Disclaimer I do not own Inuyasha nor the Walking Dead.

Purifying the Dead

"Losing Willow"

5 Days Earlier

"Oh crap that one is missing half of its body!"

"Shit the ones on this side aren't any better!"

"Damn these cock-sucking walkers to hell!"

Kagome shook her head at Willow's foul language. This was their first sign of good luck in the past three days. 'Well I suppose to onlookers, hanging over a dozen flesh-eating undead with only a grappling rope for security and a blade is not good luck.'

A huge downpour of rain and felled tree in the road led to an hour of backtracking to a safer road. Then they'd lost the supply truck when they got a flat tire with no spare available halfway through their journey to the border of North Carolina heading into South Carolina. They had stuffed what they could in their two remaining vehicles, mostly weapons, food, and medicine and changed directions according to their needs. They needed a new vehicle, because nine people stretched between two vehicles with all of their gear was going to start to wear everyone thin.

Although it had only taken the goth teen twenty minutes into the ride to get irritated with their new spacing issue.

They had to abandon the highways as they were backed up and blocked off by unmanned vehicles. It would have been awesome to take one of the vehicles if it were not for the large volume of the undead there, a frightening amount even to her. What felt like thousands of souls screaming in agony, asking for release or something to ease their unending hunger, all directed towards her senses. It had her growing weary under the pressure of such unending agony and hunger. Greg and Willow thought she might be catching a cold to which she had to reassure them she was just tired.

They parked and slept miles away from the main highway that day, everyone similarly tired after what they'd witnessed back there.

They next days was looking to be as bleak when Willow had an epiphany when we passed by an overturned military vehicle.

An opportunity for better supplies and a possible vehicle.

Apparently her deceased uncle Dan, used to be a paranoid survivalist after he got out of the military and would always take her to various military surplus stores to stock up on supplies. The big log cabin was given to Willow and she would inherit it when she turned eighteen. She actually told everyone, she'd planned on running away to here before everything went to shit. They had to double back to her uncle's cabin in Dunn, but the two hours driving backwards were worth the trip. The cabin had proved to be a huge boon for them. Willow retrieved a key kept in a under a bunch of logs neatly stacked on the side of the house and led them to her uncle's cellar.

They had been prepared for the worse, but received the best news. The cellar was filled with neatly and carefully preserved crates, some containing military-grade weapons, ammunition, and MREs. There were a few other useful gadgets and equipment. They found an atv with small utility trailer, but opted not to take the atv since the noise of it would bring the undead their way. They hooked the utility trailer up to the mini-van and filled it with as much as they could, stuffing the rest in the car. However, the new supplies made it more cramped for everyone even with the utility trailer, which is why they were clearing a path towards an abandoned armored truck right next to the bank. Unfortunately there were about thirty or so undead in their way.

They decided to lure the undead into the alleyways on either side of the building, by scaling the roofs of the buildings using the grappling equipment from the surplus stores. Currently, Kagome and Willow were suspended half way down each alleyway to lure in the walkers, while Javier, Greg, Ivory, and Meaghanan killed the walkers who walked into the trap with rifles. Geraldine was watching Whitney and Harvey from the safety of a building a block away that they had cleared and secured earlier that day.

"Calm down Willow, were safe from their reach and this should be the last of them," placating the teen so she didn't panic.

Panicking could turn a safe situation into a dangerous one.

"I don't know how you can be so calm, uggh their so gross," she grumbled, but did not fidget about anymore.

Greg gave the all clear a few minutes later that they were all dead.

Willow was thankful to be hoisted back up onto the roof, while Kagome simple repelled down into the alleyway with her blade out even though she could sense there were no more of the undead around. Walking out of the alleyway towards the armored truck, she saw a dead security guard shot in the head. Checking the back doors, she realized that whoever shot the guard must have taken what was in back since it looked like it had been looted—not that she wanted the cash. Cash was useless to them now.

"How's it look," Greg asked, walking up to her.

