Dawn of the Dead 1. Prologue

A/N: The opening scene is here to get the nature of the story. Though I hope you do realize this isn't going to be a happy bunny fun-time story already. I do hope you enjoy. Comments and reviews appreciated.

-Cujo

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**RISEN:**_**Prologue**_**  
**

_The room was dark except for the illumination of the television screen where lines of static danced the night away. In another part of the house cries of pain and screams of hunger could be heard. A shadow moves across the floor and stops in front of the TV. From the silhouette of a little girl tears fall onto a blood soaked carpet._

_"Mommy!" She cried out, her distraught voice echoing through the halls of the house. Hurried footsteps race towards her with bloody screeches. The girl stands there and waits; she wants to be with her mommy again._

_Blood splatters against the TV screen; the sound of ripping and tearing mixes with the noisy static._

_It begins…_

As Lou put her rainbow socks on she made note of how quite the house was considering her family was home today. Normally she would hear the sounds of her brother playing Harvest Moon In the other room or at least her mom washing dishes. Taking her sweet time she threw on her rainbow sweatshirt and went to investigate the odd tranquility. Her footsteps echoed through the hallway as she made her way to the game room; her brother probably had the game on mute, after all the Magical Melody music got annoying after awhile. 

That room was empty, the controller to the Game Cube was lying on the floor and Harvest Moon was playing but the room was empty. He's probably outside with mom, she reassured herself. It helped a little but it would take a better explanation to fully win herself over. When she heard the crunching sound relief returned, her dad must be in the living room eating a bag of chips.

Extremely giddy she hopped into the living room to tackle her dad, instead she froze. From the pit of her stomach a scream arose; Lou backed up against the wall coving her mouth.

Distracted by the scream her mother stopped eating her husband; he lay on the floor violently convulsing with his stomach ripped open. Blood was everywhere, especially on her mom's mouth which was now open wide and screeching. Lou's mom lunged over the couch at her daughter, her eyes held the intent of feasting.

Using quick instinct from playing dodgeball in PE, Lou dove out of her mother's way. She tried not to think about what was happening as she scrambled to her feet and ran to her room, thinking would slow her down. Spinning around while grabbing the edge of the door she managed to shut it seconds before her mother slammed into it. With shaking hands she locked the door and backed away, her mothers primitive growls growing more intense with frustration.

Lou ran to her window and began to open it; from the door sounds of splintering wood could be heard. Once she finally got it open Lou jumped out without hesitation and ran.

At first things seemed better but then Lou saw the smoke in the sky and heard the screams in the air. Across the street an elderly woman ripped off a young boy's leg, about ten feet from that a man with bloody gushing out his neck chased a mother and her infant.

Back in her house Lou could hear the sound of her door giving way and her mother screeching. When she looked back she saw her father burst out the front door; his guts falling out of him as he ran towards her.

Wide eyed and screaming she took off down the street; dodging the elderly woman as she passed by. This distracted the man chasing the mother and he began to join Lou's father in the chase. The scene was like that of a cheetah chasing a gazelle, unless some miracle happened there would be no way the gazelle could outrun the cheetah.

"This way!" Someone hollered from Lou's left. Not checking who it was she ran to the voice hoping for safety; she got just that. The gunshots were defining as the bullets whizzed past Lou and nailed her chasers. She nearly knocked the person who had called for her over as she hugged them, the tears began to flow.

'Thank, oh thank you." She murmured to her savior.

"Come on we'll get you out of here." The man said as he led her to a black van bus. She willingly got in the back when he opened it; the man had on a green camouflaged army suit which meant he was an American troop. But what was he doing here in Canada? Did that really matter? Her father and mother had cased her half a block with the desire to eat her and the whole neighborhood seemed to have gone to hell overnight. Was it so out of place for the American's to be here, they were after all, in everyone's business. Whatever the reason that man had saved her so she was eternally grateful.

"Hey," Someone in the back of the van said, "I like your socks." Lou had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts she hadn't realized there was someone else with her.

"Thanks…" Lou said to the girl. She smiled and held out her hand.

"My names Erika, its nice to meet you." The girl said cheerfully. With a cautious mind Lou shook the girl's hand, why the heck was she so happy? The next words out of her mouth better not be "You are on a reality TV, see that hidden camera over there.". Yet at the same time she wanted her to say that so that she could know it was all fake. That her parents were still…normal, that her peaceful life at home wasn't over. But the girl did not say that, instead she mentioned something about a lonely lime.

"What's happening?" Lou asked, ignoring Erika's last statement.

"I'm not quite sure…these guys picked me up while I was walking home, told me that Canada is going under a quarantine and shoved me in this van."

"Quarantine? Does that have to do with why…why my mom ate my dad?"

"Sorry I can't help you there, all I know is their taking us to the United States."

