The blonde's fingers moved swiftly across the touchpad of Lea's phone, sending the text message to three people; Sora, Roxas, and Demyx.

'meet at rooftop. things are haywire right now, so be extremely careful. bring something with you to attack them, dont let them touch you'

He bit and tore at the sore, bloodied patch on his lip as he watched the message send. He sniffed strongly and wiped the greasiness away from his brow and hairline, having moved his hair away from his forehead earlier. He was worried, dread-filled, and just wanted to see his brothers and parents. He wanted to be in his boring History class again and get yelled at by Ms. Natalie for fooling about with Lea, Michel, and Yuffie. He looked at the newly-formed team, surveying the numbers. He counted slowly, muttering a small, "Nine."

The fiery-haired youngster looked to the back of him and stared at his friend for some time. "Nine? Nine what?" Ven frowned and started to walk towards the group, trying to block out the insistent pounding and snapping noises that came from outside.

"There are nine of us total, soon to be thirteen."

"It's too many people." Xion said, linking an arm with a shaken Yuffie. She looked around the circling teens, then back at the blonde. "Right? There's gonna be way too many people."

Axel frowned. "We'll be picked off easily if we head out in such a big group…" His voice broke at the end as he looked to his friends. Lea growled out and hit his chest, "So, what? Are we just gonna separate like a bunch of dumb-fucks?" He snorted rudely and pointed at the door, "Yeah, let's all just split the fuck up and have those frickin' monsters tear us apart."

"Lea," Ven snapped with a slight glare, "calm down. We'll all go to the rooftop and make a solid plan there, when everyone's around to decide what we do. We need the whole gang together to make the grand plan. Right now, all we need to do is stick together and run like Hell's after us."

Terra smiled tiredly and patted his smaller friend's shoulder. "Good thinking, Ven. Let's get some weapons, Ax." Axel and Terra barged into the P.E. teacher's office. The tall red-head was about to take a big step but stopped and quickly backed into the brunet. Their eyes wandered slowly to the open office door in the back, five crawling creatures staring blindly around the room. He stepped back slowly, a hand coming up to meet with Terra's chest as he pushed him towards the locker room's door.

"Get back, Terra." His voice sounded scraggily in such a low, hushed note, though held carefulness as a million-and-two thoughts ran throughout his mind. The half-glass door of the teacher's office would easily break if the undead figured out how to break through, and the locker room's big blue door was just about to burst…

How were they going to escape from this mess? Axel shoved Terra into the circled group of teens who watched the blue barrier with fright.

The day was now clouded with the stench of metallic, fresh flesh. Small rays of light that leaked out of the heavy gray clouds seemed to burn holes into the skin of humans and animals alike. Chaos had spread so quickly throughout the town- throughout the country, nation, everywhere- that no one alive knew how to conquer the undead epidemic. The monsters roaming the darkest corners of their homes were ultimately more powerful than themselves, than most any human, and no one was brave enough to stand up to them…

A wandering soul stepped out of his house, covered in a musky scent and soiled in sour, browning blood. His face showed shock, horror, and disbelief. His dull blue eyes searched his neighborhood for that one person, the one he strained to believe was still alive. A couple steps more into his lawn, a couple glances behind himself, and he already felt lost.

"Zack?" He croaked out, hands falling to his side as he looked at the body in front of him. Red matted chocolate brown hair and clothes, the body being face-down in freshly cut grass. The man's hand came slowly down to the others' shoulder as he crouched, shoving lightly, his eyes milking every feature of a newly paled face. His breath left heavy lungs as he saw his loved one spread out on the ground. "Z-Zack?" The man tried, hand pressing to his boyfriend's neck. He waited. The blonde pleaded for a pulse, waited for that one sign of life. After a good thirty seconds his hand fell away.

His heart clenched painfully and he bowed his head. He'd felt nothing... Nothing but his own heart ripping apart in his chest.

Cars were piled up in rows of disarray. Some were smashed into each other, though the ones that were intact still held both dead and alive inhabitants. Vanitas and Naminé passed the ones still alive, ignoring their pleas and calls for help and the occasional, "I'm stuck!" stories. At first, the blonde-haired girl was worried for the random folk as they passed them by, always willing herself to ask why they didn't simply help them.

