Night of The Living Dead [Zombie Burst Mission]

*Present Time*

They turned the corner of the parking garage rather quickly as the ten survivors scurried away with very little thought of what was in front of them as their minds were filled with a fear that was indescribable. A fear of their own mortality. Behind them ran Katsuo, his body covered in blood from countless slain zombies that had veered to close to the survivors he was protecting, and looking rather exhausted. He was running on pure adrenaline at this point and without his awakening that was all he had going for him. That and his trusty sword, Morningstar, which was covered in the blood of the undead, and was clenched tightly in his left hand as he ran behind the survivors. "Go right, I will take care of them...", Katsuo shouted ahead to the civilians who had once numbered closer to twenty, but had dwindled down to ten. They followed his directions properly and as they turned another corner Katsuo turned to face what was following them and was looking to end their very existence. A small pack of undead which had broken away from a horde they had escaped earlier had followed them closely, but unlike the normal undead that were seen in movies, these zombies were quite athletic. Their speed had caught Katsuo by surprise when he had gotten to the gate earlier that evening.


*A Few Hours Ago*

Katsuo sat there watching the gate and all of the undead that were past it. He silently cursed his inabilities to simply just blast them away and make easy work of them, knowing that somewhere inside the gated square people were probably being eaten and murdered without a second thought. It was why this exact moment was no time to be hesitating. "Now or never.", Katsuo said as he ran at the gate as he focused his energy into extending morningstar. The variable lance obeyed, stretching out to a good length, just enough length for a running man to pole vault over the gate, and into the enclosed square with ease. He vaulted over the wall and landed in the confined space only to learn that these were not the typical run of the mill zombies from his favorite zombie movies he used to watch while growing up at night with his kid sister. No, these zombies were fast as hell. As soon as he had landed, he realized that the sound of his lance being used to vault him over the wall, namely the audible "clink" as metal hit concrete, had alerted the massive amount of zombies in the area. The zombies welcomed him by dashing at him, the audible sounds of bones cracking, and ligaments mashing as they did so. It was a break neck pace that Katsuo had been unprepared for, but none the less he readied himself for a tough fight.

The first few zombies that came were easy to pick off with swipes of his sword, all of them aimed at the throat to cut the head from the body. Without a head, the zombie's bodies would run past him, and crash into the gate before slumping over dead still. At least cutting their heads from their bodies was still an effective way of putting down the vile abominations, but as he soon realized cutting off their heads would become harder when they started to attack in packs. As soon as their numbers became to overwhelming, Katsuo began to back pedal, trying his best to outrun the horde which was gaining numbers too rapidly to be simply be thwarted with a few swings of Morningstar. But, no matter how fast Katsuo had become due to his training, the zombies had the upper hand. They had no restrictions in their body to tell them when they were pushing too hard like a human like Katsuo had, and they were abusing it almost maliciously as they closed distance with the white haired warrior to try and take a bite of him. One such zombie clutched his arm as he turned a corner heading toward what looked like a library and went to take a bite of him.

Katsuo without barely turning behind him turned morningstar in a position aiming at the creature head and willed it to extend. Where the zombies head used to be now stood a gory mess where Morningstar had cut through with little to no resistance. The blade quickly shrunk back to a manageable size as more zombies went to clutch at him, Katsuo had barely any time to react, and if not for Geppo would have been killed then and there. But, by using Geppo, Katsuo cleared a safe distance and continued to run, though with every use of the extend function on Morningstar he risked losing all of his stamina, and that wasn't a good thing. As Katsuo drew closer to the library he felt the presence of life within the library, there were survivors there, and Katsuo couldn't just leave them in there as they were going to be sitting ducks. The library provided little to no defense, as the whole front of it was glass, but none the less it was a place that could be a good hiding spot for a time. Katsuo would use Geppo again, this time traveling a far distance, and landing on the roof of the library. The undead horde began to look around smelling the air for some sign of their prey that had just vanished in front of their eyes. Katsuo, by the time this had occurred, had already pried open the door on top of the library to enter into the attic of the old, but recently remodeled city library. He stopped for a moment, putting his hand on the wall of the stairway which would lead down into the lobby to catch his breath.

He had never used Geppo before to travel far distances and was wearing himself thin in terms of energy. Also he was out of breath due to all of the running, which surprised even him, after all he was a track star back in school so the mere fact he was panting was a dead give away that he wasn't one hundred percent yet after his escape from the hospital and his arrival in this war zone. After gathering himself he made his way down into libraries' interior which had a good twenty afraid survivors all hunched over, some crying, and others holding make shift weapons to protect the weaker ones who did not have the ability to defend themselves. Their ages varied, but none the less it was clear that this group was very tight knit, probably a group of people from a nearby apartment complex which had seen each other a few times before during their time there. As Katsuo walked down the steps, triggering the high alert of the vast majority of them as his footsteps echoed through out the spacious building, they would turn to look at him as he staggered down the stairs. For a few seconds it was visible that they believed they had been found by a rescue party, but upon further inspection would learn that Katsuo was just another guy stuck in the hell that had appeared around them. They were surprised as to how Katsuo had gotten in as they had done a lot of checking to see if anyone was here, but none the less were more than ready anyone into the group who could defend themselves and the weaker members of the group.