"What?" Lou gasped; this was all just too much. Her head began to feel light and the van seemed to spin. Erika snapping at her was the last thing she saw as she passed out.


	2. The Toast

**Risen:** _**The Toast**_

"Okay now it's time for bed." Cujo said to the two children after he finished telling them Lou's story, neither of them moved.

"But we want to hear the rest!" They wined, Cujo sighed and scooped them up.

"I promise I'll tell you the rest of her story once we get to Sanctuary." He carried them down the hall towards their rooms. All the children loved Lou's story and Cujo had no clue why. Probably because it was a Cinderella story compared to everyone else's.

Sarah, the girl in charge of taking care of the Parade's orphans, had already gotten the kid's beds ready by the time they got there. Noah and Megan tiredly hopped into their beds, after tucking them in Sarah went to talk to Cujo.

"I see you told them Lou's story,"

'Yeah it's always the last story I tell before we reach Sanctuary." Cujo explained as him and Sarah left the children's room. Walking the rest of the hallway in silence Cujo took time to listen to the sounds of mothers singing their baby's to sleep. Tomorrow they would be doing that inside a warm home not some run down Inn.

All of them were survivors of the outbreak that nearly destroyed all of humanity. It was estimated that by now there were less than a five hundred thousand humans left on the planet; ten years ago it used to be over six billion. What did anyone expect though, certainly no nation's government had prepared for the outbreak. It wasn't exactly logical to do so anyway, anyone who would have presented a way to prevent the dead from taking over the world would surely have been shipped to the nearest mental asylum.

There were no governments left now, only monarchies and dictatorships. What was once thought of as a foolish way of ruling society was now the i In /i thing. Hell, Sanctuary was the closest thing to a normal government and still it was a stretch just to call it that. But it was better than having survivors take care of themselves, what would they do then?

Developed five years after the initial outbreak, Sanctuary was the name given to the only safe zone in the United States. A few government officials and high rolling celebrities were the ones to establish the place, of course from that you could probably assume it had a corrupted background and you would assume right. First only those with money could enter its safe zones but they eventually let the less fortunate people in. And with the lower class being let in they created the Hilton Contract, a piece of shit law passed by a rich heiress that forced all incoming people with less than one hundred thousand dollars to work as "servants" to the upper class.

For three years that contract was kept, by the end of its three years Cujo had made his way into the society as a rich oil tycoon's son, until finally the Havok contract was written and passed. This new contract freed all servants and fully opened the gates to sanctuary to anyone who was not deemed "infected". An influx of people should have come with the passing of this law but there was actually a decrease.

Two years passed before the rulers of Sanctuary created the Parades, not original but it was better than a super long acronym. Objectives for the Parades were: A) To collect survivors and bring them to Sanctuary, B) To neutralize any zombies they encounter during their journeys, and C) To protect Sanctuary. In total there were about thirteen Parades, all of which would spend different intervals of time out in the wastelands, any location outside of Sanctuary, completing objectives A and B while some stayed and defended Sanctuary.

Finally their time had come to return back to the safety of Sanctuary. Upon leaving the Green Cow Parade had ten members, they were returning now with one hundred and five. Cujo was proud of this because no other Parade had collected so many people, they would all surely get great recognition. Within each Parade there were a variety of positions that needed to be filled, all of which are chosen by the Lord of the Parade. Lord Jordan of the Green Cow Parade had chosen Cujo to be Master Scribe, a position of great honor. It meant that Cujo would be in charge of gathering everyone in the Parade's histories, memorizing them, and retelling them as stories.

'Aye Cujo!" Rhiannon called out as he walked into the bar; she was Parade Chef/Bartender. The bartender part was added by Lord Jordan who seemed to fancy the booze.

"Give me a shot to remember Rhiannon." Cujo said as he took a seat on one of the bar stools. Smiling she handed him a shot glass and filled it with her signature mix. "Cheers!" He said as he raised the glass and shot the mix down. The doors to the inn opened and a large group of people entered laughing. They were the rest of the Green Parade: Lady Kayla- Jordan's second in command, Lou – Parade Medic, Greg – Parade Sniper, Zui – Parade Translator, DH – Parade Arms Dealer, Syble – Parade Therapist and finally Lord Jordan himself.

Rhiannon brought them over a bottle of wine and some glasses. Sarah joined them at their table leaving Cujo at the bar alone. On the night before the return Cujo always felt like it was bad luck to celebrate which is why he spent those evenings alone.

"I can't wait to see Natalie and lil' Greg tomorrow, it's been so long since I've seen them." Greg said as he poured himself a glass of wine.

"When I get back I'm going to take a month off and visit a spa." Kayla said, now the whole table began to say what they were going to do.

"Find a man!" Zui said and the table cheered.

"Well I plan on getting a nice hooker." DH said with laughter. The wine bottle was getting very low.

