grabs the doorknob but for some reason, forgets how to use it. It takes his mind a few seconds to process the actions before he finally turns the doorknob and opens the door. Limping through the living room, he heads upstairs and nearly trips before catching himself on the railing beside him. He grits his teeth before making it to the second floor. He knocks on one of the doors and when it doesn't open, he opens the door himself.

No, not a bedroom, only a bathroom.

Damn, wrong room.

He heads to another door and knocks on it. He decides he doesn't want to wait and simply opens the door. Shiozaki shoots up out of bed and stares at the intruder in her room. She quickly grabs her flashlight and shines it on him. Sero holds a hand up, blocking out the light. "What?"

"Hanta, is that you?"

Sero nods. "Yeah, it's me. I'm here. I'm here." He puts his hand down and the flashlight beam lowers slightly.

Shiozaki spots gray veins protruding just half an inch under his skin and his eyes stared aimlessly in all directions. Not only that, but his voice seems raspy like an old man on a deathbed. He loses his sense of balance and tumbles to the side, catching himself against the door before biting his lips.

"Damn it."

"Hanta, what's going on?" She gets out of bed and heads to him.

Sero holds a hand up. "Stay back. Stay back. I don't know what's going on with me but... stay away from me. Don't touch me."

"Hanta, we need to find Kendo." She holds her hands out. "Please, we can-"

"Don't, please." He steps back. "Please, I don't want to contaminate you."

"What happened?" She steps back but not too far, keeping her eyes on his eyes as the whites slowly start to discolor. "Please, Hanta, tell me what's going on. Please, what happened? Are you... are you infected?"

"A flower. It was a goddamn flower." He covers his mouth. "Sorry. I didn't mean to take God's name in vain."

Even with the lord's name used in vain, Shiozaki ignores it in favor of stepping towards him. "What plant? What flower?"

"Dead flower. Please, just... I just wanted to say... I'm sorry. I am so sorry. Please, I wanted you to know that I'm sorry. And please, tell... tell Denki and Izuku that I'm sorry too. Please, I don't think I'm going to make it there so please let them know. Please let them know I'm sorry for being such an asshole to them. Promise me you'll tell them that."

"You're going to tell them yourself."

"No," he growls suddenly, gritting his teeth hard enough to chip his front teeth. He yelps suddenly and clutches his head. "God, make it stop. It hurts!" He falls to his knees and rolls on his side. "What's happening?! Please, please, make it stop! Please, mama, please make it stop! It hurts, mama! Please!"

Shiozaki back peddles as she stares at Sero with horror in her eyes. "Oh my god." She cups her mouth. "Hanta, stay right there, I'm going to go get help!"

Sero screams at the top of his lungs as he convulses on his side. He grips his hair and rips it out as he continues to scream at the top of his lungs. Shiozaki nearly goes deaf from his bloodcurdling screams that sound like an animal slowly dying from blood loss after getting their foot caught in the most painful beartrap in the world.

"Please, please, make it stop! I can't take it. Make it stop! Make it stop!" He opens his eyes, with the whites of his eyes now being cloudy gray and his pupils starting to dilate to the size of a coin. His wild eyes land on Shiozaki. "Run! Run away, Shiozaki! Stay away from me!"

Shiozaki runs out of the door and closes it behind her, slamming it shut as she falls to her knees. She tears up almost instantly as the dying sounds of Sero's screams fade to nothing as if he never existed. Unable to hold all of her tears in, she bawls on the floor as the realization sinks in.

Sero was dead now.

He was infected with the zombie disease and now, he was dead.

Shiozaki is unable to think of anything except the times she and Sero spent time together. Shiozaki and Sero developed a strong bond following the apocalypse, a bond born out of kingship rather than a romantic interest. She introduced him to prayer and she allowed him to open up. Sero could be an asshole at times but when it came to her, he never raised her voice to her and in a way, she could keep him contained up to a point. She was always a good listener and never turned her back on him, no matter what.

Click.

Looking up, she finds that the doorknob is turning suddenly and she crawls back as the door slowly opens.

The only zombie that knows how to open a door is a brainiac. Gasping with horror, she crawls back until her back hits the wall and watches the bedroom door open completely with Sero standing there.

The undead Sero.

