Persona Series 1. School Under Siege: Yosuke and Chie

"It started of as such a normal day…" Yosuke thought to himself as he drove a screwdriver deep into the skull of his former social studies teacher The teacher let out a guttural scream before he fell limply to the floor. Be fore he was able to respond mentally to the act, another member of the faculty was upon him. Chie came flying in with a rough roundhouse kick to the creature's head. It slammed in tot the chalkboard with a deadened slush as the contents of his cranium poured out. The two were surrounded-the undead was upon them. They saw the faces of the students whom they would say hello to, the kindly and wizened faces of the faculty , the supportive janitors all horribly contorted into hellish creatures, striped of their humanity, reduced to satiating their new-found bloodlust. What hid behind these creatures-these abominations- was something more primal, more malevolent, than anything they had witnessed in the world of the Shadows.

Chie looked upon the undead, fighting the urge to break down in tears. She fought hard to maintain her poise, she wouldn't have Yosuke pity. She instead looked at Yosuke with determined eyes and nodded; their offensive began. Time spent in the other realm had prepared them physically for their assault on the undead; decaying bones smashed, necrotic flesh torn, undead toppled. The two persona users cleared a path of destruction and flew into the halls. The schools hall had resembled the most grotesque nightmare-bodies littered the floors and blood was splattered ruthlessly, windows were broken in desperation and the horrid stench of festering tissue filled the air. The unnerving silence of the building was occasionally pierced by the blood-curdling screams of students having their very lives torn from them.

"Yosuke…" Chie whispered as her brave façade was melted away by the waves of her tears. Yosuke looked at her body shake as she began to cry. He so desperately wanted to console her but didn't know how- he was still in shock from what had conspired. What was once a normal day had been destroyed so drastically, like from second changing into the next. He frantically wondered what had become of his friends. Had they too been enlisted into the ranks of the undead?

"Chie! We gotta go! We don't have time for this!"

"Well! Where are we gonna go! Where is everyone! You don't think that…." She panicked.

Yosuke looked desperately at the blood soaked walls for answers, but none were found. Frantically, he patted his pants in search of his phone. Just then, a nearby classroom door flew open as more of the horde came shambling out. The two sprinted down the halls and in their haste they found themselves at the entrance to the practice building.

"You think that they are on the roof?" Chie panted between breaths as they climbed over a hastily made barricade.

"I don't know but I don't think that roof would be best…fuck!" Yosuke had just remembered that he had left it on charge in the homeroom.

The two made their way into the music room to find any signs of their friends. Instead, they saw music sheet strewn across the room and instruments that seemed to have been trampled as people rushed out. The most disturbing thing about the room was the view to the outside; Inaba was spotted with blazing fires that darkened the skies. Cars were pilled high on top of one another-a mad dash to escape the dark threat of the zombie catastrophe. Even from where they were, they could still hear the desolate cries of people being mauled the horde of undead.

This was a state of emergency.

Yosuke gritted his teeth as he gazed upon the madness; he and his friends had fought so hard to protect the town from the threat of the fog just so that it could be destroyed by the un-living.

"Where in the hell is everyone!" he cried desperately. He turned to Chie and watched her eyes widen in horror as what she saw outside. Yosuke turned to see.

Yukiko was alone and pursued by five zombies on the track field.

"NOO! Yukiko!" Chie screamed. She grabbed the window ledge and began to make her way onto the roof.

"Hey! Chie! You even know how far the field is from here!"

"I don't care! I'm not gonna stand here and let her get attacked by those bastards! Her eyes were burning with determination and Yosuke knew that there was no way that he could persuade her. He just hoped that they would get there in time. Yosuke hurried after Chie and ran on the roof, grabbing anything that could be forged into a weapon.


	2. In Preparation: Kanji

Alone in a janitor's closet, Kanji sat inside, gazing at the bloodied sleeve of his uniform jacket. He had fought so many of the undead and even reviled in a few that he did destroy-a lot of those teachers had deserved getting' their heads smashed in the pavement. However, even though the fights themselves were awesome, he did manage to get hurt which was made even more noticeable because his adrenaline had finally wore off. He did recall one of them, a particularly hungry Kashiwagi, lunging at his forearm before he whipped his arm across her head with an insidious crack. He shuttered with the thought of her on him even before she was zombified. With trepidation, he slowly pulled of his jacket, praying to all the Buddhas in the sky that he didn't manage to get bit.

"Fuck yeah!" he cried as he looked at his bruised, battered but un-bitten arm. With renewed vigor, ripped of the head of a broom and sharpened the edge of it with his knife- he always knew that he would need the blade one day. Once his lance was made, he mixed some of the cleaning liquids together and made some truly pungent concoctions that he knew would blow some shit up. After all, he was a delinquent and they were always the low-brow chemists.

He looked at the make-shift lance and thought about Souji and the others and how he didn't know where they were-that thought began to eat away at Kanji's conscious.

"Man! How in the fuck am I gonna find 'em!" he screamed in his mind.

"And what about Ted?"

