Hello fellow readers. Yes. I'm buying into the zombie craze. Yes. I'm adding Inuyasha to it. I thought to myself: Why not? It'll be fun. So here's the first chapter. If you like it, let me know. Any pointers: also, let me know. Creative criticism is welcome. I'm a returning author, so let my work speak for itself... Scarlet_Heir here. Back again.

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Kagome was frowning down at the papers Souta had brought home for her. Her school work from the first two days of school were already outrageous. Add to that the extra homework for the summer that she still hadn't done because she'd spent so much time in Sengoku-era and not enough in her own time. The only solace for this depressing fact was that she'd been given Inuyasha's word of honor, whatever that pertained to, that she would get to stay home for a whole month as school began. She smiled to herself at the thought of the friends she'd left behind in the Sengoku era. Sango, the demon hunter, with her giant hirakotsu, had promised to keep the others out of trouble. Her brother was currently free of Naraku's influence and was hanging out with her as they camped out near Kaede's house.

To top it all off, an American exchange student was due to arrive today. She would have to figure out how to hide the fact that she regularly spent time in Sengoku era Japan with a half demon and a group of demon hunters tracking down a psychopath with a penchant for shiny things a.k.a. Naraku.

Kagome shook her head, frowning again. The bell for the gate rang, making her jump a bit. It was a bit early for the student's arrival but it seemed about the right time. "Hello?" the voice rang out, clearly.

The girl at the gate was tall, slender, and had long, thick brown hair falling in waves past her shoulders. She smiled through thick glasses with golden brown eyes. Her duffel bag hung over her shoulder, the rolling suit case on the ground by her left, low heeled leather boot. Her skirt was just long enough to brush the knee-high boot's topmost edge. Her corset cut top was laced with a neon pink and her hair had a braid on the left side laced with a pink ribbon. "I guess I'm early... Name's Gabrielle." She said, smiling up at Kagome's image in the gate.

"Hello, Gabrielle, I'm Higurashi Kagome. Welcome to Japan. I'm sorry noone was there to meet you when you got off of the plane." Kagome said, practicing her English.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine. I enjoyed the walk and the atmosphere is refreshing. I hope we can be good friends during my stay." Gabrielle said, bowing formally.

"Come in, please." Kagome said, smiling as she held open the gate. "I'll take your bag."

"Nah, I got it. Thank you though. There's something in there very precious to me and I'd rather keep it with me, Higurashi-san." She said, a small smile on her face.

Kagome nodded and lead the way into the house, her mind racing at the odd statement by Gabrielle. "This is the main house." She said, pointing to the residence. Then she pointed to the well house and the God Tree. "That is the old well house. It's unsafe in there so please stay out. The God Tree is there, and behind it is the family shrine."

"Do you mind if I pay my respects to your ancestors before we go further?" Gabrielle asked.

Kagome stood there for a moment, astonished at the girl's unwavering directness. "Um... Ok." Gabrielle bowed to her, then walked to the God Tree, placed her palm against it, and closed her eyes.

A wind seemed to whip up around her, a blue-white aura surrounding the girl and the tree. The white from the girl, the blue from the tree. She seemed to be asking for entrance, asking for acceptance, and then the tree, a solid aura, seemed to open, to accept her aura, melding it with it's own. Kagome gaped. This girl was a Miko. A shaman or a witch from America of all places. "Your ancestors are glad."

"The ancestors are in the God Tree?" Kagome muttered to herself.

"Is your family home?" the girl asked, her voice was filled with power and, suddenly turning around, her eyes were a solid, glowing white.

"Uh... Yeah. Grandpa is in the shrine, Mom is in the kitchen, and Souta is in his room... I think. Why?" Kagome asked, the frown on her face changing to an expression of fear.

