Ruby slammed her back against the brick corner, keeping the barrel of her assault rifle aimed at the ground. Her legs felt like vulcanized rubber. The wall was all that held her upright. Her mouth hung wide open as she gulped down air. Every ragged breath drove a red-hot spike into her lungs. Sweat matted her black cherry hair against her forehead. She struggled to keep the heavy rifle from dropping out of her trembling arms. The rifle's sling bit into her shoulder, only adding to her agony. Every fiber of her body cried out in pain, demanding rest. But, such a thing was a luxury that she could not afford.

A low sound crept into her ears. Like air rasping through a clogged pipe. She heard more sounds. Bones creaking. Feet dragging along asphalt. Deep-throated gurgles. Fear seized her heart with corpselike claws.

Pain forgotten in an instant, Ruby shoved off the wall and turned the corner. All she saw were white, vacant eyes and teeth stained red. A body emerged from the darkened alleyway, arms stiffly held out before it. The undead thing lunged at her.

A horrified scream tore of Ruby's throat. She raised the rifle as high as her aching arms could and squeezed the trigger. Bullets struck the creature's leg. It staggered on one leg, then toppled to the ground. Laying on its side, the thing's arms still reached for the young girl.

Ruby pressed the stock of her rifle against her shoulder, took aim, and fired one last round. The zombie's head snapped back. Still at last.

She sank to her knees. All she wanted was a moment of respite from this horror.

"Yoo-hoo! Ru-u-u-uby! Was that your scream that I just heard?" called a familiar voice.

That moment of respite would forever be denied her.

Yang emerged from around a corner, a wide grin plastered across her face. Amethyst eyes landed on Ruby's prone body. "Ah, there you are, little sis! Did ya kill a zombie? How many is that for you? I'm on my twelfth frag." She stood over Ruby, hands on her hips. "Don't tell me you managed to get bitten already. It would just break my heart to have to kill you."

Additional footsteps drew closer until Weiss and Blake came into view. The feline faunus lingered behind, keeping a watchful eye on the path behind them.

"That dolt had better not have gotten bitten already! This whole thing was her idea. She's the one who wanted to come to this stupid amusement park." Weiss crossed her arms, keeping her sword at her side.

"Hey now, don't call it stupid," Yang said. "You can't say that you aren't having fun."

"Yes, I can! Running through an urban maze, being chased by actors covered in grotesque make-up, and fighting with these silly mock weapons is not my idea of fun!" Weiss waved her sword at Yang, the plastic edge coming within inches of her face.

"Whoa there!" Yang danced away from the fake blade. "You trying to kill me there, Ice Queen? That thing is a dangerous weapon!"

"Maybe in the mind of a child. All we're doing is playing pretend," Weiss scoffed.

"I kind of like playing pretend. It certainly beats fighting Grimm. At least we know there's no actual danger here," Blake said. The beginnings of a smile ghosted across her face.

"You guys are ruining my immersion!" Ruby yelled from the ground.

"You're such an adorable nerd, Ruby. You're getting way into this." Yang reached down and yanked her sister to her feet. "Now, pick up your bullets and reload your gun. We've gotta meet Team JNPR back at the café."

Yang hefted her foam baseball bat over her shoulder and led the other girls back the way they came.

Grumbling under her breath, Ruby started gathering up all the rubber tipped bullets she had recklessly fired at the zombie. She spoke to the motionless corpse. "Don't listen to Weiss, this place ain't stupid. I'm having a lot of fun being chased through this Zombie Park."

"Thanks," whispered back the zombie, briefly breaking character. "It's actually a lot of fun chasing people."

After making sure her plastic rifle was fully loaded again, she took off running. Within moments, she arrived at an outdoor café. Weiss and Yang were sitting in chairs while Blake paced in circles around the perimeter. The coast was clear of zombies, up and down the street.

"You have to admit," Yang gestured broadly at the post-apocalyptic scenery, "they went all out when designing this amusement park. It's like we're back in Mount Glenn! Plus, you know, zombies!"

"Did anyone find anything?" Ruby pulled up a chair and plopped down with her team.

"I found a chest with a few more rounds for my gun," answered Blake. She aimed down the sights of her pistol, pointing it at a red stop sign across the street. "Also a coupon for store merchandise. But that's pretty much it."

"No maps to the extraction point?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Where is Team JNPR? They should have been here by now," Weiss said.

No sooner had those words left her mouth did a high-pitched keening shatter the tranquility. Team RWBY leaped to their feet, weapons in hand. The horrible screams were coming from down the street, around the corner of an intersection.

Four figures rounded the corner at top speed. Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren were running as though their very lives depended on it.

"Oh, there they are," Weiss deadpanned.

A group of zombies appeared, chasing behind the foursome.

"And they brought company!" Yang smacked her bludgeon in her hand.