He knew that Teddie normally worked at Junes while they were in school and there was no telling what have become of him. The streets of Inaba were dangerous for him on a normal day, let alone after a malicious zombie attack. Phones were down, dead bodies were everywhere, no one was to be found. The most he could hope for was that he would run into the guys while he was beating on zombies-he knew he wasn't good at planning stuff or strategizing.

He slammed his fist together, strengthen his resolve.

He grabbed his lance, his dirty bombs, and grabbed the door.

While in the halls, he heard someone scream from outside the broken window.

"Yukiko-sempai? For fuck sake why is she screaming? She's gonna draw attention to her self! Damnit!" He spat as he climbed out of the window and sprinted towards her location.


	3. A Harsh Reality: Souji and Rise

"Wahhhh!" Rise cried as she clobbered a zombie over the head with a book.

"You're gonna have to stop screaming-so much" Souji said as he slammed his baseball bat into the head of another. With a loud crack, the zombie crumpled to the floor. Rise slumped over with fatigue with her hands on her knees-she gasped for breathe.

"I don't… know if…" she wheezed; she wasn't the most physically fit of the group but she did try none the less. Souji walked her to the window to get some fresh air. As she stood, she looked outside as tears began to gather; she was never fond of horror movies-the very idea being chased by someone who wanted her dead was more than enough to make her skin crawl. Although the same was true of the shadows of the TV realm, something about them felt more psychological, something more ephemeral than the horrors that dominated the silver screen.

Now here she was, living out the abominations that could only just be found on video or in someone's most horrid fantasy. Her friends that were her source of strength to endure these terrors were nowhere to be found amongst the sea of undead.

"Souji…" she squeaked as tears rolled down her cheeks. "You think we will find the guys?"

He looked deep into her moist eyes and nothing but despair; he couldn't tell her that they wouldn't although that option began to seem more real with each group of zombies that they encountered.

"Of course! It will that more than a few zombies to stop us!" He said reassuringly. Rise smiled gratefully, eager to deny the truth that she felt creeping into her mind, eager to deny the idea that her friends could very well be a part of the undead movement.

She wiped her eyes, "I'm glad that you're here with me sempai…" She hugged him deeply as the two looked out at the sight of Inaba being engulfed by madness.

Rise turned away from the hellish sight, unable to look upon the little town she had once called home-she was painfully reminded of her grandmother, who had just recently fell in. She couldn't bear thinking about the zombies who maybe gnawing on her feeble bones as they sat. As he held onto her, he felt a new wave of trembling tears within her small frame. He desperately tried to think of a way to reunite the group but didn't know how without the aid of technology.

"Maybe, maybe if we don't find each other here, maybe we will find our way to our "special head quarters?" He had no idea if that was even a sound idea or not but it was better than nothing. Maybe they could create a shelter in Junes like they did in Dawn of the Dead?

"You think that would work?" she sniffed.

"Yeah! We all seem to find ourselves there all the time. Maybe they are on their way there now."

"That's true."Her eyes began to simmer with hope of their reunion. She stood up and faced Souji with a faint smile forming on her face.

"Let's go then. We don't to keep the guys waiting." She added cheerfully.

He rose from the window sill and clenched the bat in his hands knowing that it may be the difference between salvation and horrific zombie-induced death. Rise scanned the room for something a bit more offensive than a mere book.

"What do you think of chair?" she asked aloud as she weighed it in her hands and swung it judgingly.

"Well…" Souji looked around the room for something a bit wieldier He grabbed a flagpole that laid on the floor and tore the flag from it.

"This is a bit better; It's got more range to it." He added.

Once the two readied their weapons, Souji cautiously made his way towards the halls, looking for any lingering groups of zombies. He gestured for Rise and they dashed through the halls. Luckily, there were no zombies around to block them from the school entrance. Outside, they were confronted with the full magnitude of the carnage that had befallen their beloved town. The two began their journey through the zombie-infested streets.

Author's Note: Hey! I just wanna thank everybody for giving my little story a chance! I never thought that I would get as many hits as I have and that people would enjoy it so much I thought about this story when I was watching this anime called "High School of the Dead"; it was a novel idea but because they were bogged down by the typical anime stereotypes,it kind of lost it appeal; who has time for naked girl bathscenes with zombies breathing down your neck?

Blazing Reaper; thankx for the support! I'll do the best I can with the upcoming chapters!

Kaiser dude; About the "lowbrow chemist", I was thinking of how deliquents seem to have like an alternative, more dubious way of doing things than average people. Where people would use charcoal to sketch with, another way would be to burn the edge of sticks of wood. You know, things like that.


	4. Partial Reunion: Yukiko

"Get away from me!" Yukiko screamed as she slammed a brick into the head of a zombie as lunged at her ankle. She was terrified beyond words-she couldn't stop herself from either crying or screaming. Any ideas of any sort of strategy were cast aside and replaced with wild and unpredictable swings. The zombie fell to the ground but more came in its place. In her delirium, in their pursuit, she cornered herself in the bleachers, nowhere to run. Her eyes darted frantically, searching desperately for something to defend herself with as she climbed the aluminum stairs. The zombies, maybe due to her crazed fear, were always one step of her, surrounding her at every turn she took.