She swallowed thickly and grabbed at the hem of his shirt and pulled a bit, stopping in her tracks. The fabric stretched out as he kept moving, ignoring her.

"Vanitas?" She questioned, the hem flying back into shape when she let go. "Why aren't we helping them?" Naminé fixed the strap of the duffel bag she carried, trying to somehow take some of the weight off of her back. The black-haired man turned to her and snorted a chuckle.

"If we let those who are injured out of captivity, who says blood doesn't attract those things? I'm pretty sure if I were a flesh-eating mongrel, I'd be all over the next person who's bleeding out." The girl frowned at this though, cursing the black-haired man's crude personality. She looked over him; the way he carried himself around reminded her of some sort of twisted, cocky king. He always had a snarky comeback, but he never really flaunted himself around. Naminé sighed to herself as her own blue orbs glanced over the man's molten magma colored hues when he turned around. They were squinted, though, she noted. Directly behind her, he tried to see the figures who were shambling about in their line of direction.

Vanitas grabbed her forearm roughly and tugged her back, shoving her arm away and digging into her duffel bag. He pulled out a few of his makeshift weapons, shoving the sharp ends into his pocket and some hand-held. He looked back at her, nodding towards a vacant open-door car. "Get in there, duck down, and don't come out until I tell you to."

Nerves spread throughout her being as she scurried into the half-tipped, crushed car. She closed the door as quietly as possible, looking around the tan leather Honda. The blonde-haired girl sprawled out on the car's floor, trying to somehow crane her neck and see what Vanitas was up to and still remain unseen herself.

Her eyes widened inhumanly as something pushed against her leg. A rough tongue brushed against her ankle once or twice and she held her breath as the tiny creature crawled along her back. Her shoulders lifted as the furry creature reached the middle of her back, and just as the ruby tongue slid across the back of her neck, the loud sound of fast-paced running and squealing screeches reached her ears. A soft squeak sounded behind herand the blonde reached back to grab the creature by its scruff. She pulled the small rodent close to her, ducking their heads as the fight continued, scratching behind its thin ears to keep herself calm. Quite surprisingly, the seemingly domesticated rat made no move to run away from her shivering touch.

Vanitas lodged a small shovel into the ear of one creature, quickly withdrawing it to dive it into another skull. All he could see was black eyes and curling smiles. The pack surrounded him completely, hands coming out to grab at whatever limb they could to restrain him. A few were just about to take a bite out of various parts of his body, and he tensed his muscles to ready himself for the inevitable pain. "Fucking fuck!" He ground out as they started tearing at his clothes. Scratches and scrapes soon littered his arms, abdomen, and back as he struggled to get the hell away from them.

"Don't ki-ll," A scraggily voice barked. One lone figure stood away from the pack surrounding Vanitas, his posture better, his skin not as bruised or bloodied. The man sported light brown, messy, crusted hair and rugged, dirty clothing.

"Ge' o-ther." A few of the monster-a'likes sniffed and surveyed, breaking away from their pack and running face-first into the car. They mauled the metal and broke the windows, clawing away at the backdoor. It flung open finally, leaving Naminé and her new, lost companion out in the open. She looked up and at their faces, at those scary red and black eyes. A clawed hand reached for her, tugging her up roughly as his partner quickly grabbed the rodent. It's eyes rolled blindly and a gross smile found its way onto his lips, mouth opening widely as he shoved the rat's head into his mouth. He crunched, delighted, and started to tear at the bloody neck, down to its body. The scragilly-looking monster looked her over with a smug air, smiling grimly and showing his black and rotten fangs. "Pu' 'em toge-ter." The sandy blonde ordered his red and black eyed posse, who shoved the two humans side-by-side and held onto their frame so as not to let them escape.

The black haired man's nose crinkled up in disgust as the sandy blonde walked closer. The smell of their putrid, sweaty, rotten body parts made him and Naminé felt sick, dizzy, and extremely unsanitary all over.

