Divided We Fall

As soon as Nodoka and Tsumugi got the doors closed, they both fell against the cold metal frame and slide down until both of them were on the ground panting heavily.

Nodoka didn't know what to say.

They had just witnessed yet another person change that was supposed to be immune.

And this time, it was Sachi.

Nodoka closed her eyes tightly and tried to get it out of her head that Goro wasn't going to make it since Sachi seemed to be stronger then a normal zombie, yet she still kept her normal appearance.

It was so surreal watching someone you've grown to care for like a mother tear someone in half.

"Y-Yui, snap out of it. W-We have a job to do."

Nodoka opened her eyes and turned to look over at the others.

They looked just as shocked as she was; however, the one most affected by the sudden change was Yui.

Azusa was sitting beside the brunette shaking her slightly, trying her hardest to get Yui out of her trance. It seemed as though Yui was trying desperately to find her happy place, muttering to herself and staring unblinkingly at the floor.

Nodoka saddened at this and slowly got up and walked over to her childhood friend.

"Ui come here, she needs you." Nodoka said softly.

Ui nodded shakily as she left the comfort of Jun's arms to walk over and kneel down with Nodoka beside the distraught Yui.

"O-Onee-chan… it's okay. W-We're still alive, please snap out of it." Ui whispered as she reached out to pull Yui into a firm hug.

Everyone jumped as Ritsu kicked over a garbage can and let out a frustrated yell before punching the wall next to her.

"Goddamnit! Why'd it have to be her! Son of a…" Ritsu mumbled softly as she continued to punch the wall hard.

Mio quickly grabbed Ritsu's hands before she did any more damage to them and pulled the drummer into a hug.

"Hey, calm down…" Mio whispered as she tried to calm Ritsu down.

"But… Sachi-san…" Ritsu replied solemnly.

"Look, I know we're all… upset about this, but we have a job to finish. We owe that much to Sachi-san." Nodoka said as she looked down at Ui and Yui.

Ui gave Nodoka a concerned look before going back to stroking Yui's hair as the older Hirasawa continued to mumble to herself.

Azusa finally had enough, they had to get moving for they didn't know what could be in this building, and so she did what any sensible kouhai would do.

She pulled Yui away from Ui and gave her a rather harmless smack on the cheek.

Chocolate eyes finally looked livelier and they stared in shock at Azusa's actions.

"Don't give me that look. You were completely out of it." Azusa said as she gave Yui a kiss on the cheek before standing up. "So, what's the plan now? What do we do?"

"I was looking at the blue prints a little before we stopped… there are four rooms, each with their own power switches. I'm guessing this is to cycle the power so it doesn't get overloaded if it gets turned off." Nodoka replied as she pulled out the map and sat it down on the ground and the girls gathered around to look. "I was thinking if we split up into four groups of two, we should be able to turn them all on and get the power running before we get out of here."

"I don't like this plan already." Yui said firmly as she began to frown at her childhood friend.

Nodoka looked up in confusion.

"Why's that?"

"Because we're splitting up. We need to stay together. If we do that then everything will be fine-"

"Yui, you know we can't do that. Washi said we had five hours to finish this and two have already gone by from traveling. If we split up, we can finish the task faster and more efficiently." Nodoka argued as she began to frown as well.

"But what if one of us dies!" Yui yelled causing everyone to hold their breath.

They were all thinking the same thing; they were worried about each other and splitting up did seem like a bad idea. But Nodoka seemed pretty confident in their abilities so why worry so much?

Nodoka pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and sighed softly.

"Yui… everything will be fine. Okay? If something bad happens we'll just run for the exit. The other carriers and Goro are probably waiting outside."

Yui seemed to take this as a reasonable response before nodding slightly before allowing Nodoka to continue with her plan.

"Okay, so… here's what we need to do. Ui and Jun will take the room closest to the exit, that way if they hear anything bad they can make a run for it since they are the youngest. You understand that you two?"

Both Jun and Ui nodded before looking at the map to see where they needed to go.

"Mugi and myself will take the next room right here," Nodoka said as she pointed to a room a little further in. "Mio and Ritsu, you two should take the next to furthest room. This one right here… and Yui and Azusa-chan, I want you to take the main power room right here. It's the last room in this building and you should be able to get in just fine… but should you run into anything-"

"We'll be fine Nodoka-chan. I believe in us." Yui said firmly as she turned to Azusa and mustered the best confident smile that she could at this point in time.