"No…." she sobbed.

"NO!" she screamed.

The undead confined her in place, taunting her with their gapping maws, paralyzing her with their ungodly shrieks, daring her to try and escape with their sheer numbers-it was five against one and she was losing the will to continue…

Her mind began to drift from the demons that crowded her vision to a calming memory of her time spent with her friends. They would laugh and laugh, she thought tearfully as horde closed in upon her, trying desperately not to let the noxious smell of their decaying sinews interrupt her last thoughts. She fondly recalled Chie's enthusiastic speech about the glory of Bruce Lee's films. However, in her memory, she never recalled Chie screaming-

"Get off her you dirty sons a-bitches!"

Chie flew in with a whirlwind of furious kick that toppled the cadavers. Yosuke came in quickly, while the monsters were down, to finish the job-hastily cracking their skulls with a heavy pole he had found on the way. The brown-haired girl was consumed with a hellish fury as she forcibly broke the joints, maimed the flesh and violently ended the half-life of the monsters.

Yukiko, who finally had shaken of the haze of confronting death, joined in the melee.

With another loud crack, the last zombie dropped to its knees. Before Yosuke could even admire the thoroughness of Chie's mahogany pile of destruction, Yukiko and Chie hugged each other deeply, thanking every god and deity for each other's safety. Yosuke couldn't help but revel in their tearful reunion-they were the best of friends after all and it was a nice change of pace from all the death and despair that has consumed their new-found lives as zombie-slayers.

Yosuke raised a hand to jump in the camaraderie but was stopped mid-sentence when he heard a furious bellow in the distance. The three immediately, instinctively, switched into an offensive stance and prepared themselves to face their next foe.

"HAAAAAA! You zombie bastards gots hells to pay nah!" They heard kanji cry in the distance. The closer he came to the group, the more he realized that he had just missed out on the zombie-whooping carnage. His once aggressive charge was reduced to a casual, yet defeated, walk.

"Hey guys! Glad to see that you guys didn't get ate by them zombie-bitches!"

"Kanji!" Chie and Yukiko bawled in unison. Startled by such a heartfelt welcome, he blushed a bit and waived at the timidly. The group was partially united and exchanged what bit of info they knew about the zombie apocalypse, which was a whole lot of nothing.

"I don't know. I just looked and they were coming in my class," Chie added.

"Same here. It was just like they came out of nowhere. Before I knew it, instinct just kicked in and I was killing zombie," Yosuke said.

They stood there in confusion about the origin of the attacks when Yukiko suggested that they keep moving.

"Yeah but where do we go? And has anybody see Souji and Rise?" Kanji asked. Everyone's eyes diverted into various directions.

"Oh! Well,um…well it's good that none of us saw their dead bodies lyin' around huh? ….hm" Kanji tried to add jovially although no one seemed to be pleased. Yosuke stood contemplatingly, considering what their next move should be. They certainly couldn't hang around the school, killing everything they ran into to find them-they needed to find some safety and quickly.

"It looks like you have some ideas?" Yukiko asked hopefully.

"Hey! Why don't we go to Junes! I'm sure that Souji and Rise would go there! Right?" Chie suggested, twiddling her fingers together and looking downward. Yukiko placed her hand on Chie's back and supported that suggestion.

"We all seem to end up their all the time anyway," Yukiko added.

"You know, that could work." Yosuke said as he looked at Chie; "Who would have guessed that it would take a zombie apocalypse for you to get good ideas!" he smiled much to Chie's chagrin.

"You're lucky this zombie thing is happening 'cause you would have got whaled for that!" Chie pouted. Yosuke raised his hands defensively; "I'm not saying it's a bad thing! It's just good to know that we have another brain to help us out!"

"Yosuke! OMG you suck so much! And Yukiko don't you dare laugh!'

Chie turned to see Yukiko covering her mouth with her hand and looking away mischievously. Chie eyeballed her suspiciously.

"Hey! You know we should go!*snirk* Souji and Rise are waiting for-*snork*-US!" she smiled between her hands.

"Yeah, your right." Chie said.

"Alright then! Let's kick some zombie ass!" Kanji yelled intensely.

"Hey! Let's try to use our inside voices; their flesh-eating monsters out here that hate noise!" Yosuke said.

"Oh yeah!" Kanji whispered, "Let's go kick some zombie ass!"


	5. A Moment Exposed: Adachi and Dojima

"Damnit! Not even our private lines work!" Dojima bellowed as he violently ripped the phone from the wall. He was beyond consolation; the world was crumbling around him-his entire office converted into demons right before his eyes and he had to take the lives of men he used to call brothers-in-arms. All that stood left in the carnage was himself and Adachi, although he couldn't grasp why the bumbling dectectve was still alive. He looked down at the phone once more as it ridiculed him with it's final buzz-taunting his inability to save the only one he loved in this cruelly deformed world-Nanako.

In a pique of rage, from his incapable position, from the unspoken mockery, from the fathomless shame, he punched the wall as hard as his body could muster-his body shook with fury with each blow.