They didn't ask many questions, not even looking for his name, and though they were frigid toward him in general, he could tell that it was only because they didn't know if they could trust him. Which was fine, but yet would hinder him from being able to give them advice if things got rough. He stood next to the people guarding the weaker and younger members of the group while surveying the group's composition. The majority of them were students and had no formal combat training, that much was evident, and it was clear that some of them would be going home to empty houses after this. He could deduce this because the majority of them were in a state of shock, unable to even look around themselves as they became aware that mom and dad were dead, and they would never be coming back. It was the same look he had worn for a month after the temple disaster and he could easily relate to that. He wanted to console them, but knew his best position would be among the guards defending them instead of trying to play psychiatrist to their future issues.

He got to know a few of the guard, the minority of the group, who had armed themselves with an array of bats, gardening equipment, and even a gun or two. One guard, named Boris was a war veteran who had recently moved to the city. He talked about how this reminded him of his time spent on tour and the horrors of not knowing who was going to make it out in the end. But, he assured me that the majority of the guards on duty here were willing to pay the ultimate sacrafice for the future generations that sat behind them. "They are the future after all!", Boris would say letting out a guffaw that almost made Katsuo smile. He liked Boris, hell Boris seemed to be liked by everyone in the library. It was too bad that Boris would not make it through the night as the glass in front of the hotel exploded into a violent display of crystallized rain. A car, a four door sedan to be exact, came crashing through the front of the library, on fire, and inside that car a woman screamed as blood splattered the remains of her windshield. It was then that the horde decided to enter their safe haven and it was then that Katsuo had decided to get as many out as he could with one other guard.

He tried to tell the other guards that it would be better to escape while they could through a back door, but the guards were prideful. They were former war heroes and veterans, they shouted at him, telling him that they could handle a handful of brainless beasts that had once been men. Katsuo had no time to argue as he dragged teens and children alike out into the street and made a break for the parking garage near the court house which had seen better days. Even as they ran they could hear the screams of the arrogant guards being slaughtered and Katsuo did his best to try and drown it out from his mind, but he knew better. He knew for the next few months the only thing he would remember were those screams as he tried to drift off to sleep. He looked back one last time as he saw a few zombies rush out of the backdoor that they had, they were chasing them like feral animals looking for food, and as Katsuo told the group to keep running as they entered the garage, he could only hope that these kids weren't as arrogant as the past generation which had wasted their lives fighting with foolish intentions.


*Present time*

Katsuo now knew just how fast and deadly these creatures could be. He had seen one flip a car as they had ran after them in the garage and knew that if he was going to make a stand now at least the kids would be safe. He took a defiant stance as they advanced rapidly and without hesitation ran forward with his sword slashing already. He willed it to extend and in a sickening display he aimed low, cutting through legs, and causing them to fall flat on their faces. Katsuo fell to one knee, he took rasping breaths as his ears picked up the sound of more undead on the way. He wondered if he could keep this up for much longer and as morningstar retracted once again it became painfully obvious that the eighteen year old would not have the stamina to keep up running if he continued to extend morningstar as he had been doing. However, that was the only way that Katsuo could kill mass amounts of them. He had barely any energy left and could barely keep running at this point, but he had to keep going. This was not about his life, but about the lives of the people he was trying to save and as he staggered back to his feet, holding morningstar tightly and watching the undead, now legless, crawling toward them with all of their might, he would turn, and keep running. He had to catch up to them because otherwise they would only have one person capable of defending them and that person didn't have the same skills as he did.

The only guard that had ran with him, had a gun, and not even a really amazing gun like an automatic weapon. No, this guy had a dinky pistol, and had ran with him and the kids not because of his want to help them, but because he was afraid. Katsuo couldn't blame him, but he knew that the guy would be barely any help in a situation like they were in, and as he rushed to see the group running ahead out into the darkness of night, Katsuo doubled his efforts to catch up. After all, the only way they were going to escape this mess was if they worked together to do so. There were no other options.

Word Count: 2,294

"Earlier."

Raiko was spending her time on the roof tops, jumping to one from another. surveying the land below.this way of traveling was safe yes but it also gave her a good view of things. she could see the undead former humans walking around cannibalizing the living in hords. at First Raiko was unsure what was going on, but now there was no doubt. Just like the horror films of old it was zombies out to eat the flesh of man. ... A test needed too be done." I am not a human so i wonder if they will even attack me. If they don't attack me this is a GREAT time too get my loot on. No cops, no one manning the stor's. Yup good time to get free stuff." Raiko would start swaying in the wind as thoughts of unguarded treasure danced in her head. the glimmer of gold and precious gems fulling her eyes.

taking the opportunity the girl rushed to a large nearby pawn shop. standing on the top of an adjacent building she could see much to her surprise, there was no undead around its immediate area, but the door was clearly smashed in. "Aaaa 'WTF'...the nerve of some people. there are innocent women and men out there getting beaten to death and to think they would be people breaking in to places and stealing at a time like this. O well best check if they missed any goody's."

