Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together

-Adele, Skyfall

Sasuke peeked out between the curtains, his eyes glaring out in the street. For the last couple of hours, a military tank had been rolling through the narrow streets. It was moving back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, as if they knew the three were in there. Naruto had proclaimed it was Jiraiya coming for them, but then Sasuke asked how would Jiraiya have gotten a tank so soon? Naruto had deflated at that, and sat for a second just thinking of the possibilities. Now, the three of them were sitting in the living room, debating among one another what they should do. The noise from the tank had attracted most of the things away from the house, but there were a few stragglers roaming around in the front yard.

"Is it safe, you think?" Sakura's voice sounded like an explosion in the quiet room.

"Well, considering there are those assholes roaming around outside, probably not," Naruto mumbled. Sasuke cut his eyes at his friend's attitude, then returned his attention to the tank, which had reappeared on a closer street. A crowd of dead snarled and groaned at the slow moving tank, but they were not fast enough to get their gnarled hands on it.

"I meant are the people in the tank safe, douchebag," snapped Sakura. He had continuously given her attitude since they told her there was no way Jiraiya could have gotten a tank in the last few days, and frankly she was tired of it.

"Shut up," Sasuke finally said. "Both of you are pissing me off…" He trailed off, eyebrows furrowing when a new sound came from outside. The pitter patter of gun fire echoed in the empty streets, and it seemed to be coming from the tank.

"Is that gunfire?!" Sakura exclaimed. She rushed to Sasuke's side and pushed the curtain open more. Sasuke felt Naruto stand on his other side as he stared out into the street. If he watched carefully, the nose of an assault rifle snuck out of a slot the people inside looked out of and gunned down another of the dead. This action seemed to anger them more, and the noise was beginning to attract more of them.

"We need to help them," Sakura said suddenly. She pushed away from the window and the two boys turned towards her. They looked at each other before they took off after her. Sakura ran up the stairs to the second floor, purposely avoiding the room that reeked of blood. Taking two steps at a time, the boys quickly caught up to her in time to see her pulling on the cord to the attic. The stairs came down with a groan and she put one foot on the ladder.

"What are you going to do?" Naruto asked. Sakura ignored the question and turned to him.

"Do you still have my uncle's hunting rifle?"

"Yeah? Why?" Sakura nodded to herself and told him to go get it. When he disappeared into the room he had been hiding out in, Sakura turned to Sasuke who stared at her with suspicious eyes.

"You know this is not Call of Duty, right?" he asked.

"No," she said with a sigh. "But it's better than nothing. If we can help them, maybe they will help us." Naruto came out with the hunting rifle in his hand, and his other hand held a full box of ammo. "You and I both know the food is running low." She slung the rifle over her shoulder, the strap being cushioned against her chest.

"Yeah, I know." Sasuke inhaled through his nose sharply when Sakura began climbing up the attic stairs. The rifle bumped against her back, and for some reason the scene made Sasuke sick to his stomach. He saw an image of Sakura standing on top of a slab of rubble, an assault rifle slung against her back and a pistol in her right hand. Her eyes were hard and narrowed against the sun peeking out from dark clouds. It illuminated her face, and the traces of unwashed tears creating paths against dirt-streaked cheeks. The image was swept away when Sakura began ascending the stairs up to the attic with Naruto bolting down the steps to the main floor. Sasuke stood there in the middle of the hallway, totally alone with only his thoughts of a blood-soaked world and renegade friends fighting for their own survival.