Shiozaki stares with eyes wide with horror and denial as the undead Sero slowly steps toward her. He's not limping like a walker nor charging for her like a runner; his pace, footing, and balance are all even and equal as if he wasn't a walking corpse to begin with.

Unable to face the reality before her, she climbs to her feet and runs down the stairs, escaping from Sero physically but unable to escape from Sero who remained at the forefront of her thoughts, feelings, emotions, and memories.

With Kaminari

Snoring like a pig, Kaminari yawns in his sleep before rolling on his back. Jirour is sleeping in the bed beside him with Kurorio and Komori above him in the top bunk. Kenta and Mineta took the remaining bed on the side. No one slept soundlessly and each one snored though Kenta had the loudest snore of them all and somehow, they managed to sleep through it.

Maybe it was because they hadn't properly slept in a bed in so long that they were heavy sleepers immune to almost every sound. Either way, nobody wanted to wake up.

Until they did.

CRASH!

Kaminari jolts away and sits up. "What was that?!"

Jirour sits up beside him, instantly awake. "What is it? What was that?"

The rest of the students in the beds quickly wake up and spring to the ground. Kaminari turns on his flashlight and heads out of the room. Jirou follows closely with Kuroiro and Komori behind her.

"Kurorio, what's going on?" Komori hugs Kurorio tightly and he returns the favor by holding her like a father holding his scared daughter.

"I don't know."

Kaminari heads down the hall and stops by the railing of the stairway. He quickly shines a light downstairs and finds that the doorway was now replaced with a hole the size of a tank and debris covered almost every part of downstairs. That wasn't the kicker though; what was the kicker was the giant footprints left behind. Knowing that there's only one creature that can make those footprints, he feels his stomach do backflips and steps away from the railing.

"It's a beast," he screams. "There's a beast in the house."

An ear-piercing scream fills the air and makes all six kids fall to their knees, holding their hands to their ears in a desperate attempt to block out the sound. The ground thunders beneath them like an earthquake. When the scream dies down, the six kids head back to their bedroom and slam the door shut. They quickly barricade the door with the dresser and TV stand before heading over to the window. Jirou and Komori quickly gather their belongings before joining the rest of the squad at that window.

"Come on!" Kenta kicks open the window. He quickly grabs his dragon mask before pocketing it. "Come on, let's go!" He climbs onto the window and leaps out after transforming into a dragon.

The thunderous footsteps knock the kids off balance but they manage to pick themselves up and head for the window.

Dragon Kenta hovers over the window for a few seconds and allows the students to climb through eh window and jump onto his back one by one. Jirou was the second to last to go, leaving Kaminari in the bedroom.

The wall explodes as a hand punches it through and then a large figure forces its way through the rest of the drywall. Kaminari looks back and feels his heart race a million times a second.

The beast was on their floor and ready to attack and kill. Kaminari quickly jumps out of the window as the beast charges or him.

Grabbing the dragon's talons, he dangles helplessly as the dragon flies away to avoid the wrath of the beast. The beast dives forward like a swimmer through the window and grabs onto the left hind leg of the dragon. The sudden force pulls the dragon down and wince in pain. The students riding on the back of the dragon scream and panic as they dangle onto Kenta with all their might while Kaminari pulls himself up.

The weight of the beast pulls the dragon to the ground near the edge of the cliff but the dragon refuses to give up. The dragon flaps its wings as fast as it can to gain altitude but the beast refuses to let go. The beast plants its feet firmly down on the ground just inches away from the edge and pulls on the dragon's leg again.

"No," Jirou yells. "No." She plugs her earphone jacks into her speaker boots.

She sends sound waves at the beast, aiming for his face and eyes in an attempt to get him to lower his guard or get distracted; anything for the dragon to get free. It seems to work until the beast endures that soundwaves and continues to tug at the dragon, pulling him closer and closer to the ten-foot-tall monster.

Mineta rips several purple balls from his head. "Taste my balls!"

He throws the balls at the beast's feet, trapping them to the ground. Jirou then aims her soundwaves at the ground beneath the beast's feet and causes it to crumble like a sand castle. The beast topples over when the edge gives away and plunges. It dangles onto the dragon for a few seconds, dragging him down with him, before the beast finally loses its grip and plunges into the abyss.

"We did it!" Kaminari pants. "Yes, yes!"