"Dojima-san! You gotta calm down! We'll-"

"You shut the fuck up and go find some got-damned ammo!" he screamed. With one final blow, he began to notice a painfully tingling sensation in his arm. He looked upon his bloodied hands and sighed to himself-this type of behavior wouldn't help anyone.

"Sure," Adachi spat. His eyes flickered with malice as he left Dojima to his tantrum. He casually strolled through the halls of the station, walking over and sometimes on the bodies of the fallen officers- he was especially captivated by the cracking sound he would hear as he treaded on the bones of the men. He soon came upon the body of one of the few women on the force. He couldn't make heads or tails of her by looking at her body - the flesh on her face was torn off and he could clearly see the dead muscle underneath. Her body was ravaged - skin was torn viciously from her, revealing almost all her skeleton save for her abdomen which still held her lower intestines and pieces of other organs. Carefully, he moved the mauled arm that lay over her badge to see her name;

Sachiko Himura

After a moment of reflection, the image of her ebony locks and her voluptuous form came to mind. Another stuck-up bitch that flaunted herself around the place, he spat. He felt the jealousy burn through his vein like fire as recalled her tantalizing figure, her mischievous smile, her obvious affection with the senior officers.

"Women like you," he smiled wickedly as he gazed upon her mutilated form, "deserve a death a bit more gruesome that the one you ended up with. I suppose you were one lucky bitch, huh?" he asked her crushed skull; he laughed to himself as he got up and continued his journey for ammunition.

He whistled a tune as he twirled his gun through the dilapidated and bloodied halls; this was the world he dreamt about in his shitty little hovel, a world with no rules, no illusions. Anarchy had spread its dark wings over the town and Adachi was thankful for every moment of it. Things were more interesting than they had ever been, besides watching those brats running around during the midnight channel, in particular the episode about Rise. Something about her made him feel nauseous, loathsome, lustful.

Once he picked a few rounds off the scattered bodies, he came across a black baton lying on the ground. Adachi smiled maliciously as he swung the baton, reveling in the joy it could bring as it caved the heads of the zombies and maybe even Dojima-he placed the baton between his belt straps and began to make his way back to the miserable bastard. As he walked, he thought about the many ways he could maim good ol' Dojima with his new-found companion.

"Well, better put on my happy face," he said before he made his way inside their little sanctuary-the interrogation room. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him as he touched the doorknob; he remembered that Naoto - the little pretentious bastard - had been taken to the TV world just a few days ago. With the town in disarray, would those punks dare to try to save her? He raised his hand to his face to try to calm his laughter; he himself couldn't find a working TV, there was no way in or out to TV realm!

"Wow! Hehe..I wish I could have watched that shit!"

Without warning, Dojima came bursting into the halls, knocking Adachi off his feet.

"What the fuck are you doin' on the floor! Get your head in the game damnit!" he howled.

"Oh sorry, Sir!" he jumped to his feet and smiled absent-mindedly with his hand behind his head.

"Did you find anything useful?"

"Well, I did find some ammo on some of those bodies. Sorry it took so long! Those bodies were soo nasty!" Adachi rambled on like buffoon as Dojima's eyes drifted to the police baton that hung from Adachi's belt.

Dojima nodded to the belt-"Do you even know what to do with that?" he smirked.

"_I'll show you what to do with it you bitch…"_ Adachi thought to himself as he continued his inept detective routine.

"Hmm…how about this?" Adachi mused distractedly as he took a fighting stance not unlike the ones you see a video-game character take. Dojima watched in amusement as Adachi swung his arms like a madman fighting off hallucinations that only he could see. Noticing that his guard was down, Adachi swung the baton as hard as he could into Dojima's bicep-he held his aching arm in shock.

"What the fuck-!"

"Oh man Dojima-san! I didn't mean for that to happen!" he added in an almost sing-song way until Dojima's fist connected with Adachi's jaw, causing the younger officer began to stumble and sway. Immediately, he dropped the baton to massage his throbbing jaw-his face contorted with rage as a Dojima walked past him.

"Get up damnit! You didn't think I would let that slide, did ya?" he said massaging his arm.

"But I said," the anger seething through his calculate façade, "that it was an accident." Dojima didn't seem to notice the last comment and began to ramble on about finding Nanako and the others. Adachi clenched the gun in his pistol belt while blood pumped wildly through his body. He stood with his hand in his jacket and malice in his eyes.

"_It would be so easy to kill him…it would be okay to kill him…there is no law in this world but my gun…" _He thought frantically. Dojima turned to look at Adachi and he quickly assumed his role as the incompetent rookie, with thought of murder behind his eyes.

"You finally ready to go or what?"

"Yep! We need to go save Nanako. I'm sure she's ok sir, she's a smart girl. You always tell her not to let strangers in right?" he added jovially. Once again, he was ignored as Dojima made his way down the hall. Adachi followed closely behind him, deciding that there will be other opportunities to kill him that would be more advantageous; Dojima would be better suited for killing zombies than himself. He smiled to himself and his quick-thinking.