"Me?" Rhiannon asked, "Well I think I might go to that spa with Kayla."

"Lou?" Jordan said as he looked over at the extremely quiet Lou. She seemed to jump out of her seat.

"Oh I'm sorry…I think I should get some sleep." She got up from the table without finishing her drink. The table went on as if nothing happened. Jordan rose up with his glass and proposed a toast.

"To a safe return back to our friends, families, and hookers!" Jordan said, everyone's glasses clinked together. They would sleep peacefully that night.


	3. Homecoming

A/N: Okay here is my update. Thank you for reading it this far. Positive and Negative reviews are welcome. -Cujo

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**Risen: _Homecoming_**

The cool ocean breeze blew against Greg as he sat atop one of the Parade busses stationed outside the Inn. It was the morning of the return to Sanctuary and Jordan was giving them the basic rules for entry: everyone must go through the viral examinations, all families stick together during the grouping, the rest he would save for the Sanctuary orientation.

None of the people could seem to keep their anxiousness hidden and why should they? They were about ten hours away from entering the one and only Sanctuary, heaven compared to where they were living before. An angel would be waiting for him too, his wife of three years Natalie. They had married while both were still under servitude because of the Hilton Contract which also stated that no servants were allowed marital union. Did he give a damn? Nope, he loved her and she loved him, that's all that mattered so no snobby heiress's law could prevent them from expressing their eternal love.

Thankfully the Havok Contract passed a year after their marriage so they could be open about it. That year came lil' Greg, a chip off the old block. Unfortunately he was only able to spend a year raising his son due to the Parades; he was drafted by Jordan because of his expert sharp-shooting skills.

Saying goodbye almost killed Greg; he wanted to be there to watch his son grow up. But the law stated that no one could refuse a Lord of a Parade's recruitment so he reluctantly left. Four months seemed like forever, it pained him to think about all the things that lil' Greg would be doing. By now he probably learned how to walk and talk, hell the most memorable moments in a parent's life were over with. At least he was still alive; Greg swore to himself that his son would not grow up fatherless.

As people began to file into the three busses, Greg loaded his Sniper Rifle and got comfortable. Being the only sniper on the Parade, it was his sole duty to make sure none of the infected got within fifty feet of the busses. This wouldn't be so hard since the area around Sanctuary was pretty much cleared of any threats. Still he'd rather be safe than sorry

Taking a clear scan of the area with his scope Greg decided it was clear and pulled out a picture of his son and wife.

"I'll be home soon." He said as he kissed the photo.

For quite some time it seemed that this would be a painfully easy return; at least until the reached Crossing. The highway was named Crossing because it lead straight to the gates of Sanctuary, so it was the point in which the travelers crossed over from the hellish wastelands into the heavenly Sanctuary. There were about twenty level two infecties standing in the middle of the road -- Level two meant that they showed signs of decomposition and an extreme decrease in speed. The busses could easily out run them or at least run them over but due to Sanctuary policy the busses could only be used for transporting not killing.

For Greg it was like a cheep shooting game at a carnival, the busses hadn't even been one hundred feet from them by the time Greg neutralized them all. As they drove by the bodies Greg said a prayer for passage into heaven, not for him but for the creatures he had just shot. They hadn't chosen the fate that had befallen them, so in his eyes they disserved something better, if there was anything better. He hoped that one day he would see that better place but his past wasn't the purest.

Finally the busses reached the front gate to Sanctuary; its fifty foot white walls gleamed in the sunlight. It made Greg think that whoever created the design for the city had taken it from some description of Heaven. Slowly the busses pulled to a stop and Jordan got out; on his face seemed to be a look of concern. Kayla hopped out of the second bus and ran up to him, they were whispering harshly to each other. What could they be arguing over?

Sighing, Kayla walked over to one of the podiums next to the gate and began to enter in a few codes. A few gasps of amazement could be heard from the busses as the giant gates began to open. Yes! Finally after four months he was home, Greg could barely hold the excitement of seeing his wife and kids inside.

When the gates opened fully the three busses started to move; Greg put his rifle down and smiled as the fresh Sanctuary air filled his lungs.

"Eww." He said realizing the air wasn't so fresh after all; there was something rotten about it. It was probably just his imagination though. In his head he could see the welcoming party; all of Sanctuary cheering about their return home and then Natalie and lil' Greg would rush over to the busses and he'd finally be able to hold them.

His fantasy was halted by the overwhelming silence that was around him. Gripping his rifle he examined the surroundings with just his eyes. Dark office buildings loomed over them on each side, empty sidewalks were littered with scraps of paper, and no one was waiting to greet them in the distance.

"Shit." He now understood why Kayla and Jordan had been arguing; there should have been a Parade at the front gate to greet them. As the buses drove deeper into the seemingly abandoned city Greg grew more and more nervous. None of it was right, the smell, the lack of people, and no welcoming party.