The dragon sighs heavily and proceeds to fly as far away from the mansion as possible. He would've flown back but when the beast was dangling to his foot for a few seconds after the cliff gave away, the dragon was pulled about twenty or thirty feet downward before the beast finally let go. He felt his strength and stamina giving away and knew that if he tried to force himself to fly up toward the cliff once more, he wouldn't make it; he would change back to human form because his ability to maintain his dragon form depended entirely on his stamina and that tug-of-war battle with the beast drained a lot of his stamina.

He flies about two miles away from the cliff, slowly heading down while turning back to his human form before he reaches the bottom. Once he touches down, the students jump off his back and Kenta completes his transformation back into a human.

He lands on his side and groans as he rests on the ground.

"Kenta, are you okay?" Kaminari heads to his side. "Kenta?!"

"Tired," the muscular dragon boy pants, "so tired."

"He's out for the count," Jirou grumbles.

Kaminari and Kuroiro help lift Kenta to his feet and carry him into the forest.

Komori and Mineta step forward to scout ahead. "Come on, let's go. Hurry up!"

They quickly follow the two small students before moving off into the trees. They decided to take cover behind a large boulder about a foot taller than Kenta.

They settle down behind the boulder and take a moment to catch their breaths.

"Holy shit," Kuroiro curses and rubs his hair. He grips his hair hard enough to make himself wince before stopping. He remembers how he gave himself a haircut a few ago and some of his hair grew back. Even though he had about only four inches of hair left, the way he gripped his hair still hurt him.

Jirou sits against the boulder before pulling out her walkie-talkie. "Kendo, Kendo are you there?!"

"Jirou, are you okay?! Your mansion was torn to pieces, where are you?!"

What's going on? How did a beast get into the community? Are there more zombies? Is that why she's panicking? "I'm okay. Don't worry; the Kamisquad and I made it out alive. We're about three or four kilometers from the community."

"Are you in danger?"

"No, the area is all clear so far."

"Stay there, we're evacuating right now; zombies broke through the gates. A fucking beast broke through the gate. Come on, hurry up! Get the bus, now! Get the fucking cars, we're leaving now!"

The Kamisquad sit against the boulder and wait patiently for the situation to unfold. Kaminari sits with her knees to his chest and steadies his breathing. "We lost our home... again."

"Where did that beast come from? How did it get in the gates?" Mineta strokes his chin. "Where did the zombies come from?"

"We'll answer that question later." Jirou gets comfortable against the rock before feeling her eyelids get heavy. "Damn, I'm so tired."

"You think we're the only ones who made it?" Kuroiro asks.

"No. No, we're not the only ones who made it. Others made it. Kendo said 'Get the bus' so I'm sure that a lot of people made it."

"But where did all of those zombies come from?" Komori asks suddenly. "Where did the beast come from?"

"It doesn't matter," Kurorio answers for her. "It doesn't matter. We let our guard down. We shouldn't have let our guard down."

"Shoji and Sero," Kaminari remembers, "they were on guard duty; why didn't they see the beast and the zombies?"

Jirou feels her breath leave her. "You think they're..." she shakes her head. "No, they're not dead. No, they're not."

Kaminari remembers something and groans. "Damn it, my bike. I left it up there in the suburbs."

"It's gone now," Kuroiro says nonchalantly.

"No, it's not." Kaminari stands up. "I'm going to go get my bike."

Kuroiro stands up and meets his eyeline. "Are you insane? You're going to run up there in that gated community filled with zombies all just to get your bike back? Are you mental?"

"No, I'm being serious right now. Deadly serious. I'm going back for my bike."

"Our home is filled to the brim with zombies, why?"

"I don't care. I'm going to go get my bike?"

"It's just a bike, man."

"It's not just a bike, not to me."

Mineta stands up and positions himself beside Kuroiro. "Dude, Kamibro, are you sure you want to do this?"

"The zombies gotta leave the community at some point, right?" He leans against the boulder. "Who knows, maybe Kendo will come up with a plan that gets the community saved. Maybe she'll lead the zombies away and then we can take the community back and then we get my dirtbike back, right? How does that sound?"

"Plausible." Jirou stands up and leans against the boulder. "But still, if the community is lost, we have to consider the possibility that your bike is lost forever."

"No," Kaminari says firmly, "I'm not leaving my bike behind. No matter what, I'm not leaving my sweet Suzy behind."

"You can always get another dirtbike?"