Azusa smiled back a little before looking back at the map. She wanted to memorize what she could that way if they did run into something, she'd be able to get them out of there.

"Okay, since we have our destinations… I say we head there as fast as possible but with caution, and finish this task for Sachi-san." Nodoka said firmly as she rolled up the map and pocketed it before pulling out her flashlight that she got from Washi.

"Wait." Yui said as she stood up and looked over her friends before averting her eyes to the ground sadly. "I-If one of us d-doesn't make it… I don't want to leave them without… I mean it might be… stupid but…"
"Yui. Do you want a group hug?" Ritsu asked as she smiled tenderly.

Yui sniffled softly at the suggestion but through her teary eyes, she nodded slightly.

The girls were touched by Yui's kind heart so they gathered close once more for a group hug, one that calmed their hearts a little.

"Thank you guys. Please don't leave me… let's make it out of here and go… home." Yui whispered to her friends as she pulled away and watched as her friends split up and began walking to their destinations in the dark cold building.

"Ui!" Yui yelled causing her sister to stop in her tracks and turn back around to stare at her. "Be careful okay? Mom and Dad may still be alright… so when this is over and everything… lets go back to them okay?" Yui asked as she felt tears slide down her cheeks.

Ui offered a smile to her big sister before nodding firmly.

"Yes… I'd like that. You be careful too Onee-chan."

The two sisters gave each other one last look before they went their separate ways.

Azusa followed Yui through the dark halls of the power plant while the older Hirasawa held a flashlight tightly in her hands as she constantly moved it towards any small noise she heard.

"Yui, are you going to be okay holding that… do you want me to take the flashlight?" Azusa asked as she walked a little closer to Yui to try and make her feel a little better, even though her heart was pounding just as hard in her chest.

"N-No, I'm… I'm okay. I'm just a little…"

"Scared?... Me too." Azusa admitted as her eyes darted back and forth, trying to focus in the dim light of the flashlight.

She could feel Yui shaking beside her as the two of them came to the large doors that sealed the main generators of the power plant and Yui gulped visibly when she noticed the blood stains on the door.

"Maybe we should go back… j-just say we couldn't do it." Yui mumbled softly, but Azusa caught every word.

"You know we can't do that… everyone else is doing their part, we can do ours… I'm sure it's not that bad, after all we haven't seen any actual dead bodies. So, maybe it was a random zombie that got cleaned out by the workers." Azusa said as she tried to comfort Yui into feeling a bit braver.

The brunette nodded slightly before reaching out to grab the door handle, shuddering when she felt the blood under her fingertips before pulling it open. It gave a very loud creaking noise before Yui instantly shinned the light into the area.

She saw a few more puddles of blood, but still no bodies as she and Azusa made their way into the room. Both of the girls groaned softly and held their noses at the smell of rotting flesh, even though no bodies were apparent.

"Ugh, let's just hurry up and turn on the power so we can get out of here… it smells horrible." Azusa said as she grabbed the flashlight from Yui as the two of them walked up to the control panel.

"Uhm…" Yui hummed to herself as she tilted her head and looked at all the buttons. "What button am I suppose to push?"

Azusa shinned the light on the control panel and began searching for anything that looked like a main power switch.

"I don't know, pick something that looks bigger than the rest? Or maybe that says on? I don't know… I've never actually been in a power plant before."

"I should have asked Nodoka-chan when I had the chance." Yui sighed softly before she finally spotted something that looked a little bigger than the normal buttons and it also had a lightning bolt above it. "Oh, maybe it's this one!" Yui pushed the button as she said this and the room sprung to life with many loud noises as well as the lights flickering on.

Azusa smiled happily as she gave Yui a pat on the back.

"See, that wasn't too difficult, now was it?"

Yui nodded firmly and gave a smile back to her kouhai.

Azusa was about to lead Yui out of the room when they both noticed a trail of green goo trailing from the door they walked through to a few inches behind them once they turned around to leave.

"Do you think it's a vomiter?" Yui asked in a low voice as she and Azusa both refused to look up to see what was above them.