"Where you hea'ed?" The man slurred, walking even closer. He got up to Naminé's face, their breath mingling in the stale, tense air. His hand slid to the back of her neck, blackened claws digging ever-so-slightly into her soft flesh. She held her chin high, trying not to smell his raw breath or look into his devilish, strange eyes. The girl closed her eyes tightly and swallowed. Her fists clenched while she tried pulling away from him and his growling minions. She took a deep breath and sighed it all out.

"Does it matter?" Vanitas snapped, turning the demon's attention to him. Their goldenrod eyes clashed in some sort of heated stare, though the man never left Naminé's trembling front. His hand snaked up towards her chin and grasped it tightly in a somewhat bruising hold. His voice lowered, irises darkening whilst he looked down on her, "I'll make de-al."

"You're not gonna make a deal with her, you're gonna make a deal with me." Vanitas inagger-pointed stare. His fists clenched with whitened knuckles, arms straining to break away from the man's posse. He heard the creatures around him hiss and stir while still trying to keep a strong hold on them. The leader looked towards Vanitas, disinterested and annoyed. He walked towards the tuff young man and grabbed at his chin.

"Cocky." The sandy blonde spat. He stepped away and positivley slapped Naminé across the face. Her head snapped to the side and she sucked in a loud, frightened gasp of air. "Join or ki-ll." Slowly and steadilly, the blonde's cheek reddened and tiny lines of blood formed and started to drip down to her chin. Vanitas's eyes grew darker as he trained them on the hollow face of their attacker.

"Join what?" A few short-breathed snorts were passed around the mongrels, some of them baring their teeth in a smile.

"Us!" The leader growled and dipped his head, hands immideitaly going to his head and tearing at his hair. His breathing became irregular, loud and rough, eyes and nostrils flaring up as his temper rose. "Join or I demolish!" The leader quickly took one of his own and tore at their hair. The subordinate didn't react, didn't even act as his hair was torn clean off from his scalp. His leader screeched loudly, making both humans jump out of their skins as he began to tear at his teammate's flesh. Naminé, being very slight of stomach, positively gagged at the sight.

The leader tore open the remaining layer of flesh and muscle. His fingers began to burn and sizzle as they smeared with the clear liquid oozing from such a big gash- he ignored it and bit into the others' skull, ripping at the bone and immideatly getting to the soft, plush brain. The same clear liquid spouted from small crevices and open spaces of the organ and as soon as his leader delved into such a treat is when he reacted. He surged forward and screamed, fingers coming up and clawing at his master's face. Still, though, he continued to tear at his partner, drooling and moaning delightedly at the taste and noises of anguish.

Vanitas's nose scrunched up. "You'll eat your own damn teammates one by one because we won't agree?" The man's mouth began to sizzle, as did his hands and forearms. He screamed again and pushed his now-dead subordinate to the ground, flicking some of the clear material away. The droplets landed on the left wing of his goons, all of which instantly flailed backwards and rolled around the pavement to get rid of the sizzling sensation. Naminé was relativley free, quickly ripping herself away from the distracted creatures. The blonde turned to her right and kneed one of them in the face. The softened skull ejected its fragments into their brain and effectivley knocked away one more opponent. She moaned loudly and held on to her knee as she felt her flesh begin to bruise. Looking all around herself, the pack began to step back, hissing and looking around blindly with their red-rimmed eyes. Vanitas, having three of four of the goons finally off of his person, immidiatly left-hooked the remaining white-eyed mongrel and sent him tumbling away.

The blonde haired leader growled, his lower and upper lip slowly being eaten away by some unseen acid. His fingers and palms were raw, dripping with that same peculiar substance.

"Naminé," Vanitas barked, digging the items out of his pockets and throwing her one. She quit nursing her knee and grabbed onto the shovel with shaky hands.

"No, don't make me do thi-"

"You don't have a choice!" He belowed and immidiatly took action. As he left Namine with the five or six remaining goons, the black haired former Junior sprung for their leader.