"Where? The store? It's the apocalypse; there are no more stores. And the bikes we've found on the road are unreliable. My bike, I make sure to clean it, fill it with gas at gas stations still working, and make sure to put air in the tires at pumps still working.:

"Yeah. I guess." Jirou touches his shoulder. "Look, it all depends on whether we can take back the community, okay? If we can, we'll get your bike back, I promise. But for now, we have to wait, okay? We have to."

Kaminari grits his teeth before nodding begrudgingly. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

They sit up against the boulder and wait patiently. Jirou keeps the radio turned on just in case.

With Kendo

After the bus pulls up, Kendo quickly steps out of the bus and does a quick headcount of everyone present. She tells everyone to line up in front of the bus so she doesn't make any mistakes.

Deku, Bakugou, Uraraka, Froppy, Mashirao, Tokoyami, Hagakure, Monoma, Shiozaki, Awase, Kaibaira, Kodai, Pony, Manga, Hatsumei, Camie...

"Wait, where's Yanagi and Shoda? Sero, Shoji, where are they?" She looks around and takes out her walkie-talkie. "Hello, anyone on this channel, Shoda, Reiko, where are you? Sero, Shoji, come in, over?"

"Sero didn't make it," Shiozaki hesitantly says. "He... he turned. He turned into a dead one right in front of me." She holds her hands up in a praying manner. "He turned into a brainiac."

"No," Deku gasps under his breath. "Not another, not again."

Bakugou bites his lips to hold back his emotion. "And what about Shoji? What the hell happened to him?"

"Shoji was with Sero," Kendo realizes. "He may be..."

"NO! Don't even fucking say it, big hands. If we don't find a body, he's not necessarily dead." He feels himself fire up as he prepares to head back. "I'm going to head back to the community. If Shoji is there and we left him behind, then I'm going to draw the zombies away and get him out of there."

Kendo grabs him. "No, not yet, not until we know where the others are."

"The Kamisquad," Froppy panics, "where's the Kamisquad?"

"They made it out alive," Kendo assures them, "Kenta flew them out; they're alive." She turns back to her walkie-talkie. "Reiko, Shoda, please, please answer, please!" She groans in frustration upon realizing that they aren't going to answer. Now that she thinks about it, those two didn't have any walkie-talkies on them. The realization fills her with frustration that she almost enlarges her remaining hand to crush the radio. "Guys, we already had a backup plan, right?" She speaks on the radio.

"Everyone on this channel, listen very carefully. Remember what we said about where we should go if we get separated? Does everyone remember where we go? We head to the baker. Does everyone remember that Mister Donut we came across a week ago? I told everyone that if we ever got separated, we would head to the Mister Donut and regroup there for a headcount. That's where we're going now. We're going to regroup there and figure everything out. Kamisquad, that includes you too, okay?" She puts the radio down before turning to the others. "If Reiko and Shoda heard that message, then they'd know where to go. We have a car so we should get there before them but... but it should take them half a day to get there if they're walking. Same for the Kamisquad."

Uraraka steps forward. "Shouldn't we head back for our teammates?"

"We need to find out who is alive and who is dead first and then we'll figure something out." Kendo looks to Monoma. "Start the bus up and drive us to that Mister Donut."

Monoma nods. "Your wish is my command."

"It is a command." She rolls her eyes. "Asshole."

Monoma climbs in the bus and starts it up. One by one, the students load up on the bus and take their seats.

7:35 AM

"What?" Jolting awake, Kamianri looks around and checks for any signs of zombies. After moving away from the boulder, they took shelter in a small and barricaded the entryway with rocks. Remembering that they decided to get a good night's sleep before heading to the Mister Donut considering it would take them half a day to get there, Kaminari felt his stomach groan. Turning around, the rest of the kids stir out of their sleep before Kaminari kicks the rocks away and frees them. Landing outside on his knees, he picks himself up before walking forward.

He stops near the road about half a kilometer away and waits for the Kamisquad to catch up to him. Jirou stands beside him, looking well-rested after getting six hours of sleep to catch up on the three or so hours she got before the beast invaded.

"Well," Kaminari sighs heavily, "you guys up for a little walkathon to a Mister Donut?"

Jirou nods. "Absolutely."

"Because walking has always been our favorite pastime activity," Kuroiro snarks. "Because who doesn't like walking?"