Blake cocked her pistol. "Looks like special zombies."

While most of the zombies in the park were only allowed to shuffle around slowly, there were special zombies that could run at top speed.

Ruby staggered back, face aghast with fear of the oncoming horde. Tears swam in her silver eyes. A low cry of horror leaked out of her tight throat. Her knees quaked and her hands shook as she tried to aim her rifle at the zombies barreling toward her.

"We're not going to make it!" she cried out. "We're all going to be eaten alive!"

"Aw, that's so cute!" Yang squealed. "You're getting so much into this!"

"Would you stop talking about how cute I am?" Ruby complained. "You're ruining my immersion!"

"You and your precious immersion are the highlight of my day."

"Incoming!" Blake said.

RWBY leaped into action to save their sister team. Blake and Ruby stayed back, firing their guns into the crowd, picking off the front line of zombies.

"Well," Blake sighed, "there goes those extra bullets."

Caught off guard, the second line tumbled over the first, giving Yang and Weiss free targets.

"Remember, you have to crush the head," Yang said as she brought her baseball bat down on a zombie's crown.

"I know that." Weiss stabbed her sword with precision born from a lifetime of training. "You just remember to keep your Semblance off. We're not allowed to use them here."

An enthusiastic battle cry heralded Nora's descent into the fray. She swung a foam sledgehammer low to the ground, sweeping more zombies off their feet. Ren knelt, fake knife in hand, and tapped each prone zombie on the head. "You're dead, and you're dead, and you're dead," he repeated in a dull tone.

While the battle waged in the distance, Jaune and Pyrrha walked up to Ruby and Blake.

"Hey guys," Jaune said. "Thanks for the save. I wasn't sure we were going to make it."

"Why?" Blake said. "Pyrrha should've been able to take all these zombies out by herself."

"Oh, don't mind me." Pyrrha smiled apologetically. "I'm trying to avoid fighting, to give the actors a break. I feel bad that they're going up against eight Hunters."

"Pyrrha," Jaune groaned in exasperation, "you're not supposed to feel bad for them! They're zombies!"

"But, they have to spend hour after hour getting smacked by weapons. These weapons may be fake, but it still must hurt."

"I bet that every single one of these actors has had their Aura unlocked. They're not gonna get hurt. Just go with the flow and enjoy yourself!"

"You guys are ruining my immersion," Ruby muttered under her breath.

A horrified shriek caught their attention. Nora pointed at Ren. The last zombie was gnawing on his wrist. He tapped his knife on the head of the zombie that bit him. It promptly released his arm and flopped on the ground.

"Well," Ren monotoned, "I'm bit. Guess I have to die now." He reached for the Zombie Park access card that was hanging from his neck. The card currently had the word 'Survivor' on it. Ren flipped the card over so that the word 'Zombie' was now on the front. He laid on his back and tucked his hands behind his head. A long yawn elicited from his mouth.

"No! Not you, Ren!" Nora fell to her knees and started weeping openly over Ren's corpse. "I can't go on without you!"

"Nora," Ren said. "I'm coming back as a zombie in fifty seconds. You should get out of here. I'm obligated to bite you."

"I don't care!" she sobbed dramatically.

"You'll be turned into a zombie too."

"Whatever happens, I will stay with you! Even if it means dying and having to chase my friends and eating them as a maggot infested corpse!"

"The good news is," Jaune brandished his sword, "we can just take Ren out before he turns."

"NO!" Nora wailed and threw herself over Ren. "YOU CAN'T HURT HIM! YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME TOO!"

"Nora… you…" Ren's eyebrow raised. "You really want to be turned into a zombie, don't you?"

Turquoise eyes glimmered with excitement. She giggled manically.

"Oh crap," Jaune said. "I should have known this was gonna happen."

"Well, time's up. I'm a zombie now." Ren grabbed the back of Nora's head and pulled her down. She faked a shriek of horror. He bared his teeth and lightly nipped the pale flesh of Nora's neck.

A long, blissful moan rose into the air.

Silence settled over the scene as everyone stared, mouths agape. Yang's hands were closed around Ruby's ears. Ren and Nora held perfectly still, wearing identical horrified expressions. Crimson began to creep into their cheeks.

"Hot dayum!" Yang burst out laughing. "I had no idea that Nora was into necrophilia! Ren should die more often."

Face as brilliant as a stop light, Nora lowered herself to the ground and began to count backwards. Very fast.

"Sixty-fifty-nine-fifty-eight-fifty-seven—" she chanted.

"Let's get out of here!" Ruby turned and began to run away from the pair of blushing zombies. The remaining survivors quickly followed behind her.

As fast as they could, RWBY and JP hurtled down the streets of the city. Every zombie that stumbled into their path was quickly chopped down. They only stopped after they had put a safe distance between them and their former friends.