He wasn't like the others though; Easily caught off guard, limbs like butter if you tried cutting them up, and overall... Not as fierce, fiery, not so aware of everything. His eyes, now that he looked into them at such a close proximity, were a hot, melting shade of orange-gold. This finally made Vanitas wonder; Why were they all so different, were they like levels in a video game or something? This haughty leader of theirs wasn't as beat up or bruised as the others, and he wasn't as raw or disgusting, save for his now-melting upper and lower jaw, plus his hands.

So, as they began to get into a heated fight of who was stronger, who could really beat the other- beast against human- Naminé stood and watched as the creatures twisted their backs and rolled on the black pavement. The sharpened weapon in her hand, a shovel that Vanitas had put some extra time into, shook in the most tightest hold. Naminé walked slowly forward, towards one of the purely black-eyed monsters that had calmed down for the most part. His eyes were closed, breathing somewhat slow though heavy and uneven as they flared through his nostrils and the little hole that formed in his cheek where a drop of that peculiar liquid landed. He clutched at his forearm, a low growl escaping his tight lips. The blonde-haired girl stepped closer and closer, fear melting off of her form as she slowly sat in front of the beast. She rose the blade, slow but sure, and willed herself to kill him. She was so ready, so aware of how many other beings she'd have to murder that day- until he opened his eyes.

She paused. Could he see her? Could he even comprehend what she was doing? She looked at his teeth, not nearly as sharp as the others and just about humanized. His hand grabbed out and took her wrist in a strong hold, bringing it forward to press against his raw wound. The blonde sucked in a breath, eyes scanning over its' demeanor. "Please don't hurt me," she murmured while bending slowly down. He passed a low, quiet screech in the back of his throat, opening his mouth just a little to show her his black tongue.

"Kiiiiilllll..." His broken voice spoke, scraggily and wet. "Kiiiilll..." He struggled, until finally, he remebered the word; "Meeeee..."

Naminé sat there, shocked and a little bit sad. This man, no matter what he'd turned into, had enough common sense to realize he was something dangrous, something that needed to be destroyed. Though, was that really true? She looked around herself, at all the crying men and women who had turned into something otherworldly. She wanted to know what had happened, she needed to know before she gave her new friend this God awful last request.

Her fingers slowly wrapped around his wound as she pressed a hung to him, not caring if she got even more much on herself. "Alright," the blonde answered brokenly, "but I need to know. W-what are you?"

His blackened eyes seemed to lose their shine as he looked behind her at something fast-coming. A melting hand came up and tugged the back of her blue pattern dress, though before she was hauled upward, the man answered in that breathy, wet tone; "Deeeaad."

"Run!" Ven shouted when the door's hinges brusted off of the wall. The team lunged ahead, their faces scrunched in disgust as they crushed into the form of five undead. They were easilly knocked down and the group launched towards the direction of their signature rooftop. All around them they were faced with the walking dead whom only stared aimlessly and shambled around, some with arms outstretched like a Hollywood-style zombie. None of them ran after the group though, much to their relief. They turned into a hallway's corner, pass the grand outdoor cafeteria and down a walkway. They avoided all contact with the undead, even as they started to run after them.

Ven spotted the one door that would keep them safe for who-knows how long. He quickly ran into it, pulling with all of his might. "The door- it won't budge!" He callled out, quickly looking behind himself at the team that was fighting off more opponents. He growled loudly, pulling at the backs of the undead and almost having a heartattack as they all started to focus in on him.

Axel and Tidus kicked and pushed the door down, ushering everyone quickly inside. Thankfully, the other door leading to the rooftop was unlocked, meeting them with no other complications to keep them from there goal. Ven was the last one to step over the doorway until he heard his name called from far away. He looked behind himself, down to the hallway on the right and saw his brother, Roxas, running for his life with the stupidest expression of happiness and terror.

The younger blonde sucked in a breath and bolted for his brother pushing any obsticale out of the way. He lunged for his brother, catching him off guard and practically melting in his arms. They began to walk backwards while the undead tried to advance on them, Axel yelling at them to get inside. They pushed eachother into the stairway, ignoring the darkness of it all until finally getting to the top of the staircase.

When they did, Axel came up with both Ienzo and Demyx, who later explained their where-abouts and why they'd been so late.

