Chapter 2: Army of the Dead

Takashi PoV

Sora picked up his bo staff that was resting against the wall. He walked into the hallway and waved his hand forwards saying,

"Come on, we're leaving."

We shut the door and walked down the hall, the hallway splattered in blood and guts, the aroma of death lingered in my nose. It was unforgettable. The scent of rotting flesh made my head spin, my vision blurring. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and Rei gave me a look filled with concern,

"Are you okay? I gave her a soft, reassuring smile,

"I'm fine, thanks. I'll get used to it." She returned the smile as we made our way to the stairs. Before we could make it down to the third floor, we heard a squeal from the second floor. There's a chance that there are other survivors other than us! Everyone began to sprint down the steps as Sora, Gray, and Lucifer jumped the railing. "Those guys..." Saya looked up at me and raised a brow, "They're already so adjusted to it like it's second nature. I couldn't imagine what their lives were like before this."

"What do you mean by that?" Saya asked with a tone of annoyance,

"I mean it's kinda obvious... look at all of us. Some of us can barely make it by without the adrenaline rush. They're probably the kids of military parents or something. But in the end, that's to our benefit, right?" She scoffed and turned around, she clearly wanted to drop the topic. I looked outside the window as we made our way down. The same blue sky was turning red, the beautiful scenery now covered in plumes of smoke.

Life was never going to be the same.

/

Sora PoV

There was a squeal that came from two stories below us. Before anyone else, I began to full sprint and jump over the railing. I could hear two more people do the same, landing right behind. It must've been Gray and Lucifer. The last words I could hear before we got too far was Takashi,

"Those guys..." I grinned to myself as I saw the group of students surrounded by the undead. I stopped right in front of two before planting my feet onto the landing. I towered over the two as I placed my hands on both of their heads, slamming them onto the landing. I scoffed as I twirled my staff around my back, swinging it forwards to knock one off-balance. Gray followed up and planted his foot into its head, cracking its skull against the tiles. Lucifer shouted out,

"Gray, duck!" he ducked as Lucifer slid over his back, jabbing the last one against the railing before roundhousing it off the stairs. It soon fell silent as the rest of the group caught up. He swiped his hands across one another to scrape off the blood he had gotten on his hands. The students next to us could only stand in awe as their struggle seemed to be all the easier for us.

"Who are you guys?" One of the students asked, I put my hand on his shoulder giving a thumbs up,

"Just some transfer students!" I was given a dumbfounded face, he or the other students clearly didn't believe us. We made our way down to the first floor and stopped right before the lockers. There was a horde of undead blocking our path to the front doors. I took the first step onto the floor before Takashi grabbed my arm in a low voice,

"What are you doing?" I pushed his hand back,

"I'll be fine, Saya said that they only react to sound, so just so long as I'm quiet I'm okay. Plus, even if we stayed here and went through the school we'd get cornered, right?" I gave him a smile before continuing down the steps.

"Why?" I turned around, Saya taking a step down, "Why would you do it? To what, prove my theory correct? I could be wrong and you could die right now!"

"Aren't you the genius who can't be wrong?" I asked as she stopped going down the steps, "Don't worry, I'll be okay. Promise. I have those two with me, after all." I pointed up to Gray and Lucifer who nodded. "See?" I walked down the steps and into the middle of the room, my staff in my hand. Saya took another step before Saeko grabbed her and held her back,

"We can't interfere. It's his decision."

All around me stood the undead, nonsensically walking in random directions. One had walked right next to me, barely touching my sleeve. Her theory really was right, they can't see me. I looked down and spotted a shoe. I picked it up and hurled it across the room against a locker, causing the zombies to go in its direction. I signaled for the others that it was okay for us to move as Takashi and I opened the doors. Everyone began to run out as one of the students' metal tools tapped against the railing, making a loud echo across the courtyard. Takashi looked around as zombies from all over began to run over to the sound. He let out one word,

"RUN!" Everyone began to full sprint for the bus. Saya slammed her foot onto the ground,

"You just had to open your big mouth! We would've been fine if you never shouted anything!" A zombie almost grabbed hold of her before Saeko swung it into the air with her bokken. Rei spoke out as she swung the legs of one off the ground,

