Yeah! Chapter 2!

Had a bit more difficulty with this one- had to rewrite the opening of it about three times before I settled on the one I went with, but, I managed it! I hope you guys enjoy it.

—

The chimes of the bell signalling the first lesson of the day rang through the now deserted halls and school yard. Students sat at their desks, some eager to start the semester, and strive to work hard and get a good education… Or, if you were Solly and Scout, snacking in secret behind a book and napping, respectively. An attractive bubble of snot blew out of Scout-chan's nose as she snored.

Spy-sensei, seeing that his students attentions seemed to be mixed, rectified this by dumping a large pile of text books on to his own desk. The resulting bang made Scout-chan snort loudly, sitting up in her seat, looking bewildered.

"NANI?!" Scout yelped, sitting upright and looking around, wildly. The class burst out laughing, including Soldier, who had peeked out behind her text book, chocolate around her mouth.

"Do try to pay attention, students." Spy said, giving Scout a pointed look; but there was a small, amused smirk working its way up his face. "Also, no eating in my classroom, s'il vous plait…"

Frowning, Solly wiped her mouth and put her snacks away in her bag.

"Excellent. Anyway, if you were all at assembly this morning, you should know my name by now. However…" The man turned to the blackboard, and began to write it on the board. "I am Spy-sensei, and I will be your home room teacher for this year. I am originally from France, which you also should have guessed by now- my accent probably gives that away, oui?"

Scout rested her chin in her hands, embarrassment from a moment ago gone. There were the butterflies, again! Every time Sensei spoke or gave that smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle, Scout-chan would feel that fluttering in her belly. She gave a gentle sigh, batting her eyelashes- from beside her, Solly watched this behaviour with a look of disgust.

"Alright, now that's out of the way, I will take attendance." Spy-sensei sat at his desk, pulling open a drawer and getting out a pen. With each name he read off, there would either be a reply of "here!" or a silence, indicating an absence. Down the list he went, alphabetically, exchanging smiles with those who had managed to make it there on time. A little way's down the list, Spy called out a name that made all eyes turn to the desk in question.

"Pyro-san?" The seat was empty. Spy-sensei frowned. "Absent on the first day…? Hmm…"

Scout leant over to Solly and whispered, as Spy continued. "Are they still in the hospital, Solly-chan?"

"That's what I heard." She replied, in a low voice. "Pyro's always been sickly, though, so it's no surprise. It's why they always wear that mask over their face…!"

Scout furrowed her eyebrows, somewhat concerned.

"Scout-chan?"

"Huh? Yeah?! You say my name, sensei?!" Scout snapped out of her train of thought, looking over at her teacher with sparkling eyes.

"Well, I am taking attendance…"

"Oh! Oh… yeah… H-here! " Scout let out a loud, nervous laugh, rubbing the back of her neck as her fellow students began snickering again. She looked at the surface of her desk, overwhelmed with the feeling of wanting to sink through the floor into the center of the earth…

"Sniper-chan?"

"Here…"

Solly gave her a poke. "Scout-chan, look, its that girl again…!"

Scout looked up to see that Spy-sensei was indeed addressing the black haired girl with the yellow tinted glasses that she'd seen in assembly this morning. Spy hummed, thoughtfully. "You're an exchange student from Australia, are you not?"

"That's right."

"So the rumours were true- what a long way to travel from…!"

All eyes were on her, and Sniper fidgeted in her seat, looking to be a little flustered with all the attention she was getting. "I… I suppose…" She fiddled with her hair, self-consciously looking down at the floor.

Scout gazed over at her, and, just like this morning, Sniper seemed to notice she was being watched and turned to look at her. Scout-chan winced, and then gave a nervous smile, beads of sweat running down her brow.

The exchange student turned back to the blackboard, and Scout let out a small sigh, relieved that she wasn't being scrutinized further…

After the register was done, and the first few lessons of the day had run their course, it was time for lunch. Students got rather sociable around this time, as Sniper soon found out…

"You're an exchange student from Australia, Sniper-chan?!"