"Right?" Kenta agrees with sass in his voice. "Walking, epic."

Before the kids could snark some more, the sound of an engine coming to their left made them stop. Survival instinct kicks in and they step back.

"What if it's Kendo?" Jirou suggests.

"And what if it isn't?" Kurorio rebutes.

They decide to hide behind a tree and wait. Being the closest to the edge, Kaminari peeks out to see a vehicle driving down the road. It wasn't a bus, no, but something that perplexed him.

It was an emergency medical vehicle with one driver inside.

"An ambulance?" He blinked to make sure his eyes weren't going crazy on him before the sounds of a second engine behind the ambulance captured his ear. A familiar engine.

He gasped loudly upon realizing what was trailing closely behind the ambulance.

"My bike!"

He leaps into the road as the ambulance passes and steps in front of the dirtbike. The paramedic riding the dirtbike, someone dressed as a paramedic, swerves around Kaminari and rides off. Kaminari chases after him and manages to toss one of his trackers onto the dirtbike while he chases after it in vain on foot. "Come back! That's my bike! Give it back!"

The bike rider flips him off as both vehicles head off into the distance, vanishing just at the end of the road. Kaminari comes to a halt and screams at the top of his lungs. "They stole my bike! That's my bike!"

The rest of the squad catches up to him but Jirou is the first to speak. "How did they get your bike?"

"That must've been their home. Their gated community," Kuroiro realizes. "Either that, or they stumbled upon it by pure luck. Either way, those guys managed to clear out the zombies or sneak in if they got your bike. Unless you left your bike outside the gates?"

"No, I brought it in with me!" Kaminari steps forward. "Guys, we have to get my bike back, please!"

"It's gone," Jirou snaps. "It's gone, Kaminari, your bike is gone."

"No, no, not my bike. I'm going to get it."

"What, are you mental." Jirou steps forward, closing the distance between them. "Are you crazy? You're going to chase after these guys just to get your bike back, why?"

"It's my bike, my property, and they stole it. I told them that it was my bike and they just flipped me off. I'm getting my bike back. I put a tracker on it so we can find it. There's a limited range but if we can find out where they're going, then maybe... maybe we'll be able to sneak in and get my bike back."

"Is it even worth it?"

"It is to me. You wouldn't get it but that bike means everything to me. It may be just a bike to you but that thing means everything to me."

Jirou grits her teeth as she replays his words in her mind a few times. She clenches her knuckles before looking him in the eyes. "What about Mister Donut?"

"Those guys were driving an ambulance," Kuroiro points out. "Which means, they got medical supplies. Both drivers were wearing medical uniforms and the guy riding the bike looked to be clean so these guys had some supplies. Even if we're going to get his bike, these guys have supplies. Maybe medical supplies so we can kill two birds with one stone. We get Kaminari's bike back and in return, we steal some of their supplies."

"Steal?" Komori whispers.

The shadow merger nods. "Yeah, steal. They stole his bike so it's only fair we steal something of theirs, right?"

"I agree," Mineta nods. "But, we should tell Kendo that the gated community might be free of zombies. If these guys came from our home, then maybe there are fewer zombies, which means, our class can clear it out while we get your bike back. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah man," Kaminari smiles, "it does." He turns to Jirou. "Please, help me get my back back, that's all I'm asking. Please?"

"And what do we tell Kendo?" Jirou demands. "We're heading out to the middle of nowhere to look for a bike?"

"That we got a hit on possible medical supplies," Kuroiro answers with a smirk. "She'll understand. We'll tell her something along the lines of, 'We found medical supplies and we're going to bring them back just in case'. You know, something like that."

The mushroom girl decides to speak next. "If something goes wrong, then no one is going to know where we are."

"Nobody is dying," Kaminari declares. "I won't let you guys die."

"Can you promise that, man?" Mineta asks.

Kaminari nods. "I want to promise that. So, who's going to help me get my bike back?"

The dragon boy raises his hands. "I'm in, man. If there's one thing I hate, it's paramedics who flip helpless people the bird. You give me the bird, and I'll give you the dragon."

"I'm in too," Mineta says confidently.

Kuroiro looks at Komori, who nods. "Komori and I are in too."

Jirou groans and smacks his forehead. "Fine, whatever. Okay, let's get your dirtbike back, Kaminari."