"It would've echoed and they would have heard it anyway! Just start swinging!" Gray, Lucifer, and I were in the front with Saeko, Shizuka was in the middle with Saya and Hirano with Rei and Takashi holding the back. I ducked under one's arms as Gray swung his bokken to launch it off its feet, Lucifer finished by stomping its head into the ground. I swung my staff to the side to swipe two off their legs, Saeko giving swift finishing blows to both. Gray and Saeko both smashed their bokken into the head of one, blood splattering all over their clothing. They nodded at one another before we were almost on the bus. The other group of students was lagging behind as one was cornered by a group. He tried to hold them off, but two bit into his arms as he got swarmed. One of the girls turned to run to him, but Saya grabbed her arm,

"It's not worth it! Once you've been bit it's over!" She shook her head and could only cry, running back for him. "But why? I told her it wasn't going to work..." Shizuka shook her head and began to talk,

"I understand it... if the world was to turn to this, I'd rather die with the person that I love," Saya returned with a 'tch' sound as the group made it to the bus. Takashi shouted at Shizuka,

"The keys!" She nodded and opened the bus, running up to the front seat,

"Oh dear, this isn't anything like my little car-" she was talking to herself as we all began to get on the bus. "Okay there's the gas... that's the clutch..." She became startled as I put my hand on the seat,

"Having a little trouble?" She gave a soft laugh and shook her head,

"Oh no, no I'm just making sure I get everything down so I don't mess up!" I replied with a thumbs-up as Gray, Lucifer, and I looked out the windows. Takashi and Saeko were clearing zombies from the front of the bus I made a whistling sound as I dropped the window down,

"You sure can swing, boy!" he looked up at me and shook his head with his palm on his forehead, "Watch your six!" a snap sound went off as Hirano shot one right in between the eyes. "Get on the bus before she leaves you!" I shouted out as Takashi and Saeko hopped on. Shizuka was about to hit the gas before Takashi shouted to stop,

"There's a group of people!" I looked down the courtyard and saw a small group running for the bus. It seemed to be a teacher with some students, "Who is that?" Saeko answered him,

"That's Mr. Shido from class 3A... " Rei noticed who it was and made a face of disgust,

"We shouldn't help him!" She said as Takashi turned around at her,

"What do you mean we shouldn't help?"

"I'm saying we should just leave him to die!" he brushed her aside as the students were approaching the bus. I seemed to be the only one to realize, but in the distance, I saw a student trip and grab the teacher by his ankle. He probably sprained or broke it from the impact. The teacher kicked the student in the face as the zombies swarmed the student. I now knew why Rei didn't like this man. He seemed like he was rotten to the core, sacrificing the weaker for his own gain. He jumped on the bus and locked eyes with me as he went to the back with his students. The doors shut and I turned to the front of the bus,

"Step on it!" Shizuka nodded and floored the gas pedal. She went to talk to herself before impact,

"They're not human anymore...I can do this, they're not alive anymore!" she screamed as she plowed through the crowd of undead and busted through the gates, I stood up and began to shout as we drove down the street,

"Whoooo! 10 outta 10!" I felt a slap on the back of my head, "Hey-"

"Oh shut up and sit down dimwit, you're noisy." Saya shook her hand before sitting down. I sighed and looked out the window, the trees passing by and I could see the city clearly. It's like the sunny blue sky I once saw was now filled with smoke as the orange sky began to settle.

/

The teacher showed up once more, leaning above Saeko,

"I take it you're their leader?" she raised her hand and shook her head,

"Nobody is. We just take care of one another and work together to survive." he scoffed as he licked across his lips.

"Now that won't do, we need a leader to stay organized. Someone who bears everything, with valor, with confidence," before he could continue Rei turned to Takashi,

"You'll regret this. I guarantee that you'll regret that you helped him."

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A/N: I lied, yeah I suck ass at making promises, I'm probably not gonna make myself any deadlines anymore. I decided to shorten chapters because I'm pretty sure 5,000-word chapters would get tiring than if I did 1500-2500.