"I don't know… I didn't hear anything when I came in." Azusa whispered back.

"W-Well we should… look up… r-ready?" Yui asked as she pulled her rifle off her back and held it at the ready, signaling Azusa to do the same.

Once they both had their guns ready and they were about to look up, something very large landed right behind them and gave a loud terrible noise that sounded like a cross between a scream and a roar.

The girls, fearing what was behind them, took off running towards the exit without looking back.

They didn't get far as the thing instantly caught up with them and Yui felt the wind get knocked out of her as something large and hard hit her in the back, sending her and Azusa both flying through a wall like it was paper.

Yui gasped for air as she scrambled to pull herself up; she could hear Azusa do the same beside her even though the pounding in her ears muffled it and her eyes shifted to the thing that was now a few feet from them.

It looked like a panzer; however it had a few new mutations to it. Its jaw was broken off and it was dripping what looked like the vomiter acid. It also had large boney spikes sticking out of its body in random places. Then Yui's eyes went to its large hands; its fist had large claws on them that were drenched in blood.

"A-Azusa, Azusa get up!" Yui yelled as she helped her kouhai to her feet as the panzer hybrid gave another chilling scream and began chasing after them once more once it noticed they were still alive.

Azusa stumbled a bit before Yui steadied her and the two of them turned to run down the hall to try and lose the zombie, even though both of them now felt the pain of being tossed through a wall all over their bodies.

Yui felt like her left shoulder had been popped out of place and the pain in them numbed her legs as she forced herself to keep running beside Azusa.

"Just run! Don't look back!" Yui heard Azusa yell out as the thing began closing in on them once more.

They twisted and weaved through the halls to try and lose the panzer when luck was finally with them and they heard the thing wander off in a different direction.

Yui leaned against the wall and caught her breath while Azusa got on her knees and panted loudly.

"We have to tell the others about that thing… we have to get out of here, it'll kill us." Azusa said between gasps of breath.

Yui nodded silently and she pulled Azusa to her feet and the two of them quickly made their way towards the other rooms where their friends would be.

"Did you hear that Mio?" Ritsu asked as she stood near the entrance of the door they had just walked though before looking down the dark hall towards where Yui and Azusa walked. "It sounded like someone screamed… maybe we should go check on them."

"We will after we turn on the power…" Mio said as she began fiddling with a few switches. "Damn it, why do none of these work?"

"You have to turn it on for it to work silly." Ritsu replied as she grinned while watching Mio push random buttons.

"Then you get over here and try; find it if you're so smart." Mio said irritably as she threw her hands into the air and handed Ritsu the flashlight.

"Oi, if you're not smart enough for this, what makes you think I am?" Ritsu replied as she walked over to the panel and began looking over the switches.

Mio pulled out her gun and looked back down the hall while Ritsu looked for the switch when Mio could vaguely hear something echoing down the dark hallway.

"Ritsu… I hear something."

"One moment, I think I found it."

"I'm serious, Ritsu! Something's heading here!"

"Here we go~" Ritsu said happily as she flipped the power on and the lights lit up the room and the hallway, giving Mio a perfect view of what was heading their way.

A large group of zombies scrambled down the hallway, some even tripping over each other as they tried to get to their new meal.

"Ritsu! Horde!" Mio yelled as she slammed the door shut and tried to barricade the door before the zombies began pounding on it, trying to break in.

Ritsu was instantly at Mio's side, pushing the door so it stayed shut while her girlfriend shoved anything big she could find in front of the door.

Ritsu grunted as the zombies pushed even harder to get through and she couldn't help but scream as a hand busted through the wood and grabbed her roughly around the neck.

Ritsu could feel her air passage close up from the harsh grip and as she gagged out for help, she could feel Mio grab the combat dagger off her belt and slice the zombie's hand clean off, allowing Ritsu to get away from the door.

"Ritsu, are you okay?" Mio asked worriedly, but she didn't get an answer as the door broke down and the things she had pushed in front of it got shoved aside as the zombies poured into the small room.

About that time, Ritsu had recovered her breath and was now using her rifle to fend off anything that got close to her and Mio.

The raven-haired bassist was slashing with the combat dagger while using the handgun to keep Ritsu's back protected.

The two of them actually did a very good job at keeping the zombies at bay.