"_Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." _


	6. Death's Broken Embrace

**Hello everybody and thanks again for tuning in for the next part of my story! I'm still surprised that I've gotten as many hits as I have (500+) and I've got you all to thank! :) ****So please, I want you guys ****to stick with me to the end and please enjoy the rest!**

…...

From Souji's and Rise vantage point, it would be no easy task to get inside Junes; it had become an obstacle course of toppled cars, broken glass and hundreds of shopping carts. There were also numerous zombies meandering for remaining scraps of human flesh to satiate their demonic hunger. As Souji looked on, his hope of converting the department store into a sanctuary had been diminished as well as his plan of reuniting with the guys. How in the hell were they supposed to get together now?

"I'm not too sure about this, "Rise said as she looked at the department store of the dead. Suddenly, a car exploded in front of Junes, causing the zombies to go into frenzy; they clawed on top of one another, viciously snapping and tearing into on another to get to the meal they thought was close. Their soulless eyes, their gaping maws, their inhuman fixation with the flesh riled up another wave of fear in the two students. They were helpless, they were alone. Their plan had failed and they knew that it would be dangerous to linger there for long.

Rise looked at Souji hopefully, knowing that he would come up with a plan to get them to safety. She only hoped that she would be able to keep up; she was feeling weak in the knees and a paralyzing fear had begun to take hold of her.

"Should we wait here for them?" she asked her voice unusually fragile.

Souji looked around them, surveying the area. He saw a few two story buildings nearby that were close enough to Junes but far enough that, if they weren't careful, they could attract the horde. While he was thinking of their plan of action, he heard another piercing shriek from the devils who danced in the flames. His heart began to race wildly in his chest and his thoughts began to waiver.

_Are we…done for_..? He asked himself, unwilling to believe his and Rise's misfortune. Panic had sunk its hooks into his heart. They only had one chance to make their dash to the buildings. If they failed, the zombies, in their agitated state, would quickly consume them. Plus, even if they were to get to the buildings, there was no telling if the monsters were stalking those grounds. Rise looked at Souji and saw the conflict behind his eyes; she saw his fear of death. She had never seen that look in his eyes before not even when they traveled in the TV world. He was always so calm, so composed that for a moment she had thought him to be some kind of superhero, ready to face any danger that came before him without fear or hesitation. Now, she saw him for what he truly was, a teenager, a high schooler, just like her, who was lost, scared and didn't know what to do. She placed her hand on his and felt it tremble. He looked at her and for a moment, they shared the same feelings, of anguish and despair. But as they continued, they saw hope. HE knew that he couldn't let himself or his friends down, not in this most dire of hours. Rise, he thought, needed him now.

He clenched his bat, strengthening his resolve and glanced one more time at her.

"I have a plan," he said.

After he explained the plan, they quickly went into action; between them and the building, which they recognized as Aoi's Flower Shop, were a few cars and a myriad of bodies. There was also an alleyway that went straight from their position to the shop that could obscure them from the zombies but it was too dark to make sense of it. Souji and Rise dashed from one car to the next, keeping their bodies low and placing their back square on to the vehicles. Souji carefully stuck his around the car to know where and what the zombies were up to. When the coast was clear, they made their way to the next.

Once they got to the last of the downed cars, they saw a large and revealing gape between themselves and the flower shop. Souji looked around and saw that there was less of them around that when his had looked a few seconds ago. Rise had checked the opposite side and saw a medium sized switchblade that was nearby. She slowly moved her pole to the blade to pull it closer to her. Souji turned to Rise and saw her as she was reaching over for something and saw the zombies, four cars from them. Rise was within arm's reach of the blade when she felt Souji yank her from the ground and they began to edge themselves around the car until they were in front of the it's grill.

Zombies were on the side and back of them.

Then, they heard a scream from their left. Then the zombies heard the scream. A man, frantic from fright, saw the two of them.

"Are you two alive!" He cried, thankful to not have been the only human left. Rise covered her face with shock. Souji looked at the man as he made his way to them and the zombies nearby and knew that once they pursue the man, that they too would be caught.

"Rise! When I yell, we run for the shop! You got that!" he said forcefully. Before she could reply and before the man could reach them, Souji yelled.

"GO!"

The man stopped in confusion and saw the zombies come after him and the teens run away. He wasn't able to run quickly enough before the zombie had latched onto him, quickly devouring him. Souji and Rise ran through the broken windows and ran straight for the back of the store to hide. They could still hear the cries of the man in the distance as they made their way up the stairs leading to the second floor.

The top floor was dimly light by some unknown light sources. The floors were stripped of their carpets and the old floorboards were revealed. Papers, shelves, blankets, books were strewn on the floors; this was probably someone's living quarters. There were a few doors in front of them that he knew had to be inspected for creatures. The floorboards were unforgiving as they creaked with every step and the noise echoed loudly through the abandoned halls. In the first room they investigated, they saw nothing but a tussled bed and a gutted dresser. They took a few steps inside to look for anything of use but found none.