"Dead guard, the back has been cleaned out of whatever was in there. Probably swarmed by a mob by the looks of it before they could make the drop, bad for them and good for us since we won't have to haul out useless cash," she went back around to the front of the vehicle, fished the keys out out of the dead guard's pocket.

Clambering into the truck, she cranked the engine biting her lip when it looked like it wasn't going to start. She cranked again before it purred to life.

"Oh thank Kami," she looked at the fuel meter and thanked the kamis again. "Hey Greg, we got a half of a tank left in her, but we still have four fuel cases left to make it to Georgia sooo...looks like we got a new vehicle!"

"I know I shouldn't jinx it, but I feel like everything is coming together for us Kagome," Greg looked ready to cry and coughed and turned away.

She giggled, "I know what you mean, it sort of worries me that we've been so lucky. But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth right now."

They loaded up most of their supplies into the back of the armored car, freeing up space in their other vehicles.

"I wanna ride in the ar'armerd truck," Harley proclaimed.

Meaghanan smiled, ruffling her son's hair. "Sure, kiddo," she glanced up at Kagome and the miko nodded.

"That's fine with me, my driving is a little crazy anyways."

"Ha you're not lying, you should've have seen her driving the shuttle bus," Willow said as she passed the last crate of stuff to Greg to be hoisted up into the back of the stuck.

She stuck her tongue out at the teen, "Hey it wasn't that bad of a ride, that was one of my better days."

Willow looked aghast, "If that was your better days of driving, I don't want to be in the car with you on your worst."

Everyone laughed as they made preparations to leave.

~oOo~

The sun beat down on the heads and backs on those parked on the side of a deserted road. It was so hot, a wave of heat could been seen by human eye. Sweating and cursing it all, a Gothic teen was at the tipping but under the unrelenting gaze of the fiery star above and slowly losing her patience.

"Fuck it's boiling hot," Willow grumbled finger combing her inky black tresses back into her messy bun. "Is it almost done," she asked looking at the sweaty back of her shorter male comrade.

Greg shot her an annoyed look over his shoulder, before going back to what he was doing muttering what sounded like 'kids' under his breath.

Her lips pursed together, before she exhaled.

"Sor~ry," she mumbled.

Kagome who'd been checking on Geraldine and Jay to make sure their gas tank was okay, patted the poor teen on the shoulder. "I'm sure he'll be done soon," she said reassuringly, even though she too cast a look in the psychologist's direction.

They'd been driving on the road for nearly six and half hours, when one of their tires went flat. Thankfully the Nissan had a spare that Greg is currently putting on the vehicle. Only the guys and Meaghanan had experience with changing a tire and Jay couldn't do it with his leg still recovering. Greg offered before Meaghanan could offer to change it, which he was regretting with the heat beating down on his back.

But his mother raised him to be a gentleman.

They managed to make it down to South Carolina an hour prior and had been on the side of the road for five minutes now while Greg changed the tire. Honestly, he was making good time considering the main highway had been a mess of packed cars and abandoned vehicles, she'd sensed walkers and suggested they had take this side road instead. They'd stopped at one of military surplus store Willow had circled on their map, with Kagome and Greg taking care of six walkers. Sadly that had been ransacked, but they managed to find some flashlights and batteries that would be useful. Unfortunately, wasting time checking out such places and trying to conserve on their limited gas, they had opted to use the a/c as little as possible running it for five minutes every hour and the South Carolina heat was getting to the poor teenage girl. To be so young and exposed to the living dead, then to lose her father in such an horrible event and have to continue on was a lot. And combined with this heat would wear anyone down. Their supplies would last for a while if rationed right, but they would need to find help soon, or somewhere that offered more protection—Perhaps a home base of sorts.

'If that is even possible.'

For her, the village of Edo, had been her home base. Where the Inu-tachi gathered, made plans, and bolstered up after big battles. If they were to survive in this world they needed certain things. They would need something like that to keep them sane, but continue forward by conquering this new world they were in to keep them sober to the truth. Too bad it seemed like every town or city they drove through or by in North Carolina had been overrun with walkers or did not offer true safety. Even Fort Bragg was not a good idea.