Sakura carefully set the rifle on the ground next to the window that faced out to the street. She flipped the latches that kept the window closed and struggled for a second before the window opened with a soft creaking sound. A steady drizzle had started up, and she squinted when a burst of wind brought some in. Taking a deep breath, she pulled a stool that had been stored in the attic over the window and plopped down on it. From her spot, she could see the tank and its group of stragglers clearly. She picked up the rifle and laid it across her thighs. She marveled it ruggedness, just like she did when her uncle would take her hunting every weekend. The memory of its recoil made her smile as she remembered how her uncle told her to lean into the gun so the recoil would not hurt her shoulder. The familiar feeling of adrenaline pulsed through her as she set up the scope of the rifle, her finger prodding the safety. She had been taught not to turn the safety off until she was ready to shoot, so she was not jumping the gun just yet. Setting the rifle up on the window sill, she leaned into the scope and trained her sights on the first bloodied man. Its mouth was agape as it struggled to keep up with the tank, inaudible groans and snarls coming from it. Blood stained the once-nice dress shirt that would have looked nice in its suit jacket if a gaping hole that showed innards spilling from it did not ruin the look. It was limping after the tank, its left foot dragging behind it. Sakura grit her teeth at the vision in front of her, and flipped the safety. Anger throbbed through her system as she got ready to squeeze the trigger.

But, she found she could not do it. Releasing a sudden breath she did not realize she had been holding, Sakura's body shuddered. Who was she kidding? Sasuke was right; this was definitely NOT Call of Duty. She was supposed to gun down these…things, but to her they were once people. These people had had family, lives, jobs before all of this happened to them. She let the rifle fall against the window sill, and pressed the heel of her left palm against her forehead. An image of her uncle's form made her suck in a quivering breath. How did Sasuke do this with just a bat when she could not even do it with a rifle?

Sakura did not hear Sasuke come up behind her until he accidentally bumped her with his leg. She looked up sharply, suddenly aware of the tears streaming down her cheeks. A look passed in his eyes that she was unfamiliar with, but it shocked her when he knelt down and took the rifle from her. She found him a second later sitting criss cross in front of her, his back cushioned against her stomach and sternum. Before she could say anything, he had positioned the rifle on his shoulder, set his sights on his target, and fired. The bang echoed in the silent neighborhood, but the thing went down with a shot to the head. Blood streamed from the wound as it fell to the ground.

Sakura's jaw dropped. Sasuke pulled the chamber open and slid another bullet into it, slamming the chamber shut again. He brought the rifle up again, and pulled the trigger to down another. This continued for a few more times until Sasuke stopped. Sakura noticed his breathing was coming out labored that sounded a lot like hers when the adrenaline poured through her own body. She looked out the window to see a slew of bodies on the asphalt, blood leaking from their bodies to pool on the ground. Her eyes went back to Sasuke, whose shoulders began to shake from the exertion of holding the rifle up. She suddenly remembered he had leaned into the rifle with his bad shoulder.

Sasuke let out a hiss when he lowered his arm to rest on his crossed leg. The adrenaline that pooled throughout his muscles and body was making him quiver uncontrollably. Sakura's uncle told him it was a natural feeling, and to take deep breaths in order to stay calm. When he had come up the steps in time to see Sakura line up her sights on her first hit. However, he knew she would crack and not go through with it. Sakura had never been the type to take a life meaninglessly, and even when she did she always cried afterwards. So, when he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks and her palm pressed against her forehead. He was stupid for not realizing the arm he shot with was the one that was injured; he was regretting it now as it throbbed. The adrenaline that was keeping his shoulder from ripping itself from its own socket was slowly moving away, and it was starting to quiver with pain.

A soft hand found its place on his upper arm, and Sasuke flinched at the contact. He looked down as it made its way up his arm to his sore shoulder. The contact made his muscles jump, but he closed his eyes and leaned his head back to thump against Sakura's chest. A groan rumbled through his chest as she rubbed his shoulder right above the spot where the muscles meet. Sakura moved from the stool and released his shoulders, but he was not disappointed when she knelt down in front of him in just her sports bra and loose sweatpants. However, she brought her hands to his cheeks and made him look at her.

"Stop assuming I can't do anything, Sasuke," she whispered. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, so she continued. "You and Naruto are both guilty of taking things over for me because you are worried about me. Your efforts are flattering, but things have changed."

In the dank and dreary attic, Sasuke stared at his best friend who had certainly changed since he had come back from Japan. No longer was she the timid girl who followed him and Naruto around. In her place, a strong, independent woman sat. Her eyes were hard, the green reflecting strength caused by pain and sadness. He saw strong features that made him realize that he was definitely attracted to her in a way he had never been before.