"Well, this room is clear!" Rise added, hoping that if everything was good, then they would have a nice little shelter. She walked back into the halls and noticed a small sound. As Souji rose from looking in the piles of clothes he heard Rise scream. He flew into the halls and saw a zombie pull on Rise's hair to draw her closer to it. She swung her pole madly in the air to try to stop the beast. Souji flew in to stop it but Rise's pole slapped him hard across the face. Stunned, he dropped his bat.

"NOOO!" she wailed as the creature grabbed her arm as well, snapping at her neck.

Quickly, Souji grabbed the bat and tackled Rise and the zombie both, placing himself on top the creature and jamming his bat repeatedly in the mouth of the beast. Rise, tears streaking down her face, used her pole to smash the beast in the face. It made no notice of their attacks against it. Instead, it threw it's arms wildly at Souji, trying to tear him apart. With a final crushing blow, the creature's arms fell limply to the floor. Souji, breathing heavily, got up and pulled his bat from the zombies head.

"You OK…" he heaved. She nodded. She was still in shock from the ordeal and she didn't say anything until they had finally checked all the rooms.

"Looks like we are good to go," Souji added happily. He looked from one end of the hall to the other, feeling a strong sense of satisfaction seep inside of him. The two made their way to the roof to survey the area and to keep an eye out for their friends. He noticed that Rise hadn't said anything although this was a pretty triumphant moment.

"Rise?" he said, unsure of where to go next with the conversation.

She looked at him, her eyes shimmering with tears. She reached for him and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I…I almost…died," she sniffed as she buried her face into Souji's shoulder.

He said nothing as he held her; he didn't know what to say. He looked out into the distance and was greeted with the same view of absolute destruction and chaos. The only thing they had at this moment, in this world maybe, was each other.

...

Meanwhile, Nanako, alone and terrified, walked the streets outside the city, desperately looking for the way to the school. She couldn't remember the way; her dad always walked her there.

Daddy…she cried quietly to herself. She should have waited her Dad to come home; he would have come to protect her. He would have stopped the monsters from coming in. But she couldn't have stayed, not even to wait for him. _He really doesn't care about me_…she thought. She looked around and all she saw was more dead body and more destruction. She began to sob, clutching her doll closely to her chest. She was all alone and no one had come to save her.

_Big Bro…._

Suddenly, she heard a sound come from the darkness.

"HeLLo, liTtle GirL,…do Not be AfRaid…"

In an instant, she heard shuffling sounds from the darkness as well as everything around her.


	7. Everything's Great at Your Junes

**Hello everybody and thanks for returning to the seventh part of my tale! I wanna thank everybody again for reading this story and I'm still in shock of how many hits its got! I've been working hard to make my chapters longer and I just hit the 2500 mark ****. Other than that. Thank you, thank you, thank you!**

"Man! There's too many of 'em!" Kanji yelled as he swung his holding chair in a zombie's face. It fell to the ground with a loud crunch. Kanji jammed his heel into the creatures face-it let out a hideous noise before it fell silent. Another creature quickly took its place.

"Well-." Yosuke clobbered a nearby zombie with his monkey wrenches. "-If you weren't yellin' so much, this probably wouldn't have-." He felled the creature with another blood splattering blow to the cranium. He quickly turned around and saw another one behind him. Before it had made its leap to Yosuke's face, Yukiko had launched a brick in its direction. He couldn't even thank her for the save as he saw more of them coming in his direction, forcing him to prepare himself for the onslaught.

"_There's just no end to them…"_ he thought miserably.

Yukiko had also seen the next wave of enemies as fear began to wash over her; there was no end of them in sight and they were in a very vulnerable position-they were in a small parking lot near a gas station. It offered no place to hide.

"We can't take fight them all!" she cried, her voice wavering with fright.

"I could-."Chie tagged another zombie with a swift round house to the face. It stumbled considerably before she came in closer; grabbing the monster's arm and swiftly breaking it off. Before it could let out a shriek of agony, she had already had her hands on its head-promptly breaking its neck. With cat-like agility, she leapt into the air, jamming her knees into another zombie's neck and wrestled it down to the concrete were she smashed her fist into the creatures head. Yosuke was in awe of her deadly efficiency and was eager not to be shown up. Unfortunately, they weren't giving him the opportunity.

Yukiko surveyed the area, knowing that they had to make their move quickly or the zombie horde would consume them. She looked around and saw a shimmering black pool in the distance. The liquid was pouring from a downed vehicle-she concluded that it was more than likely flammable.

"Kanji! You got any bombs! Or a lig-"she used a nearby traffic cone to push off a zombie that hungrily snapped at her. Yosuke had come to her rescue.

Frantically, Kanji attempted to rummage his pockets for a light while maiming the creatures that antagonized him.

"Get off me you son's a bitches!" he yelled as he used his brute strength to push the creatures down.

"Here!" He tossed the lighter to Yukiko, who barely caught it without dropping it.

"WhenItoss this runthataway!" Yukiko frantically pointed beyond the car and the lighter, knowing that her jumbled words may have been lost on them. Kanji nodded as well as Yosuke. Chie had just snapped out of her bloodlust when she noticed that the group was running towards a car. She landed on more blow to an undead before sprinting away. Yukiko had lit the lighter and hastily tossed in into the pool as she ran by it. The zombies weren't far behind as she had thrown it and she prayed that it would work. Yosuke turned around to see that the lighter had missed the flammable liquid.