"Ehh!? That's really cool! Is it true that there's nice beaches and stuff out there?!"

"And spiders the size of your head, right?!"

"Mm…" Sniper let out non-committal grunts in response to each of their questions- why did everyone in the class have to be so curious and friendly? They were grouped around her desk like moths to a flame, and it wasn't helping Sniper-chan feel welcomed; it just made her feel on the spot.

"'S-scuse me…" Sniper-chan got out of her seat, and made her way for the classroom door. "Gotta go take a pi— I mean… use the bathroom." She gave a small bow before skittering out as quickly as she could, heart in her throat.

The remaining students looked at one another, confusedly; what an odd girl…

She ran down the hall, passing Solly and Scout. Sniper was in such a rush, that she nearly tripped over her own feet. She fell, seemingly in slow motion, letting out a yelp…

If it wasn't for Solly-chan, she would have toppled to the floor.

"Haha! Careful there, Sheila!" Soldier said, chuckling as she loosened the grip on her collar.

"It's Sniper." She replied, in a deadpan, adjusting the glasses that had almost slipped off her face. She let out a sigh of relief, hand on her heart. That was close!

"Are you alright, there, Sniper-chan?" Scout leant over Solly's shoulder to investigate whether she'd been hurt in the process.

"I'm fine. Uh… thanks, mate… for, y'know, stoppin' me from fallin'…"

"Don't mention it!" Solly said, cheerily, patting the Aussie on the back (and almost causing what she'd just prevented from happening again).

"'Ey, enough'a the rough stuff, a'ight?" Scout pushed past Solly, and gave Sniper a sympathetic smile. "Eheheh… Sorry about 'er, she don't know her own strength, really." She nudged Solly with an elbow, the latter letting out a pained grunt and glaring at her friend through her dark bangs.

"It's fine…" Sniper straightened her hair, and glanced around the general area, frowning. "Uh… say, do either of you gals know where the bathrooms in this place are?"

"Oh, ya lost?" Scout chuckled. "Follow me- I can take ya there. It's just down the stairs, 'ere."

The trio walked on, Scout leading the way. Sniper took in the surroundings, attempting to memorize where everything was so that she wouldn't get lost again- she was pretty observant, so it wouldn't serve as too much of a problem in the future, hopefully.

Meanwhile, Solly rifled through her bag, and managed to procure some store bought sandwiches. "Hell yeah! I forgot I bought these!" She snapped opening the packaging, and took a bite.

"…Solly-chan, how long have those been in there?" Scout asked her, warily. "Didn't we buy sandwiches from the convenience store last month?"

"…What's your point?"

"UGH! Solly, you're freakin' gross!"

"I suppose… waste not, want not, right?" Sniper couldn't help but smirk a little bit at the two's back and forth arguing, finding it somewhat amusing.

Soldier grinned. "I like you! We're on the same page!" Solly reached and put an arm around the exchange student (who winced when she did so), spraying crumbs out of her mouth as she spoke. "In honour of this new friendship, here!" She took out the other half of the sandwich and handed it to her. "A gift from me to you, Aussie-chan!"

"…Ya don't have to eat that…" Scout said, black lines forming down the middle of her face as she gazed at the disgusting pair of girls.

Sniper-chan stared at it.

"No, seriously, ya don't have to, Sni— AW, JEEZ!" Soldier's chuckling was drowned out by Scout-chan's resulting screams as Sniper ate the sandwich in a few bites, barely reacting at all. "Y'know what, eat ya maggoty sandwich, I ain't gonna stop ya! Just don't come cryin' to me when they lay egg sacks in your stomach, or some shit!"

–

"Is it just me, or is she taking a weirdly long time in there?" Scout mumbled to Soldier, standing outside of the girl's bathroom and waiting for their new friend.

"Ha, ha! Maybe she couldn't handle that sandwich- month old mayo is gonna do that to a rookie!"

Scout stomped her foot. "It ain't some endurance test, Solly!"

Solly's tone was smug as she bit into the end of an entire baguette. "You just say that coz you're a rookie!"