Sasuke was raising his good hand to cup her cheek when he was interrupted by a cough coming from the attic entrance. The two broke out of their own worlds to see Naruto staring at them expectantly.

"Um, not to interrupt you guys or anything," Naruto said sarcastically, "but we have company."

After he spoke the last word, they could clearly hear the growls, snarls, moans, and groans of those that had heard the shots from the house. They began pounding on the front door and windows, and from the attic they could hear the strain it was putting on the infrastructure. Sasuke stood up and tucked his shoulder in. The look on his face brought smiles to his friends' faces.

"Let's get the fuck out of here."

Naruto jogged in place, eyes burning with determination. He was known to be a fast runner, but he did not know if he could outrun the corpses that were beating against the house. Looking towards the house from his spot in the backyard, he could see Sasuke helping Sakura pack food for their journey. Or, what they had left. They did not think they would trapped in the house as long as they were, but now they understood that they could not stay any longer. It did not help that they tried to be heroes in order to save the person in the tank. Now, they are forced to vacate the only safe place in the neighborhood because of their actions. They agreed that once they helped the person in the tank, they had to leave immediately.

The gun he held in his hand was one that he had found while searching through the master bedroom after Sasuke took care of Sakura's relatives. Once they became trapped in the house, he had to find ways to keep himself occupied. When he found the hand gun underneath the master bedroom's bed, he took it apart, cleaned it, and put it back together every day so he could be familiar with it. The idea of joining the cause to fight against these things constantly went through his mind, but there was no way to contact the agent that had come to their school. With the phone lines down and cell phone towers powerless, the only thing they could do was sit back and wait for something to happen. The three of them had sat down and discussed their plan before separating in preparation for the journey. They were to move through the city until they found people to help them, and then find Agent Kakashi.

And then what?

Naruto stopped jogging in place and crossed his arms, being careful with the gun in his hands. The thought of them being separated scared him. He did not want that to happen. They had gotten this far together, so they could stay together a little longer. Naruto nodded and looked up just as the other two stepped outside to join him. Sasuke was carrying a backpack that had the rest of the food they had left, as well as a hunting knife and tools they had found with Sakura's uncle's hunting stuff. Sakura was carrying the hunting rifle, as well as the bat that Sasuke had used against her uncle. It was clean of blood, but Naruto wondered who had gone to get it.

"You guys ready to do this?" he inquired. Sasuke nodded while Sakura gave a quiet yeah. "Okay, here's the plan. Sakura, you're going to go back up to the attic and watch our backs. We trust you not to shoot us." Sakura nodded and turned to go to inside the house.

"Sakura," Sasuke said suddenly. The girl turned back around and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

Sasuke inhaled through his nose and said, "Remember, they are not people anymore. They were once, but not anymore."

"I know." With that, Sakura jogged into the house, rifle bumping against her back. Sasuke turned back to his friend and narrowed his eyes at his friend's expression.

"Shut up," he growled.

"I didn't say anything, dick face," Naruto grinned. "Anyway, I need you to cover my back while I outrun these mother fuckers. We're talking about a shit ton of Marcus's out there. As soon as we reach the first street, we need to signal to Sakura that she can come out. Otherwise we would be leaving her here to die."

"I got you."

"There are three streets separating us from that tank. Each street is full of those fuckers. Once I clear the first street, get Sakura and the truck and I'll hop in the back."

"Like I said, I got you." Naruto smiled at his friend and stuck his hand out. Sasuke smirked back at him and grasped his hand against his. "Good luck, dumbass."

Naruto nodded. He dropped his hand, his palms sweating. The grin dropped from his face as he faced the fence door that led to the side yard. Just on the other side of that fence laid a lot of things wanting to kill him. He knew it was up to him to get to the first street without being pulled down. As he walked up to the door of the fence, his hands started to shake, including the one holding the pistol. He reached up with his free hand and pulled the latch up carefully so it would not make a big noise. He felt Sasuke come up behind him, the audible click of the safety coming to his ears. With one hand, he pushed open the door and it gave a loud creak at it swung open. The growls and moans of the dead got significantly louder, and Naruto let out a breath when nothing came around the corner of the house. He crept through the opening with Sasuke right behind him, pointing the gun down to the ground. They slipped against the wall of the house, the snarls getting louder the closer they got to the front of the house.