"Chie! Light that fire!"

Chie's eyes dropped to the ground and she spotted the lighter. She snatched it and began to light it. As she lit the liquid, the zombie had surrounded her and one of them had jumped on her back, knocking her to the ground. The fire slowly crept to the vehicle as Chie struggled with the horde.

"Chie! Noooo!" Yukiko cried. Kanji pushed past her and launched himself into the crowd. He punched the zombie off of her and started to force a path through the creatures.

"Come on Chie! We gotta move!" Kanji screamed. Chie got to her feet.

"Thank! That was a close one!" she said thankfully to him as the car exploded and a fiery ring surrounded the zombies as well as the two. Yosuke and Yukiko watched in horror, hearing the cries of the beast override the sounds of their friends' voices. Then, Kanji and Chie came flying through the barrier, flames still clinging to their bodies. Yukiko ran to Chie's aid, briskly patting her body to quench the flames. Yousuke went to Kanji to do the same. He looked to the fire as he saw the zombies stagger helplessly-the flames devoured them as they moved. The shrill howl of the monsters made Yosuke skin crawl as he listened.

"We should be going now…"Yosuke added eager to put some distance between him and the undead.

He helped Kanji to his feet and the two made their way to where Yukiko and Chie sat.

"Oww, oww, oww,"

"Okay, Okay" Yukiko said as she used a piece of her shirt to bandage Chie arm. It was hard for her to look at Chie without her eyes watering; Chie had suffered come serious burns on her back and her right arm. Chie seemed unfazed by her condition, even venturing to joke about it. Yukiko knew that this was simply one of Chie façade's to cover up the true pain she was feeling but she was very thankful for it. If Chie was sad right know, she wasn't sure that she would be strong enough to support both of them emotionally.

"You OK?" Kanji asked Chie.

"I'm good! My arm's just a bit tense but that's about it." She flexed it a bit, biting back the searing pain that shot through her arm like a hundred bee sings. She thorough a couple of punches to show her overall good condition. However, Kanji had saw through her rouse. She was in pain, just like he was. The burns on his legs stung like a bitch but he felt that it would help team morale if he downplayed it. They had to keep their heads on their shoulders if they were gonna make it out of Inaba alive.

The group, after looking back once more at the flames engulf the last remnants of the gas station, continued their journey. Kanji had noticed that they were near the river plain and that they could follow the bus route to get into the shopping districts. Once they had arrived, they were shocked by what they had seen-the streets resembled hell itself. By the level of destruction that had taken place, it looked as if it had all started here-rivulets of blood had gathered in pools as the dead swam in them. Fires roared in many directions as well, heating up the pungent odors of the fallen to unbearable proportions. Dilapidated buildings, once well kept, lined the streets, as their innards, consisting of various merchandise and equipment, lie scattered in the open. The emergency sirens cry echoed eerily in the distance as the crew made their way into Daidara's shop to look for equipment only to find the old man himself reduced to a charred corpse. The odor emanating from his remains was repulsive, causing Yosuke to throw-up into one of the corners. Beside the old man, nothing of value or defense remained in the store; it had been picked clean save for a few iron bits and some strange rubbery objects.

It was particularly hard for Yukiko to wander with her friends in the corpse-ridden streets. It was the juxtaposition between the fond memories she had and the harsh reality that stared her in the face. It was all so happy and so innocent and within the blink of an eye, it was warped, disfigured, into the very visage of the apocalypse. She walked timidly at the back of the group to attempt to hide her tears.

Yosuke decided that the teens should investigate the Marukyu Tofu Shop for any signs of Rise's grandmother. He noticed that the group was a bit hesitant to start the search. He could see the doubt in their eyes with the idea of the hunt. No one wanted to say it but, the chances of her death were high. Besides the occasional zombie, grandma was nowhere to be found in the tiny shop. However, if they had known of the entrance to the basement, which was well-hidden in the storage room, they would have encountered her, sleeping soundly in her shelter.

They continued down the street and noticed Tatsumi Textiles in a state of despair. They stopped in front of the store, unsure whether to check inside or not, however, Kanji didn't seem to care.

"Could we keep this party movin'? We ain't got time to be standin' around like this!" he added angrily.

"Dude!" Chie cried, "Your mom might be in there! You-"

"Shut the hell up alright! Damn!" he roared. Chie promptly ended the conversation. The crew was in disbelief as Kanji made his way to the front of the pack, egging them to follow. To him, he knew that his mom was already gone; he had not been there for her just as he hadn't been for his father. The idea of being away from her in her final moments, not being able to protect her from the zombies tearing away at her time-worn flesh and maybe even having to kill her if she had become one of them was more than he could take. He felt the guilt creep up in his mind. It replayed the final moments of his father and the imagined ones of her. It told him that he was a deserter, that he had been responsible for their deaths. He wished desperately that Souji was around; he was the only one who knew of his pain and the only one who could give him solace. Until then, he would have to take part in this melodramatic tale that played in his mind and try to forcefully rewrite the script.