Scout-chan rolled her eyes, about to reprimand her more, but Sniper exited the bathroom, dusting herself off. "Thanks for waitin'."

"No problem— Uh, everything… okay?" Scout-chan offered, frowning a little bit.

"… Drank a lot of coffee this morning."

"Makes sense." No it doesn't, Scout thought, she was in there for nearly ten minutes...

Solly cleared her throat."Anyways, not that talking about this isn't riveting, but I need to make my way to the cafeteria before all the juniors steal the best grub!"

"Haven't you had enough already?!" Scout demanded, a red vein popping on her temple.

"…Look me in the eyes and ask me that again."

Scout motioned towards her hair. "The hell am I meant to do that, exactly?"

"I am actually kind of hungry…" Sniper cut in. "Which way to the cafeteria?"

"Now let ME lead the way- THIS is my area of expertise!" Soldier grabbed both of their wrists, lifting one leg up in the air.

"Solly? Solly! NO!"

WHOOSH!

She sped down the hallway like a bullet, ignoring the resounding screams of students who nearly got trampled, papers and skirts going up in the wind current that was left behind her path. Darting around corners, crashing into students and faculty, and jumping down entire flights of stairs, Soldier was on a mission. The cafeteria was her goal, and nothing would stand in her way!

"YE BLOODY HEATHEN!" Demo-sensei yelled, as she knocked an entire stack of books out of his hands.

"SOLLY! SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!"

"Can't do that, Scout-chan!" Soldier yelled, over the sound of rushing wind. "Won't stop until I reach my destination!"

"Bloody hell, this girl is superhuman!" Sniper cried out, having to keep her free hand on her glasses to stop them blowing off, her thick pigtails whipping across her face.

In a matter of moments, the three girls came to a halt suddenly, right outside the cafeteria doors.

Solly-chan put the other two down, and groaned. "Oh man, look at the line…!"

The other two shakily leant against a nearby wall, attempting to shake the sensation of suddenly getting off a rollercoaster.

"Well, she must do bloody well in track and field…" Sniper mumbled, trying to make a joke out of the situation, despite the fact that her eyes were in the shape of spirals.

Scout scoffed. "Yeah, she would, if there was food waitin' at the finish line!"

"Will you two Nancies quit gossiping?" Soldier yelled to them, already standing in the queue. "I need you two to assure me that you'll help carry it all to my table!"

"Help— how much is she planning to—?!"

"Don't even ask." Scout lifted up a finger to Sniper, rubbing her face with the other hand "I mean, to be fair, she does share; free lunch when you forget to bring one is never a bad thing, right? Heh…"

After waiting for the queue to disperse, and for Solly-chan to FINALLY get the last tray of food for the afternoon to her table, they sat in the lunch hall, in an awkward silence as their hungry friend began to stuff her face. She slurped soup and noodles, crammed in plates of curried rice, gulped down bottles of milk, and cans of juice… Finally, after biting into a melon-pan, Solly broke the silence. "C'mon, a growing girl needs to eat!"

"I said nothin'…" Scout-chan muttered, raising an eyebrow.

Solly-chan blushed, puffing up her cheeks. "I-it's on your mind, though…"

Sniper, meanwhile, reached into her bag and brought out a bento box. She opened the lid, looking down at the contents, then closed it, flushing pink "… Oh, no, mum…"

"Eh?" Scout leant over to see what the fuss was all about, plucking the lid off without invitation. "Aaa! Kawaii! Your rice is in a shape of an owl!"

"I knew she'd go and do this…" Sniper hid her eyes behind her hand, sighing. "She's so embarrassin'…"

"I'll eat it, if you don't want it." Soldier said, sounding irritable.

"Think you got enough there as it is, mate. No offence." She and Scout shared a laugh, and Solly folded her arms, sticking her lower lip out in a childish pout.

"You like owls, Sniper-chan?"

She nodded. "Yeah- got me own pet owl. His name is Sir Hootsalot- I actually love animals…" More than people, in fact, she thought, sourly.