"Okay, I have some good news." Jaune reached into his pocket. "Just a while back, while we were separated, I found a loot chest. Unfortunately, that chest was booby trapped. It activated an alarm as soon as I opened it. That's why we were attacked by those special zombies."

"What was inside?" asked Blake.

"A bunch of really good coupons for the store!"

Weiss said, "I have to give the park owners credit. This is quite an ingenious marketing set-up."

"That's the good news?" Ruby exclaimed.

"Oh right," Jaune produced a folded sheet of paper, "I also found a map."

"That's great! We can find the extraction point!" Ruby and Jaune gathered around the map. The leaders started inspecting the tattered chart while their teammates formed a protective circle.

"We paid a heavy price for this information," Pyrrha said morosely, green eyes downcast. "We shall not let our friends' deaths be in vain."

Yang smirked. "Getting a little immersed there, Pyrrha?"

"I see no harm in playing the role."

"Not you too," Weiss sighed in long-suffering.

Before long, the six Hunters were on the move again, guided by the map. They stayed close together, covering each other's blind spots even as they ran. Each street brought them closer to the extraction point. But the zombie density only grew as they drew near.

Blake fired her pistol, dropping a zombie that had the misfortune of standing in their warpath. "I've only got five bullets left. I'm going to switch to a close-quarters weapon." A rubber knife fell into her hand. "Good thing I thought to take this off Ren's body."

"Looting corpses now?" Yang said. "You'd fit right in a zombie apocalypse."

"He wasn't going to use this anyways."

Jaune raised his fist, signaling a stop. Everyone halted in their tracks. He turned his head and gazed to the side.

"Okay guys, we need to make a choice," said the blond. He pointed a finger in the direction of his eyes.

A narrow, barely lit alleyway loomed like the gate to Hell. Bloody footprints led into the atramentous gloom. A howl wafted from deep within the recesses of the foreboding path. Was it merely the wind, or something else?

"According to the map, this backstreet is a shortcut to the extraction point. We'll emerge right in front of it."

Weiss spoke dryly, "Yeah, and the entire thing doesn't scream trap to anyone else?"

"Don't tell me that you're afraid," Yang teased.

"If we go down this way," Pyrrha said, "we may lose more friends."

"But," Blake interjected, "if we go the long way, we'll run out of ammo."

"And out of time." Ruby flashed her wristwatch, its numbers blinking red. The park discouraged stragglers by imposing a time limit on how long any group could stay in the field.

"Then, it's settled," Jaune thrust his sword at the alleyway. "We just have to move as fast as we can. We're Hunters, we've been trained for situations like this!"

They formed a single file line, starting with Blake. Given the low-light situation, it fell to Blake to guide her friends through the alley. Her night vision would prove invaluable. Yang was directly behind her. Then came Pyrrha, then Jaune, then Ruby. Inside the tight corridors, her rifle couldn't provide much support. Weiss brought up the rear.

Yang squeezed Blake's shoulder and held on. Blake tightened her grip on the knife handle. Then she plunged into the menacing alleyway. A few moments passed before the humans' eyes began to adjust to the darkness.

"You know," Jaune remarked cheerfully, "I really expected something to happen by now. Maybe this wasn't a—"

Shrill wails pierced the air. Bright red lights flashed on and off. Every blink revealed bursts of movement.

"Special zombies, behind us!" Weiss yelled over the siren.

"All around us!" said Pyrrha.

"You just had to say something," Ruby snapped.

"Move, move, move!" Jaune screamed.

Zombies swarmed the group like a plague of locusts. Coming down from fire escapes, barging through doors, climbing out from dumpsters. There was no counting their numbers, not in the strobe lights. Everyone started slashing and swinging their weapons.

Chaos reigned as the Hunters fought through the alleyway. Blake stabbed and kicked every zombie that tried to grab her. Yang shoved another undead back through the doorway which he had come out of. Ruby unloaded her rifle until it clicked empty, but she couldn't see any affect. Weiss shoved Ruby from behind, even as she stabbed zombies at lightning speeds.

In the bedlam, Jaune didn't notice his shoelace coming undone. Not until it was too late. With a shriek, he tumbled to the ground. Zombies fell on top of him.

"No! Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out, her hand reaching for the doomed boy.

"Oh, great!" he yelled in outrage. "Out of all the ways to die, I had to pick the stupidest one! I'm the cliché dumb blond in every horror movie! Go ahead and eat me! I DESERVE THIS!"

Pyrrha finally drew her weapon and went to work. She flowed through the mass of zombies, slipping out of their grasping hand as though she were made from liquid. Her sword blurred into motion, slewing monsters with graceful ease. Tears streamed down her face as Pyrrha single handedly carved a path out of the alleyway. RWBY followed behind her.

As soon as they were out of the deathtrap, the sirens died and the zombies gave up the chase.