'I mean why is it called a fort, yet it has no walls surrounding it.'

Security check-in gates were made for keeping law-abiding humans in line, not the undead who did not fear humans laws nor being maimed.

They were going to find help, hopefully a cure. However, the feeling that this wasn't a temporary thing was still there. The living dead had been a more spiritual thing to her back in the feudal era, 'Urasue,' the ogre sorceress pulled three souls back to life which led to a rise of an undead clay army. 'Kikyo, Enju, and Kawaramaru.' So many feelings that she buried and mentally anguished over threatened to peak to the surface when she thought of them, but she held them down and instead offered Willow a cool bottle of Powerade.

Their little cooled full of ice from the last gas station they passed was melted, but it still kept the bottles cool.

'Don't think about it, remember who you protect now. Not those who are long gone.'

"Here," and Willow who'd closed her eyes to give them a break from the harsh rays of the sun opened them to a dripping bottle of Powerade in the Japanese woman's hand. Smiling like she was godsend, she happily accepted the refreshing liquid. She was really curious about the small Japanese woman, especially since she didn't know much about her outside of being a med student and her family structure. 'Kagome just seems so prepared for all of this, but everyone else is kind of amateurs in the scene. While Kagome thrives in this environment. She's strong and ready to face any threat.'

"Thanks, I really can't stand the heat," she grumbled taking a huge gulp.

Kagome giggled, "Maybe you shouldn't wear so much black then, it does attract heat after all."

Willow paused mid-swig, "Wha—seriously, and here I thought I was just a vampire awaiting my end," she said sarcastically, splaying her arm out greeting the sun in a dramatic death pose.

The miko shook her head lightly at Willow's theatrics, smiling at her youthfullness. She was an interesting teen for sure. Many of them had changed to lighter shirts that would help assuaged the feel of the South Carolina heat upon them, but not Willow. She kept to her all black attire.

"Well if you get tired of being so hot Miss Vampire there are some lighter clothes in the truck," she offered before going to check on the rest of the girls and see how the were fairing. Willow stuck her tongue of childishly, before casually sticking her headphones back in her ear 'Panic at the Disco' blaring in her eardrums, tuning out the heat and just jamming away her problems. Without her Ipod she was sure she would've gone insane by now.

The mini-van front and side door were open and Whitney's bare feet were swinging over the edge her shoes laying right next to her. Meanwhile Meaghanan and Harley were tinkering on some mechanical device by the armored truck. She could see Ivory away from the rest sitting in the grass—smoking another joint.

Kagome hadn't had a lot of time to talk to the woman. Although it was easy to tell with how much the woman smoked and the far away look of sadness she saw in her eyes from time to time, that she'd gone through some shit. As the voted-upon leader of her rag-tag group she decided to go check on her. Making sure they were well physically and mentally was important towards their survival after all and the decent thing to do.

'I wonder if it was at the camp...or before.'

Ivory was very quiet, she could be friendly if approached; but for the most part seemed to keep to herself. Whatever she'd seen or experienced, her eyes reminded her of herself when she come back from the past. Every city had been different, some more peaceful thanks to early evacuations, while others had experienced wide-spread looting and violence as the world went to shit. After the speech a few days ago, she'd been happy to have the woman's support.

"Um hey, Ivory," she called out drawing the woman's attention.

"Oh hey, what's up?"

Shaking her head, "Nothing, Greg should almost be finished. I just wanted to know how you were doing? I mean all of this is a lot to take in and I just want you to know I'm here for you, we all are." She hadn't really had a chance to get to know the African American woman, but she seemed really nice even though her aura cried in loneliness.

They sat there for a few minutes in silence, the smoke of the joint wafting around them before she exhaled softly before speaking.