With a quick burst of Sonido she would already be ing side the shop. looking around she could see a lot of things missing. whole shelves, glass cases that had ben picked clean, but they was all to one side. the other side looked untouched. " Greedy like brats... they took all the guns. this is why hard-working people can't have nice things. some no good punks come along and take all the fun toys." the red-haired girl was nodding her head for a moment as if she was listening to some one talk tho she was all alone. "I feel you my friend they can all burn in hell. party poopers are the lowest scum there is. ya know? But ha is not ALL bad look ." Raiko would point at the other side that still had all its stuff. all the jewelry was still here as if they only thing the previous people wanted were the weapons... for some odd reason Raiko could not think of at the moment. The girl grabbing a duffle bag off the shelves and proceed to shatter the cases filling it with all the valuables. her voice grew louder as she started singing." so shiny shiny I am going to win, so shiny shiny I got a GEM!~ WHAT no way... hahaha ya right. ill tell you what friend, buy me a chinchilla than and we will call it fair sound good?... Phhh YA BUT it's just kuz I can be one does not mean I have one."


she was making far too much noise and the undead could hear her ... if not the whole block. as Raiko turned to the door there was all ready a group of them running at her. the one in front being rotting and ripped to shreds. "O my did you just come from a grave yard? kuz youre like drop dead gorgeous..." turning to her side as if some one was there. " Ya i sorry bud, but just look at him. its true right?.... I KNOW god... Sorry guy my friend here is rushing me so i have too be going now. Maybe i can play with you and your friend later but right now i got ta go. Where is that pet shop again?"

the undead man running at her with others closing in as well. he would grab her and go to bite her on the shoulder. "HEY I SAID NOT NOW MIster." flinging her arm up with great force her hand would collide with his chest ripping him in half and sent flying back, knocking down one of the others. but five more still walking at her as one was getting back up. the now half man walking on his hands at her." you right this lot is too pushy. IF you all don't stop and let us go i'll have to cut you up. do you really want that?" they were now just feet away from her and she smile. "must be masochist but I am game.... yaya i'll make good on my word don't worry bud. will just take a sek k?" almost out of know where a scythe spring forth in her hand. walking forward she would spin the reaper weapon around her. chopping, slicing, dicing thru the living impaired people before her. making their blood and guts paint the walls on her way out.



"now"

Raiko was running down an alley way as a large squad of zombies are in hot pursuit of her. her outfit now having splashes of blood all over it. she would pass a small group of survivors her eyes light up. seeing the ones chasing them as well. there was now two groups of zombies, one on each end of the alley. " Ggggaaaa" she look at one of the still liveing humans, a young girl who looked no more than 17."hey your what i ben looking FOR! AWWW look max its a WOLE FAMELY OF chinchillas. the little one is sooo cute." she hug on to the terrified girl and start cuddling her. "hey look! Fosas are chasing them to0. O no MAX dont what if they try to eat my new pets ?" Raiko would stand still for a moment looking off in to space while holding the girl tightly. "ya ya i see i see. If I kill them it's not really a problem. you keep all the little guys together ok max?"

letting go of the girl Raiko would yell at the survivors. "OK little ones snuggle up to maxxy k? I'm going to get read of all these damn nasty things." she would point near the girl who was now so scared she was sitting on the ground crying... and hopefully that all would lessen and jet behind Raiko. As she stepped out she pointed her arms straight out from her side's, one aimed to each end of the alley as a cero was charged and fired in each direction. the beams of light blasting down their paths and exploding on impacting their targeted groups, and also destroying the building walls that made up the alley blocking them in.

" ... what to you mean this is my fault. it was your plan, ga dude take responsibility some times. ya i got it. " charging a bala in her hand she blew a hole in the back of the building in front of her. " now before we go any of you fuzzywuzzy wants a snack?" she pull out a small green tablet dispenser with MRT on the side and pop out some and offer the to the groupe. "come to think of it ,,, ill have one myself. feels like for evs since I've eaten anything." she pop one of the Meal Ready to Take tablets in her mouth and swallow it

Almost instantly after swallowing it her facial expression and general way she carried herself would change." I... " Raiko looked around to see what was going on as if she was lost. "Soo its was all not real than? no zombies, no Fosa's , no chinchillas?...I just killed a lot of people didnt I?" ... "wait!" she would peak in to the bag she was carrying. "Nice so it was not all an illusion... and who are you guys? she look at katsou and his small group of people. and how much of that was real? where is max? naa he had to be fake... after all bunnys are not 6 foot tall."