Pyrrha sank to her knees. "He's gone," she sobbed. Ruby gently laid her hand on Pyrrha's quaking shoulder.

"It's okay, he's in a better place now."

Nodding her crimson crown, Pyrrha stood on shaking legs.

"Oh, my god!" Yang's grin stretched from ear-to-ear. "You guys are so immersed in this game, it's amazing! I'm going to have so much fun teasing you two about this. Ya'll ain't gonna hear the end of this until the day I die—OH SHIT I'M DEAD!"

A zombie had burst out of a manhole beside Yang and chomped on her ankle. The zombie wisely decided to sink back into the hole.

"Welp, time to join the ranks of the undead!" Yang quickly switched her card to 'Zombie' and fell over.

Now down to four, RWBP quickly began to make their way through the streets. A bridge leading to the extraction zone was around one last intersection. As they turned the corner, however, a hauntingly familiar laugh echoed off the buildings. They spun around.

Nora, Ren, and Jaune stood behind them. Yang ran into view, wheezing from the run.

"We must defeat our fallen comrades before we may pass." Pyrrha's voice was edged with steel.

Four on four.

"Bra-a-a-a-a-ins…" Jaune droned as he approached.

"Bra-a-a-a-a-ins…" Ren droned as he approached.

"Bra-a-a-a-a-ins…" Nora giggled as she approached.

"Bo-o-o-o-o-oty…" Yang moaned as her hands groped the air in Blake's direction, a lecherous smile on her face.

Unamused, Blake raised her pistol and fired directly at Yang. A rubber tipped bullet shot toward her zombified partner. Yang's hand lashed out and snatched the bullet out of the air.

"Hey!" Ruby yelled. "Zombies can't catch bullets!"

"I never saw that in the rules," Yang said.

Amber eyes narrowed dangerously. Blake doubled over and bolted straight at Yang. Keeping her pistol trained on her target, she fired three more times. Yang ducked and dodged each bullet, moving much faster than a corpse should. With a flick of her wrist, Blake threw her knife. Its blade came within centimeters of Yang's face, but the dragoness dipped beneath. Yang lunged and grabbed Blake's shoulders. She opened her mouth wide and made to take a bite.

Instead of flesh, Yang's teeth closed around the barrel of Blake's pistol. Too late, she realized that there was still one shot remaining.

"Chew on this."

Blake squeezed the trigger. Yang's head snapped back. She spat the bullet out of her mouth, grinned, and fell to the floor. Reaching down, the feline pulled Yang's Access Card off her neck, removing her from the game.

The sound of Ruby screaming caught her attention. Blake hadn't been the only one fighting.

Nora's chewed on Weiss' wrist, even as the heiress stabbed her in the stomach.

"Sorry, Weiss!" Nora said gleefully. "Only headshots count on zombies!"

Weiss struck the ginger zombie in the head with her sword, but the damage was already done. Ruby finished dispatching Ren, and Pyrrha likewise Jaune.

"Looks like I didn't make it, after all." Weiss stared at her wrist. She switched her Access Card to 'Zombie' and laid down on the street.

"No!" Ruby yelled at the top of her lungs. "There's still time! Any living person who crosses the bridge is a winner! I'll just carry you to the finish line!"

She slipped both arms beneath Weiss' body and lifted her, bridal style.

"You'll never make it!" Weiss shouted.

Without waiting a single second, Ruby took off running toward the extraction point.

"Twenty-two, twenty-one, twenty…"

Weiss counted at an even pace.

Zombies emerged from their hiding spots and moved to intercept the Huntresses. Ruby threw herself forward, struggling to hold Weiss' limp body in her arms. Blake and Pyrrha flanked her on either side, fighting back the undead masses.

"Ten, nine, eight…"

They reached the halfway point.

"…seven, six, five…"

Pyrrha slew a zombie, but it fell in front of Ruby. The young girl stumbled over the corpse, barely keeping on her feet.

"…four, three, two…"

An unbridled scream tore out of Ruby's throat. Rose petals flared as she leaped the final distance.

"…one!"

They landed on the end of the bridge.

"Oomph!" The impact knocked the air out of Ruby's lungs.

They slid to a stop.

Silver eyes snapped open, meeting cerulean.

"You saved me," Weiss said breathlessly.

"Of course," Ruby said. "I'll never leave anyone behind. Especially not my partner."

A soft smile briefly adorned Weiss' face. Then she frowned.

"You do remember that using your Semblance counts as cheating, right?"

"A-a-a-and there goes my immersion."

Author's note: I hope you all had a Happy Halloween. This was my entry in a challenge between me and my good friend, TheLastSonata. Take a read of his story, The Grimmpocalypse, compare the two, and then say that mine is better. (discreetly slides Monopoly money across the table) There's more where that came from.