Ritsu would take out anything from things that got too close to zombies that were far away while Mio actually did what she could to keep the zombies away from Ritsu's back.

Ritsu couldn't help but smile a little as she felt that she and Mio were in tune with each other once more, both protecting the other.

This was almost how she pictured it, but never had she thought she would be protecting Mio from zombies.

Mio felt this same sensation as she turned with Ritsu to continue beating back the zombies before they got any closer before her eyes caught sight of something that made her heart stop.

It looked like a pouncer, but its jaws were dripping with the all too familiar green goo of the vomiter.

But that wasn't what had Mio worried.

It was gazing at Ritsu with a look of pure hunger.

Mio could feel her heart beat faster in her chest as her pulse began to race.

It was going to pounce Ritsu.

And she knew, one bite from that thing and it was over.

Mio felt her eyes water as they shifted back to Ritsu, who was yelling something towards her while kicking a zombie over before shooting it in the head, but Mio couldn't hear her. Her pulse was beating so hard in her ears she was sure she had gone deaf.

They were both covered in blood by now, but that didn't matter; Mio didn't want to watch Ritsu get hurt.

She knew what she had to do.

It would have been nice to hear Ritsu laugh just once more before this point, but Mio knew she would never hear that sweet voice again.

Gomen Ritsu. I love you.

Mio thought as she quickly moved right as the thing jumped, jaws open, ready for the best meal it's had all day.

Ritsu heard the noise, the loud screech of a pouncer, but she knew she wouldn't be able to move fast enough to get out of the way. So her body seized up and she waited for the impact.

When something hit her, she was shoved almost violently to the ground before she heard a sound that caused her blood to turn cold.

There was a soft very feminine gasp before the gashing of teeth met bone before two bodies hit the floor in the opposite direction from where Ritsu landed.

The drummer quickly pulled herself up and shot at a zombie that tried to take advantage of her being down before her wide eyes saw what had happened.

The pouncer hybrid had lunged, aiming for her, but Mio had shoved her out of the way at the last second.

"N-No…" Ritsu mumbled when she saw the pouncer kneeling over the unmoving form of her childhood friend.

No.

Over the body of her girlfriend and lover.

"No… No…"

The pouncer pulled its teeth from Mio's neck and the green goo dripped down to mix with the blood of its victim as Mio's lifeless stormy eyes stared into Ritsu's golden ones.

Something within Ritsu snapped the moment the pouncer turned and set its gaze on her.

Her lip upturned into a snarl as tears streamed down her face, her eyes suddenly becoming more feral looking as the pouncer once again lunged for her.

This time however, Ritsu reached for the combat dagger Mio had dropped and right as the thing got within her range. She reached out, grabbing the thing by the upper jaw, not minding the bite she got to her hand, as she angled the dagger and began repeatedly stabbing it over and over in the neck.

Blood coated her arms and hands as she shoved the very dead pouncer to the ground before turning towards the hissing bleeding zombies that were still eager to have a bit of her and the fresh meat lying not too far.

Ritsu stood over Mio's body and dropped the empty rifle to the ground before holding up the combat dagger in the offensive way as she glared furiously at the zombies.

"Come on… COME ON! Come and get it!" Ritsu yelled out; this action caused the zombies to rush her, each one of them wanting a piece.

Ritsu snarled loudly as she grabbed hold of one of the closest zombies and stabbed it in the chest, not even minding as even more blood coating her body as she shoved it away and slashed another zombies' head clean off that got too close.

She yelped in pain as a zombie got her from behind and dug its teeth into her sensitive shoulder, but she instantly twisted the dagger behind her and she felt the blade sink into the eye socket of the zombie biting her.

Pain meant nothing now as she punched, kicked, stabbed, and slashed at whatever got close to her. But as she continued to suffer bites of all sizes on her body, she began to feel her energy and life slowly leaving her as the numbers of zombies began dwindling.

It wasn't long before it was just her and one more of those damned hybrid pouncers.

Ritsu couldn't feel anything anymore. The pain from so many bites numbed her body and she could feel her heart slowing down as her vision blurred.

Blood dripped from her forehead, shoulders, arms and back as she struggled to stay on her feet.

The pouncer growled lowly as it began to hunch down, getting ready to pounce.