Right as they got to the corner of the house, the sound of the rifle shot through the neighborhood again. A streak of blood exploded right by Naruto's face. The sight shocked him as the body of a slaughtered woman fell in front of him, eyes black and unseeing.

"Go!" cried Sakura from the attic. "I got you!"

The boys looked at each other and nodded before rounding the corner sharply. Naruto shot the first one that launched itself at him. The shot obliterated the side of a kid's head, who had been about the same age as them. A snarl that had been escaping its lips dragged into a strangled whine as it fell to the ground. Sasuke took a quick look to see how many there were. He got a count of about ten before he gunned down a woman clad in only a bikini. He recognized her as Sakura's neighbor, one whom he and Naruto had ogled at when they were in middle school. The sight of her bloodied chest and sternum, innards hanging outside of her belly, made his stomach turn.

Shot after shot rang out until Sasuke reached the truck, the keys jingling in his hands. He swung the door open and leaned over to insert the key into the ignition. Naruto yelled something at him that sounded urgent, but the yell went unneeded when something slammed into him from the side. Sasuke hit the open door as another undead reached for his throat, gnarled hands clenching and unclenching with the sound of its snarls. Raising his hand with the keys, he brought it down into the thing's eye. It squealed in pain and dropped like a rock. With heavy breaths, he sent a middle finger in Naruto's direction and jumped into the cab of the truck. He started the truck and rolled down the window right as Naruto and Sakura killed the last one in the front yard.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled out. "Jump down!"

Sasuke positioned the truck right underneath the attic window just as Sakura was swinging one leg out. Suddenly, she started screaming at something in the house. Her face was frantic and she turned to the boys.

"Help me! There's one in the house!"

"Fuck," Sasuke exclaimed. Before he could jump out, Naruto jumped into the back of the truck and reached out.

"Sakura!" he shouted. Sakura looked down at him as she fended whatever was attacking her. "You have to jump. I'll catch you!"

Sakura gave one last look at the thing she fighting off, an elderly woman with half a face missing, and threw the butt of her gun into its face. It hissed and stumbled back, and Sakura took that moment to jump out of the window. She landed in Naruto's waiting arms, almost smacking him in the face with her rifle. The truck, which was already full of stuff from their attempts a few days before, bounced with the extra weight as she dropped. The suspension groaned, but stayed in place. It went unnoticed while Sakura slid through the open passenger door, having left her rifle in Naruto's hands. The one that had been attacking Sakura leaned through the window she had dropped from and landed with a sickening crack on the ground below. Sasuke peeled out of the front yard as it struggled to stand, gnashing its teeth in their direction. Naruto stuck his middle finger up at it as they drove towards the tank, his face set in a grimace.

They cleared the next two streets of the things, blood soaking the old truck and their clothes. Soon, they were parked in a drive way smeared with bloody hand prints and streaks from something they did not want to think about. Naruto was crouched behind a hedge with Sasuke and Sakura right behind him. They watched the tank circle around again, the crowd it had attracted smaller after their attempts to help.

"Do you think they know we're here?" Sakura whispered.

"They have to," Naruto answered. "We literally drove through two streets shooting up those assholes."

"AND we're driving around in a truck. Totally inconspicuous," scoffed Sasuke sarcastically.

"It saved our lives though. Don't judge her!" Naruto proclaimed.

"Shut up, y'all," Sakura hissed. "The tank stopped."

Sasuke and Naruto poked their heads over the bush and saw the tank had stopped. The three watched in silence as the tank sat in the middle of the street, the undead clawing at the enforced metal to get at the living inside. Suddenly, the hatch on the top flew open and a female soldier jumped up with an assault rifle. Her hair whipped around as she downed all the things that had been harassing her. The look on her face was feral and streaked with days old blood, but it was her eyes that caught Naruto's attention. While her hair was jet black, her eyes were a light shade of purple, which was the total opposite of what highlighted her face.