"That's a very Un-Australian lunch you got there, camper."

"Well, mum said she thought it'd be best if I had a lunch that'd look like everyone else's…" Holding a pair of chopsticks, Sniper-chan attempted to pick up a clump of rice, only for the utensils to slip from her grip. She pursed her lips, and tried again— and again… and again…. "Bloody, pissin', goddamn—" Sniper gave up and sighed, heavily, setting them down with a small snap. "How do you lot eat with these things?!"

Scout snickered. "It ain't too hard." Scout took the chopsticks, reaching in and picking up a small piece of fish from the bento box. She popped it in her mouth, smirking. "See?"

"Alright, get yer own food!" Sniper snatched them back as Scout continued to laugh. "Or I'll stick these things right up your—"

"Scout-san?"

The three girls looked up; a fellow student, obviously younger than the trio at the table, stood nervously looking down at Scout, wringing her hands.

"Oh, hey." Scout rose up from her seat. "What can I do for ya?"

"E-eto…" She blushed, and looked down at the ground. "See, the thing is… I wanted to talk to you about something. Uh… w-well, you were in the baseball club last year, right?"

"Yeah?"

"You see… " The girl let out a breath, clenching her fists and looking determined. "You see, I'm a member of the tennis club, and I was wondering— well, i-if you're maybe interested in—?"

"MATTE!" Another student suddenly bustled over, getting right in the other girl's face. "What are you up to?! I thought we AGREED that you wouldn't try and coerce Scout-san into joining the tennis-club!"

"I-I wasn't!" She bit back, a lot more bold than she had been when speaking with Scout a moment ago. "What are YOU doing here, though?"

"M-me?" The noisier girl jumped away in alarm, looking from her, to Scout. "W-well… I was just…"

"Uh, girls…?"

"She wouldn't want to join the BASKETBALL club! Get real!"

"Girls…!" Scout tried to talk over their arguing, but to no avail.

Sniper turned to look as Solly-chan, a little puzzled.

"This always happens." She explained. "Scout-chan's one of the best at sports, especially baseball, and running, so all the representatives of the clubs around the school request her every year…" She giggled and then said "How's it feel bein' popular, Scout-chaaan?"

"Well, she handles it better than I do…" Sniper muttered. taking to stabbing her food with the utensils rather than using them properly.

All that Scout gave Solly was a glare, before turning to the girls and holding up her hands. "Uh… hey, listen, that's very kind'a you…" Scout began. "But, thing is, I'm not really looking to join any other—"

"Scout-chan! You wanna join the lacrosse club?!" Called a student from a small distance away.

"HEY!" The other two yelped. "DON'T! SHE'S OURS!"

Scout looked to the others for some form of help.

"Mm… fiiine…" It was Solly who came to her rescue, in the end. She held up a small sachet, poured the contents in to her hand, stood up, and whistled to get the club members' attention.

All three of them turned to her, and, when they did, she blew the powder into their faces.

"BOOK IT!" Solly cried, as the three junior-high students screeched.

And so they did, immediately, except Sniper-chan. Watching them leave with a look of bewilderment, she shrugged, about to reach in and take another bite of her lunch, before Solly ran back, and grabbed her by the back of the collar. "HEY!"

They ran, and ran, and once they were outside, Scout turned to Soldier and gave her a pat on the back, grinning. "Nice job! What even was that stuff, Solly?"

"Ramen seasoning." Solly-chan said, grinning proudly. "Told you it was my area of expertise!"

"Let go'a me, y'ruddy lunatic!" Sniper shouted angrily, regretting her decision as Soldier simply dropped her to the floor, carelessly. "Ow… Haven't even been 'ere a day, and everything's gone bloody crazy!"

"Yeah, well, that's pretty much a normal day here as Suijin High!" Scout-chan said, letting out a laugh, which Soldier joined in on, Sniper refusing to comply.

"Well, at least things can't get much weirder…"

–

"See you, later!"