Don't worry Mio… I'll be with you soon.

Ritsu held the bloodied combat dagger close and raised an arm to get ready to strike when a shot rang out and blood shot out from a wound inflicted in the pouncer's head as it fell lifelessly to the ground.

Ritsu's body shook violently as she collapsed to her knees.

"Ricchan!"

"Ritsu-senpai!"

The drummer fell to her front and she let out a soft groan as she heard footsteps getting closer before she heard someone scream and a loud gasp.

"M-Mio-chan! No!"

"O-Oh g-god."

"Y…. Y-Yui…." Ritsu mumbled as she felt someone push her onto her back, dulled golden eyes opened slightly to see a very teary eyed Yui staring down at her.

"R-Ricchan! W-What happened, M-Mio-chan's… s-she isn't breathing! W-Why a-are you so…"

"…t-they k-killed her… s-she's… d-dead." Ritsu said softly as if saying it out loud would help her come to terms with it.

"A-Azusa! Give me something! M-Maybe w-we can s-stop the bleeding-"
"Y-Yui, I-I don't t-think-"
"She's dying! We have to do something!"

"… p-private Y-Yui." Ritsu whispered, feeling a little more lightheaded as it began to get harder and harder for her to breath.

Yui turned back to her dying friend and let out a choking whimper.

"H-Hai, C-Commander?"

"…p-promise me… y-you'll keep g-going. N-No… don't j-just p-promise… you have t-to keep going… e-everything w-will be fine… y-you'll do that f-for us r-right?... f-for me a-and… M-Mio?"

Ritsu watched as Yui closed her eyes tightly and sobbed harshly as she shook her head firmly.

"Y-Yui… p-please… d-do that for me. T-Tell me… you'll g-go on."

"R-Ricchan… I… I c-can't… You have to be okay! W-We promised…"

Ritsu summoned the last of her strength to raise a hand and put it against Yui's cheek, not even feeling the tears mix with the blood on her hands as she smeared away some of the tears.

"… G-Gomen… a-at l-least… p-put me beside M-Mio… p-please… d-do that for me."

After a short moment, Yui nodded and she looked over at Azusa, who was crying just as hard as Yui was and the two of them helped Ritsu over towards Mio's body.

Yui placed Ritsu right beside their friend while Azusa knelt down and closed Mio's eyes with the tip of her fingers.

"S-Senpai..." Azusa whimpered out as she looked over both Mio and Ritsu sadly while Yui choked on her sobs.

"… A-Azusa… w-watch o-over Y-Yui… s-she'll need you." Ritsu whispered unable to keep her voice above a whisper anymore as she slipped her hand into Mio's and her head rested against the bloodied shoulder while her eyes slowly closed.

Azusa felt her heart get caught in her throat as she watched as Ritsu inhaled deeply.

"R-Ricchan… we can take you to the others, N-Nodoka-chan will know what to do… you and Mio both… you'll be fine…" Yui said firmly as she reached out to touch Ritsu's face once the drummer had shut her eyes.

When Ritsu didn't respond Yui grabbed her shoulder and shook her slightly.

"Ricchan?..." Yui felt her throat tighten up and she pulled her hands away from Ritsu when she noticed her friend's chest no longer rose with labored breaths.

"Yui… we need to go. C-Come on, that thing is still c-chasing us." Azusa said softly, trying to calm the nerves in her own body from witnessing two of their best friends die.

Yui stared down at her friends and let out a choking sob before the wall to that room was busted down by the panzer hybrid.

Both Yui and Azusa knew they didn't have any more time to mourn for their friends as they took off running once more, the adrenaline renewed in their systems as they ran for their lives.

"Okay… flipping this switch should do the trick." Nodoka whispered to herself as she flicked her finger over the power button and smiled brightly when the lights came on and the machines in the room roared to life. "Excellent. Mugi, that was easier than I thought it'd be."

The blonde gave Nodoka a smile as the bespectacled girl climbed down from the control panel and gave her a firm hug.

Tsumugi suppressed a shudder that ran through her as she hugged back before she turned towards the hallway and stared sadly at it.

"Do you think the others are okay?" Tsumugi asked as she pulled away from the hug to stare into those tired dark brown eyes.

Nodoka was about to answer when she noticed how pale Tsumugi looked. Her worry escaladed when she felt how cold Tsumugi's hands were.