Ven looked to his brother, finally getting a chance to hug him without being so rushed. He was delighted to feel the gesture returned. His heart felt like it burned from such overwhelming feelings bubbling in his chest. He let out a hot breath, pressing his lips to Roxas's neck and giving and him an extra-tight hug. The boy felt like crying again.

"Hey, Ven?" He heard Xion mutter as she prodded his shoulder. "Yuffie needs you, she's in the back with Aqua." Said boy nodded, letting go of his kin until a few more seconds later. He surveyed the group with sparking-alive eyes, looking for any injuries or missing persons.

"Sora's not here..." Roxas commented, putting on an angry face and looking over the ledge of the rooftop. He spat at one of the undead, slightly satisfied when it actually landed on one. He proceeded to look, his mind wandering elsewhere with the thoughts of Sora and trying to figure out what the hell happened to him.

With directions from Xion, Ven quietly headed to the back of the roof. He ignored the two huge, discontinued air conditioners and finally met the sight of Yuffie, wrapped up in his blue-haired friend's arms. She was crying hysterically.

"What happened?" He asked, sitting beside the two. An arm of his came up and wrapped around Yuffie's neck while he pressed the side of his head to hers. Aqua patted his head and murmured, "She said to leave you guys alone, so... I'll be in the front, alright?" He nodded as she left, finally scooting closer to his friend and trying to dip his head to see her face.

His voice cracked a little. "Are you okay?" Her head shook left to right. "Do you want to talk about it?" She stayed dormant, her left hand resting on her stomach while the other covered her eyes. He touched the hand on her stomach, "Are you hurt?"

A big breath of air entered and left her lungs until she looked at her friend. "I can't go with this, Ven."

His eyes pulled together, "Wha'do you mean? Yuff, we're gonna get through all of this. You saw how dumb those guys are, right? How slow they are, and how... Stupid, right?" His other hand came to her back, drawing little circles into it to calm her down a tad.

Her frustration came out as she slapped her lap. "No, you don't get it, Ven!" He frowned at that when she covered her eyes again and curled up even more. "I just can't deal with this..."

"I... Why?" Ven pressed. He understood if she was scared- Hell, he was scared out of his mind, too! But he wanted to live. He wanted to live, and he would do anything for his right to live. No one, not a terrorist, a disease, or some zombie bitch would take him down.

So, the blonde opened his mouth and tell her that they'd come up with a plan to make sure they survived, until she beat him to the punch.

"Ventus, I'm pregnant."

...Well, he thought while he looked at her slightly bulging stomach with a pair of raised honeyblonde eyebrows, this changes things.

Okay. OKAY. I did this chapter with my SOUL and my BLOOD and my TEARS, man.

I love you guys. Seriously, that's why I wrote and WROTE for two days straight. e_e

So, I dearly dearly dearly dearly DEARLY hope all of you enjoyed this chapter.

One of my favoritest friends beta'd this chapter : ) Her name's Anne G. and she is AMAZING.

I'm sorry, Twinsie :( She offered today and I said yes, so she Beta'd it.

And, both of my Twinsies, I'm so sorry I haven't been talking to you two. But, now I have Google Chrome, and my computer WORKS now! So, yeah. :D

Meeshee's REPLY'S

ShadowDolls: Oh dude, noooo. I'm gonna try to make it as realistic as I can :o

You'll seeee whyyyyy~ Ven is a tard.

Vanitas is amazing, and Namine needs some help x3

They will in the next chapter... I think. Not sure yet.

Not really a fast update, but i poured my heart and soul into it ^o^ Hope you like it. : )

CitrusFruityPop: Fffaahh, I would neeeevvver kill Aqua off ;D... Cough. SO.

She totally will one day. Thank you very much ^o^

Soooo, I took your comment and tried to better my story with it. Did I do a better job? : )

Roshail: RooooSHAIIIILLL. I adore you :D By the way, Anne loves you. Austin says flargh, and David is a goober.

Phantom-Lord Noel: Thank you very much : ) I hope you liked the chapter!

So, thank you very much for checking out my story, everyone! It'd make my day if you guys review, okay? Anywho, though, I hope you all continue reading on and are excited for the new chapter like I am, hah! Bye : )