Scout waved off Sniper and Soldier, walking off down the path that lead back home. Off she went, retracing the steps she took this morning at a more leisurely pace, this time, noting, that she never really got to take in how pretty the town of Suijin really was during the morning.

She stretched, letting out a grunt of exertion as she relived the events of the day, fondly. Really, she couldn't complain; although lessons were a bore, Scout-chan lived a pretty easy life. Well, except when she had to worry about the stresses of getting work done, or exams… But that's what cramming was for, right?

Scout-chan rifled through her bag, lifting out an Ipod and a pair of earbuds. She put them in, flicking to her song of choice, and hummed along as she kept on going.

It wasn't long before she came towards a gap in between two buildings, noting that this was the long forgotten entrance to a shortcut home that she discovered once whilst travelling home. She grinned to herself, turning around to slip through the gap. It lead to some bushes and a large cluster of blossom trees, and, if you kept going further, you would soon reach the remains of the old cemetery that wasn't being used anymore.

Careful not to disrespect the dead by trampling over where they now lay to rest, Scout made her way down a grassy hill, hands in her pockets. Although this place was creepy, the music she had on was helping her nerves… although, one thing did seem a little odd… it seemed the sky had started to grow dark a little earlier than was normal for this time of year…

She stopped, and looked up, frowning. Scout-chan gave a shiver, feeling a sudden chill resonate throughout the place. Was it just her imagination?

Then… she felt something touch her shoulder. She screeched, turning around to find—!

… Nothing but a low hanging branch, that had brushed her shoulder. Scout-chan let out a chuckle… scared by a branch? Solly would have made fun of her for days if she'd been here! She let out a sigh of relief…

Scout-chan turned back around…

And found herself face to face with a rotting, pallid, putrid thing, with waxy skin, a gaunt face, moaning and letting out rattling breaths as it approached her with a shaky stagger.

Scout gasped, leaping back, her heart hammering in her chest. The ipod fell from bag and into the mud, but she paid it no mind. Panic gripped at her heart as she took in the sight she saw before her, backing away and whimpering. She kept going until she made contact with something- she turned, and saw yet another one of those beasts, blood and drool and mucus dripping out of its mouth and what remained of its eyes and nostrils.

She had to duck to avoid the monster making a grab for her. In the scuffle, she hit the floor, rolled, and then shakily got up to her feet, only to find that there wasn't just one, not two…

There was a whole army of them.

An army of the undead.

And only one thought crossed Scout's mind at that point- run.

Scout-chan turned on her heel, heart beating wildly as she looked for any means of escape- they weren't swift on their feet like she was, but they outnumbered her, and it would probably take only one or two mistakes on her part to assure her death at the hands of these creatures. Hopefully, they weren't smart- hopefully, every zombie movie she'd ever watched would serve to aide her in this moment.

But right now, Scout was far too focused on getting the fuck out of here to think back to any movies! She had to lurch away as one particularly sneaky zombie nearly took a bite out of her neck.

"Jeez, these things are SO much scarier in real life!" She screeched, scrambling up the hill she'd come from. Just as she was about to make her way out of the cemetery, to safety, to salvation, that's when she heard it.

"Help me!"

Scout-chan froze, turning around.

"Help me! Please!"

Someone else was here? Someone else was trapped in this place?! Where? She hadn't seen anyone else here when she'd walked through!

She hesitated, her breathing heavy, weighing her options; she could very easily die if she went back there, but, all the same…

"HELP!"

Scout-chan clenched her fists, and took a deep breath. She crouched, and then raced off, back the way she had come. Scout-chan followed the sounds of the shouting, noticing that the zombies seemed to be paying more attention to the loud outbursts from the voice than Scout-chan, herself.

Scout came to a grave- here, this is where she'd heard it! But… still, she couldn't see anyone there!

"Help me…"

Peering over the tombstone, Scout glanced down at the ground, and saw what had been making all that noise!

"Scout-chan…" A red squirrel was sat in the mud, curled up on the ground, clearly injured. It raised its head, small beady eyes gazing up at her, in desperation."P-please… help…"