_No, this is Sanctuary, the dead can't get in._

Shaking, he looked through the scope and looked into the windows of the office buildings. They were empty, all of them.

_Wait._

Something moved in the corner of one of the windows, he positioned his finger on the trigger, ready to fire.

_It's just a person…this is Sanctuary after all, there are people here. _

Greg heard the sound of the busses coming to a stop and lowered his rifle; they were in front of Sanctuary's Viral Treatment Center. Like the office buildings that building also looked deserted. Raising his rifle back to the window he had seen movement in Greg started to say a few words to God..

_Please God let Natalie and Greg be all right, I've kept my faith in you through this whole ordeal so please just promise me that they are okay._

Through the scope Greg saw the back of a woman's head; she had her black hair up in a messy bun and appeared to be staring at her desk. As if sensing Greg's presence she turned around; his bullet shattered the glass and hit her pale forehead dead center. In sync with his Greg's gunshots the front bus began to honk its horn several times.

"Stop honking, Sanctuary has been breached!" Greg hollered into his walkie-talkie. Somewhere from deep in the city came lurid screams of infected people, it echoed and gained strength till Greg had to drop his weapon and cover his ears.

Beneath him, inside the bus, came more screaming that paled in comparison to the infected's cry. In the mix of dreadful sounds came shattering glass, the empty office buildings weren't so empty after all, infected people were jumping out of the windows and onto the street. Watching with grim amusement Greg saw heads splatter against the hard cement though some survived the fall and continued there way towards the busses.

A finely dressed woman was the closest crawler; the bones in her legs had splintered from impact. Forcing himself to ignore the screams he put a bullet in her brain and then focused on a construction worker with no arms. Beneath him the bus jerked backwards and the bullet grazed the man's ear. Regaining his balance Greg saw that the bus in front of him had tried to back up but crashed into the one he was on.

The walkie was going crazy now; Kayla was screaming, Jordan was barking orders and Cujo was trying to get them to listen to him.

"Damnit what the…"

"Get us out of…!"

"Greg! Gre…"

"Jordan I told…"

"Quiet the line, quite the line!" Greg yelled in hopes that eh could hear what Cujos was trying to say to him.

"Im the Lord…"

"What is…"

"Left!"

Immediately Greg turned his left and nearly dropped his gun, the entire four lane street was lined with infected, all of which were running at there fastest speed towards the busses. He dropped to his knees and stared at the oncoming horde, this was it, the end of the road. Greg was looking straight at Hells army.

The roof hatch popped open and Cujo lifted himself up, in his hand he held a sub machinegun.

"Greg!" He shouted, but Greg didn't move. "There is still a chance!" Cujo slid the machinegun across the busses roof where it stopped at the side of Greg's foot.

_Yes, there's still a chance that Natalie and Greg are alive._

Swiping up the machine gun Greg took aim and rained his own kind of hell upon their already dead bodies. But for each one he took down at least four more took its place, eventually the machinegun ran out of bullets.

_Click. Click._

The bus behind him had managed to back up and was reversing its way back towards the front gate. Thousands of infected were coming their way and the two remaining buses hadn't moved an inch. Cujo was arguing with Jordan over the walkie, Lord Jordan wasn't given the second bus permission to retreat.

"Are you mental?" Cujo sounded enraged, "Your going to get us all killed! Is that what you want?"

"Greg can handle the situation." Jordan said calmly, "at least until Sanctuary help arrives."

"Sanctuary is infected! There is no help, there all dead!" Anger rose up from deep inside Greg.

"Natalie and Greg are not dead!" He screamed and threw the walkie into the street.

_How dare he say that my family is dead, what does he know? Just because he is the master scribe doesn't mean he knows everything._

Beneath him the bus roared to life and began to back up, Greg paid no attention he just stared at their oncoming doom. Only three hundred meters separated them from the buses, it would all be over soon. While the bus made a u-turn Greg pulled the pistol out of his belt and got ready to jump off the bus.

_I must find Natalie. She had to have gotten lil' Greg to safety, she knew I'd be home soon to save them. _

There was a thud as a heavily bleeding, old woman in a pink bathrobe landed next to him, glass rained down on him shortly after. With one shriveled hand she grabbed his right leg and tried to sink her denchers into it. Brain matter splattered against the bus roof and Greg shook his leg free. He barely had time to look over his shoulder when the infected army rammed themselves into the side of the bus. Air was all he felt beneath him and for a second he could have sworn he was flying.

That second was shattered as his body broke through a glass window slammed against a desk, his head hitting the corner of it.

_Forgive me Natalie…_

Horrible screeching sound filled his ears and in a glimpse, before succumbing to unconsciousness, he saw the bus topple over and smash into the windows he had just come through.


End file.