Ivory smiled sadly, "I know...Truthfully I miss my fiance is all. Khadejah, she is—was this lively, free artist I met in college. We went through a lot of bullshit most of it due to our environment and immaturity, but we worked through it and everything seemed to be on the right track with us. I got a promotion at my job, she was supposed to be launching her second collection in an upstanding art gallery in Charlotte and we were supposed to live out our days happily. Maybe adopt or sperm donor, normal crap for a lesbian couple you know. I mean the world was finally giving us less shit for our secual orientaton and we could go about our lives in peach and pride. And then...well the world went to shit. And it got even shittier when I lost her. I know I need to continue to fight and do my best to survive it's just..."

"Hard right?" Kagome supplied understanding Ivory a little better.

Ivory nodded taking a slow pull of the joint, the smoke wafting towards her mouth to her nose. Kagome had seen her college roommate do it. She'd called it 'French Inhaling' something she found pretty cool to watch.

"I've lost many close ones, even the man I loved. Not here in this place, but a few years ago. This is not where I imagined myself being at my age and I'm still young, but I can't change it. This is my new life, you all are my new family. Sometimes, all I want to do is cry, curl up into a ball and give up, but that is just taking the easy way out and life was never meant to be easy, so I continue to endure. I remember those I loved and keep them in my heart and continue on for them and those who I still have. I know if he was still alive he would be mad if I gave up on life so easily, which is why I don't. I know he proud of the woman I've become" Kagome confided honestly.

Ivory nodded wiping away the tears that had been ready to fall.

"Thank you, I will do my best to make a new future for myself. This is my family now and I'm sure Khadejah would be mad if I were being a mope all day. It's funny you know I used to be the life of the party, everyone knew my name and I could always liven anyone's day. I don't want to lose my spirit, the one Khadejah adored and the me that I was happiest as."

Kagome smiled, placing her hand comfortingly on Ivory's should, "Then don't and always remember I'm here, that everyone is here if you need to talk. You know Greg is a psychologist and I'm sure he could help you out if you need more counseling"

She talked with Ivory for a few more minutes, both talking more about what they'd been up to before everything ended up a crap-sandwich when Greg announced the tire was ready and just like that they were back on the road again.

~oOo~

They'd managed to make it to a large wooded area, driving along the road that was eerily quiet with thick forest on either side of them. Not that it really raised her senses, since everywhere seemed to be more quiet these days. She was about to push out her aura to check if there were walkers nearby when suddenly the front tires went out and Greg braked as best he could. The truck and mini van squealed to a halt yards behind them, while their car stopped about an inch from hitting a tree close to the road.

Greg cursed, while Willow and Kagome scrambled for their seat belts. Kagome was out of the car first looking at the front tires, before retracing back to where they had popped. Geraldine and Javier were out of the truck and standing by a raised black line. She came closer and realized it was a portable tire spikes line like the ones cops and the military used to keep vehicles from advancing forward. A sense of foreboding filled her and Kagome trusted her instincts, spreading out her aura. She could feel auras about half a mile away in the forest on the left side of them.

She could sense whoever they were, were in no way friendly and this most likely was a trap and that was were heading their way.

"Shit we need to get out of here," she looked at Javier, "There are people coming," Geraldine looked ready to ask how she knew that, but she cut her off, "Just trust me, this tire spike strip was not placed here by accident it's a trap. And I highly doubt they are of the friendly variety. We need to go NOW!"

Javier swallowed nodding, turning to Geraldine.

"I believe her, we need to leave now, grab your packs from the car and hop in the van," Jay said already turning and hobbling back over to the van. Geraldine sensed the seriousness and followed, while Kagome told Willow and Greg to hurry and grab their packs and get in the van. Unfortunately there was enough room for Greg and her in the mini-van so Willow had to go ride in the armored truck with the rest of the gang, relaying what Kagome had briefly told them.