"Because hell has come to Tokyo. Hell has come, and you'll need your family. Your family and this one. All of your family. Both from the before time and from now. Hell arrives with the dawn. The Dawn arrives tomorrow. Prepare, Miko. Prepare and pray." The girl suddenly collapsed, power leaving her eyes, her voice, and the power leaving seemed to drain her of her strength. Kagome forgot her fear, ran to try to catch the girl, and watched her fall so slowly time seemed to stop.

"Gabrielle?" Kagome asked, reaching the fallen girl's side. "Gabrielle!" she shouted, turning the girl over.

"It's ok." the girl whispered through pale lips that were mere moments away from the red blush they were before. "It happens all the time." she smiled weakly. "The doctor says it's my heart." she tried to sit up, paused, then continued on her way up to her feet.

"Do you know what happened?" Kagome asked, her hand on the girl's arm.

"Black out spell. They get me sometimes when I've over-exerted myself." Gabrielle explained in English.

"Maybe you should lie down." Kagome suggested.

"I'm ok now. But I would like a drink of water." Gabrielle suggested, holding on to her duffel. Surprisingly it hadn't left her hand since she had come in the gate. Even through the communion with the God tree.

"Souta! Mom! Grandpa!" Kagome shouted, unaware that the three were making their respective ways to the God tree under which she and the American stood.

"Kagome, is this Gabrielle?" Souta asked, looking up into the face of the girl beside Kagome.

"Hai. I am Gabrielle." The girl said. Bowing in turn to Souta, Kagome's Mom, and Grandpa. They each introduced themselves to the transfer student.

"Mom, can you take Gabrielle to the kitchen for some water please? I've got to check on something in the shrine with Grandpa." Kagome quickly handed the girl off to her mom and grabbed her grandfather, dragging him toward the family shrine.

"Grandpa.." she began as she got out of ear-shot.

"Kagome, this girl..." He said at the same time.

"What's up with the power show?" Kagome asked, frowning, hands on her hips.

Kagome's grandfather held up his hands, waving them in front of himself like a shield. "Kagome, I know I should have told you before, but the girl is an "Earth Witch" from America. She recently was in an accident, and needed to escape from her home in the States." He told her.

"She said that hell had come to earth. To Japan. And would be here with the sunrise. And what's with that bag?" She demanded, heading toward the well house now.

"What?" Grandpa asked.

"I'm getting Inuyasha." She said, prying open the lock to the door.

"Stop, Kagome. You are the Miko. And this girl, can you trust what she said?" Grandpa said, pulling her away from the well and toward the house.

The night went by peacefully. Kagome dreamed of Inuyasha in his fire-rat gi. Across the hall, Gabrielle dreamed of blood and teeth rending flesh; of walking through fields of the dead and the risen, who feasted on those lucky enough to flee. Golden eyes flashed at her before turning feral red, blue eyes turned milky white, black eyes rolled up and away from life. Just as a scream rent the night, Gabrielle breathed a sigh.

Screams filled the streets in central Tokyo. It was barely past daybreak. Gutteral moans, the gruesome sound of flesh forcefully parting from flesh, the gnashing of teeth, the sounds of gluttony, the screams of death, the almost pitiful sound of children crying out in terror, hundreds of thousands of feet, both shod and unshod trampled those unlucky enough to trip or be pushed. The dead racing after the living falling upon the trampled and the running alike. Those bitten rose again to find fresh victims.

In a school on the other side of the river, Saeko Bushushima was mercy killing a student in front of Miss Marikawa, the school nurse. Kohta Hirano and Sayo Takagi were crouched in a hallway one floor above, experimenting on their fellow dead students.

On the observation roof, Hisashi is convulsing in agony as he dies a horrible, bloody death while Rei and Takeshi look on in mute horror. On the grounds of the school, humans scream, and Others bite and chase and eat, gorging themselves on former classmates and peers and teachers alike.

True to Gabrielle's word, Hell had come to Earth.

There's your first chapter. Do you think I should continue, or just leave it as a one-shot?

Madness, my friend, is all around you. -me.

"We're all mad here, Alice, even you." -Cheshire Cat Alice In Wonderland