Another person flew out of the tank. This time, it was a male soldier with the same black hair, but it was in the typical military cut. He was noticeably taller than his companion, but his expression was schooled into a calm one. He had lost his uniform jacket, so he was just in his tan shirt. There was a red cross on the left breast, along with the last name Harrison stitched underneath it. Not only was he taller, but he looked significantly older than them too. It seemed like he was in college, but he was too far away to tell. Like Sakura, he looked like a mix between Asian and white, but his features showed more white features than Asian.

Although they were covering each other's backs, they did not notice the one undead coming up behind them. It crawled up the side of the tank, teeth snapping at the guy who had his back turned. Sakura snatched the rifle from Naruto and jumped out from behind the bush. In the blink of an eye, she had shot the thing between the eyes. It gurgled and slipped from the tank, and the guy turned his attention to where the three had been hidden. His eyes were a bright blue, almost the same color as Naruto's. They narrowed in suspicion before shifting his attention back to the last undead that was trying to climb up the tank. Once it was shot and spreading blood back down the side, the street was silent. The three teenagers that were behind the bush stood up as the two soldiers got out of the tank.

Sakura stepped out first, her eyes narrowed as the soldiers talked low to one another. As they walked closer, Sasuke grabbed her arm and pulled her back slightly. She turned back to give him a look, which he scowled at.

"We do not know if they are good people," he whispered.

"They're the military," Naruto said. "They're obviously okay. Especially the chick."

"Seriously?" Sakura scoffed "That's what you thought of instead of whether or not we can trust them?" Naruto grinned and started walking towards the two soldiers, who were already more than halfway to them. He raised his hand in greeting and waved.

"Hey, dudes! That was totally-"

He was interrupted when the nose of a gun was unceremoniously shoved in his face, the click of a safety signaling the intent of the man behind the gun. Naruto's hands shot up in the air and shouting started from both sides.

"Put the gun down-!"

"Who the fuck are you-?!"

"Whose blood is that-?!"

"I said, put the goddamn gun down-!"

"Hold up!" Sakura shouted. Her gun was pointed at the female soldier, while Sasuke's gun was pointed at the soldier whose last name was Harrison. The female soldier, whose last name was Hyuuga, had her gun pointed towards Sakura. Taking the risk, she pointed her gun at Harrison and jerked her chin at him. "Who are the hell are y'all?"

"We were ready to ask you the same thing, girl," the man growled. "We were told this street was completely void of the living."

"Clearly, we are alive," Sasuke snarled.

"Pretty boy needs to learn how to shut his mouth," Harrison sneered. Hyuuga suddenly put a hand on his upper arm and pushed it down.

"Put your gun away, Lieutenant," she ordered. Her voice was soft despite her tangled appearance. "Why would you raise it at civilians?"

"Hinata," he sighed. "I have seen civilians turn into those things before my eyes, so I'm not sorry if my judgement is slightly skewed right now."

"Wait, did you say Hinata?" Naruto asked. He dropped his hands and took a step closer to the girl. Her face suddenly lit up as he got closer, but Harrison stood up and shoved him back. "No, wait! I know you!"

"Naruto," Sasuke said, "now is not the time to try and impress."

"No, I know her through Jiraiya! You're part of the infamous Hyuuga infantry!"

"Holy shit," Sakura whispered. "Your cousin is Neji Hyuuga, right? He graduated a year before us. You wouldn't know him, Sasuke. You had left before you knew him." All of this attention directed towards the female officer was causing her to become too flustered, which began to anger her lieutenant.

"Who gives a fuck if you all know her? I'm more worried about if any of you have been bitten yet."

The confused looks he received from the younger group made him scowl. "Did y'all not know that if you got bitten by those things then you turn into them?"

"Um, no?" Sakura said. "We've been trapped in my house for the last few days, so excuse us if we don't exactly know what is going on right now." She pointed her gun to the ground and walked up to the soldier. He stood his ground as she got to him. She was significantly shorter than him, barely reaching his shoulder. "If you could be so kind as to tell us, then we might be on better terms with one another."