The teens continued their morose march to the department store. Once they reached it, they too realized that the mountains of cars, the myriads of zombies and the fires that made the place impenetrable.

"Hey, you don't think that they could have possibly got in there do you?" Yukiko asked as they sat behind another downed vehicle. Although Souji was a strong and courageous guy, there was no way that he could get inside, especially with Rise with him, she thought to herself.

"Hmm," Yosuke thought, "I don't think-"

"Guys!" Kanji said with urgency, "What about Ted? We need to get in there and help him!"

The group sat in silence as they considered the prospect of saving Teddie. They knew that his chances of survival were pretty slim.

"You don't think he might have jumped in the TV do you?" Chie said.

"Well that seems pretty likely," Yosuke agreed.

"I don't think Ted's a coward like that! He's probably looking for us!" Kanji yelled.

"I don't think that fighting is Teddie's style; hell, he barely wants to fight when were in the TV world," Yosuke said. No one disagreed.

"I don't think that he would have escaped via TV though," Yukiko said, "I mean, if he were to do that, he wouldn't be able to get outside anywhere in this area because TV's are the first things to get broken in times like these and-." She paused and her eyes had begun to widen.

"Naoto," she whispered.

They exchanged looks of shock as they thought about him being trapped in the TV realm. Kanji looked panicked.

"We gotta save 'im!" Kanji said.

"Well, how are we supposed to do that? Rise and Teddie aren't here to tell us where he might be and Souji ain't even here to get us inside the TV world in the first place! Even if they were all here, there's no telling where in the hell we'll end up if we just used some random-ass TV! Come on man keep up!" Yosuke said. Kanji was lost for words.

"Are you sayin' we should just leave 'im there!" Kanji said.

"Dude! What do you expect us to do! We don't even know if everyone is safe and you wanna jump in some random TV and-"

"Damnit!" Kanji cried as he slammed his fist into the car. Chie shifted her feet uncomfortably on the concrete. "You know….maybe; we could after we find…you know Souji…"

Yousuke stared at her, dumbfounded that she would insist on this madness.

"Chie! Don't you get it? It would be suicide if we did that!"

Chie raised her hands defensively; "I know! I know! It just feels wrong leaving Naoto like that…" she mumbled. Yukiko looked around the area, confused as to whether she was hearing voices in the distance or not. It sounded like someone was calling her.

"To be honest, he had that shit coming." They teens looked at Yosuke with widened eyes.

"You heard it from him! He knew that if he was on TV that he would be the next victim but he did it anyway! Now he expects us to come in a rush to his rescue! The arrogant bastard!" Yosuke yelled.

"Hey! You need to shut that shit up!" Kanji spat back, closing in the distance between himself and Yosuke. Yosuke stood up defiantly, daring Kanji to question him.

"We need to save him regardless! Isn't that what this group is for? To use our powers to help people that we know can't be saved otherwise? Just leaving him there like that would make us no better than the bitch who brought him there! Besides, do we really know how the TV thing works? Who can say that goin' in some other TV will get us lost? We never even tried it!"Kanji spat.

"We don't have time to worry about him! He's right where he wants to be!" Yosuke shot back.

"You dirty bastard! How can you be so calm knowing that someone is gonna die without our help!"

" Dude! We all know the real reason why you wanna save him in the first place is cause you got a man crush on him and I'm not about to risk my life for that!" Yosuke yelled. Kanji punched Yousuke straight in the mouth and came in close as Yosuke staggered, his mouth dripping with blood. Yosuke dodged the next blow and landed a punch into Kanji stomach to no effect. Kanji grabbed Yosuke's shoulders and jammed his knee into his abdomen. Yosuke heaved in pain and crumpled over. Kanji was about to punch him again until Chie jumped in between them.

"You guys! Stop this!" she cried. Kanji took a few steps away from the two as Chie helped Yosuke off the ground. Chie turned to Kanji, berating him for what he did to Yosuke. He didn't acknowledge her comments as he stared into the distance; the zombies had taken notice of them.

"We need to get the hell out of here!" Kanji panicked.

"Do you guys here that sound?" Yukiko said, hoping that what she had heard earlier wasn't just in her head. Yosuke pointed to the flower shop and the two bodies beckoning in the distance. It was Rise and Souji. Chie grabbed Yosuke as Yukiko and Kanji ran towards the flower shop. They quickly made their way to the second floor and hastily made a barricade with the downed dressers and other household items. When they made it to the roof, they saw the zombies had arrived outside the flower shop. Souji grabbed a few of the bricks and threw them away from the shop to divert their attention to no effect; they had smelled the fresh blood coming from Yosuke. Their insatiable appetite for flesh had been stirred. He sat with the group. They were reunited once again but this was not time for celebration. Instead they sat in a dreadful silence. The sounds, the scratching and screeching from the monsters was all they heard. The group listened as they heard the creature pile into the shop, one after the other. Souji could almost sense the fear and despair in his friends as they sat. He felt his heart sink as he looked to sky; night was approaching.


End file.