The reversed and headed back the way they came before Kagome noticed a side dirt road, where they would be sufficiently hidden. Pulling over there, Kagome got out of the truck motioning for them to be quiet, as she pulled out her binoculars and pistol, "I'll be back, stay here I'm going to go check it out." They couldn't argue the insanity of that as she was out of the truck before they had a chance to voice their thoughts. She relayed the same message to those in the truck. She walked back the way they came ducking behind a thick bush about fifteen feet from the accident. She didn't have to wait long nearly ten minutes after waiting she heard the sound of motors, three atvs with two men on each came out. They all wore similar outfits like that of a factory worker, but the sleeves had been ripped off of some showing bulging muscles and tattoos.

From her spot she could see two guys inspecting the car and cursed when one lifted a small black garment, looking closely she realized they were panties. It must have fallen out of Willow's pack when she was stuffing her long-sleeve shirt in there after finally giving in to the heat and changing. 'Dammit.'

"Well, well lookie here boys, looks like we got us a woman," the guy announced holding up the panties for his friend to see.

There were hoots and hollers, one of the guys had a lecherous look on his face and was leaning on a sledgehammer. He was big with a big potbelly, brown grayish beard and looked dirty, "She couldn't have made it very far, engine is still hot," fan out and let's find her and give her a 'safe' place to lay her head," he said rubbing over her crotch.

Her eyes narrowed, but an audible gasp from behind her alerted her and the men—it was Willow, who looked stricken at the men's insinuations. She must have followed after her.

"Dammit Willow, I told you all to stay in the truck," she whispered her eyes darting back to the men, inwardly cursing when they looked over where they were hiding. Grasping Willow's wrist she kept low, walking back with them. But hoots and hollers had her taking off faster practically dragging the teen behind her. The sound of an atvs engine starting in the direction of where the truck would be had her changing direction farther into the forest, praying that they could make a wide circle back around to their friends.

"I'mso sorry Kagome," Willow apologized tears prickling at her eyes, "I was worried and I-I..."

"It's fine Willow, but you should have listened to me. Those men will do unspeakable things to us if they catch us. I can lookout for myself, but it will be harder to protect myself and you. So you need to listen to me well and god okay if we both want to make it out unscathed, do you understand?"

Willow nodded, feeling guilty that she'd blown Kagome's cover and put them both in more danger.

But she couldn't stay in the safety of the mini-van when her friend was heading towards possible danger. She hadn't meant to make any noise, but seeing one of the guys holding her extra panties and the other man's vulgar comments she couldn't hold back her audible reaction. Now her misplaced concern had them both in danger. She prayed they could make it safely back to the rest of their group. It felt like forever since she last ran this fast even though she'd been running with Kagome with a few days ago, she hadn't felt nearly as in danger as she did now.

Her legs began to burn after fifteen minutes, the sound of the atvs in the distance only making her feel more scared.

'Why didn't I listen? I should have stayed put! Hasn't Kagome showed me that she's capable of looking after herself, all I'm doing is dragging her down. I'm just a fucking burden.'

So caught up with her thoughts she hadn't realized she was farther behind Kagome than before. Moving to catch up she felt her world's axis shift as she tripped over a root and her head slammed into the side of a log, momentarily rattling her brain. When she finally came to her senses, it was to the sound of racuous laughter and atvs turning off as their feet crunched on the forest floor.

She knew she should get up and be strong, but her body wouldn't listen instead all she could do was cry.

It felt like they were running forever before she finally slowed, no longer sensing the men nearby. Bracing her hands on her knees to catch her breath, ever thankful that she kept up her workouts after leaving the past. It seemed like she would have to be doing more running in the near future after they got back to their group.

She turned around to see if Willow was okay, only Willow wasn't there.

'Dammit, how did I lose her!'

Calming herself, she spread out her senses and felt a sense of dread.

Willow's aura placed her with the dangerous men and it was moving away fast in the opposite direction. Mental anguish threaten to take hold, for who knew the despicable things they would do to the poor girl. She had to shake such thoughts and focus if she wanted to save Willow. She spread out her aura to the find the rest of her group first, she would need more than a pistol if she wanted to save the girl. She could only pray to the kamis that they kept Willow safe until she could come for her.

'Don't worry Willow, I'm coming to save you!'

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