"Besides," Sasuke scoffed, "you should be thanking us for helping you. If it was not for us, you would still be driving your damn tank through the streets with those walking corpses stalking you." He received an elbow in the ribs for that comment from Sakura. Lieutenant Harrison narrowed his eyes and finally sighed.

"So, it seems we have a lot of information to tell you," he said. He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned away from the group. "Now, let's get moving. Our base is a couple hours away on foot, and our tank is low on gas."

"We have a truck," Naruto implied. "You and Sasuke can ride in the back while Hinata and Sakura ride in the cab."

Harrison nodded. "Awesome. Sounds good." He turned to Sakura, who was talking low to Sasuke. "And please," Sakura looked up at him, and he smirked, "call me Nagato."

"So, you're half-Japanese, half-American?" Sakura asked Nagato. The lieutenant nodded. The group was flying through the back streets of the suburban area, carefully avoiding areas that were completely infested. According to Nagato and Hinata, the entire city went under in less than twenty-four hours. After the third day, the power grids went down, resulting in a city wide power outage. The two of them, including a Private who had lost his life the day before, had been sent out to find any survivors. Unfortunately, the remaining two had been stuck on the same street, trying to outrun the stragglers to no avail. Now that the tank had no fuel, they were stuck with the three teenagers.

Sakura and Hinata were in the cab of the truck with Naruto, while Sasuke and Nagato sat in the back of the truck. It turned out that Hinata was their age, recently recruited into her own family's division and had finished school early in order to receive a higher rank. The girl was currently having a quiet conversation with Naruto, catching up on what she missed in the last year. Sakura was speaking to Nagato through the rear window that slid open and closed. Sasuke was finding it very hard to concentrate on their surroundings while the lieutenant was blatantly flirting with the younger girl.

"I was recruited through my connections with Neji Hyuuga, who is actually Hinata's cousin," Nagato informed. "I was seventeen when that happened, and I have been in the division for three years."

"You're only twenty?!" Sakura exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"I still can't believe you're only seventeen," he chuckled. "When is your birthday?"

"Lieutenant," Sasuke finally said, "where is your base?"

Nagato sat back against the side of the truck, wincing as they rolled over something, presumably a body as the wheels crunched over it. "It's at the nearest school from here. I think it's some kind of private school."

"Holy shit!" Naruto shouted and slammed on the brakes. Sasuke and Nagato both slid into the back of the cab, hitting their sides against it. Sasuke's bad shoulder hit first and he let out a cry of pain. The sound alerted Nagato, who narrowed his eyes at the sight of Sasuke holding his shoulder. "Guys. We have a problem."

The two in the back of the truck stumbled up to see what made them stop in the middle of the road. "Oh hell," Nagato whispered at the sight in front of them. There was an entire mob of the undead stumbling around in front of what was once the teenagers' high school. Soldiers who had gone to volunteer and station at the school were now part of the undead crowd that moved throughout the courtyard. What was once the front entrance was now a graveyard of bodies that were once civilians and soldiers. There were former students who had chosen to stay at the school instead of go home, and had become caught up in the chaos. The snarling and growling was like an unorganized symphony. The ones that were immediately in front of the truck turned slowly to look at the intruders. Hungry eyes and mouths snapped to them, and Sasuke started slamming his hand on the top of the truck to force Naruto to move.

"Get us the fuck out of here, Naruto!" Nagato yelled, but the boy was already throwing the truck in reverse. Tires squealed on pavement, which drowned out the snarls of the undead as they started running after the truck. The girls were screaming while Sasuke and Nagato began shooting at the ones that were getting too close to the truck. Naruto continued driving backwards, using his side mirrors to navigate around obstacles and to avoid the things around and behind him. However, he did not see the light pole that appeared when he took a corner too sharp, and he rammed into it. The two in the back flew out from the truck, landing on the pavement with sickening thuds.

Sasuke's eyes flew open at the radiating pain that was shooting through his whole body, and he turned his head to look for Nagato. The other man was sitting slowly, wincing at the road burn that resulted from skidding across the pavement. There were shouts coming from the truck, sounding more and more frantic the longer Sasuke and Nagato took to get up.

Sasuke did not hear the snapping of teeth until it was too late to react.

Thank you,

KD