"Mugi… why are-"
The two of them jumped back away from each other at the sound of a collection of roars.

Nodoka pushed her worry back as Tsumugi and her got their weapons out and got ready for the inevitable rush that was about to collapse on their spot.

The wall to their left cracked open as a large group of zombies poured in like ants, jaws dripping with blood ready for the kill. But Tsumugi and Nodoka were ready; they began to fire right as the zombies broke through taking them out as they tried to get into the room through the wall.

Some of the zombies got a little smarter and instead of going through the broken down wall, they decided to try and trick the humans by going through the opened door.

One of the zombies even thought it was going to get a bite of one of the girls as it ran up towards Nodoka, but the blunt end of Tsumugi's gun slammed into the side of its head knocking it senseless before she shot it twice in the head with her handgun, killing it.

Tsumugi then took her rifle and began to shoot anything that tried to come in through the door while Nodoka took the wall.

It wasn't long before they both ran out of bullets, but by that time the last of the zombies had been beaten back and they were once again safe.

Nodoka let out a shaky sigh as she dropped the rifle to the ground and she placed a hand on her sweat-drenched face.

"Mugi… are you okay?" Nodoka asked once the threat was over.

"H-Hai… just got… a lot of adrenaline running through me. You're okay right?" Tsumugi asked as she turned her dulled blue eyes on the bespectacled girl.

"Yeah. I'm good… we should get out of here fast. Being trapped in one place when a rush happens is very dangerous." Nodoka replied as she stood up and walked towards the door. "Follow me close behind okay? I don't want to lose you as we run to the exit."

Tsumugi didn't say anything, but she did nod softly as the two of them began running down the hallways. Shortly after, the blonde stopped following Nodoka and watched as the girl ran off into the darkness, not even realizing she had stopped.

Nodoka was trying to formulate a plan in her head; if she could find the others and get them out of their fast enough everything should be fine right? They were more likely to survive in big numbers after all.

"Yui was right… why didn't I listen to her Mugi! I'm such an idiot…" Nodoka said to herself as she quickly turned a corner. When her girlfriend didn't answer, that's when Nodoka finally realized something was amiss.

She stopped running and turned to look behind her. When all she saw was darkness, her heart began racing even more.

"…Mugi?..." Nodoka whimpered out as her eyes began wide with fear. "MUGI!"

Nodoka ignored the fact that this was a bad idea and pulled out her last weapon, a handgun, and ran back into the dark hallways the way she came to try and locate just where she had lost Tsumugi.

Each time she turned a corner, she would scream out the blonde name, hoping she'd answer back.

Finally Nodoka turned a corner and saw Tsumugi kneeling by the wall, looking completely lifeless as she rested her head against the cold wall, back turned to Nodoka.

"Mugi…? Are you okay? You had me worried back there when you stopped following me…" Nodoka said as she placed a hand over her heart, trying to calm it down as she walked over towards the girl she had fallen for. "Come on… get up. We need to get to the others."

Nodoka frowned a little when Tsumugi didn't move or even acknowledge the fact that she was there.

"Mugi? Are you… okay?" Nodoka asked as she finally knelt down behind the blonde and reached out to touch her shoulder, but once her flashlight hit a certain angle and the light showed Tsumugi's hands Nodoka instantly retracted her hand before it even touched the girl.

Nodoka could feel her heart pound against her ribs as she moved back away from Tsumugi once she noticed what was wrong.

Tsumugi's hands were now clawed, like the screamer and the little ones.

"N-No… i-it… Mugi… t-that's why y-you were…" Nodoka mumbled softly as tears appeared in her wide fearful eyes.

Nodoka wasn't watching where she was going as she backed away from Tsumugi and her feet got tangled up in some wires and metal, causing her to trip and the metal to scrape loudly on the floor.

Tsumugi snapped her head towards the sound, blood red eyes staring into dark terrified brown.

"M-Mugi-"

The blonde screeched loudly and quickly got to her feet and began to sprint towards the downed girl, but Nodoka quickly untangled herself from the mess and scrambled to her feet to run away from the enraged zombified girl.

It didn't matter where she ran as long as she didn't have to face the zombie that was once someone she held dearly.

No, not even that, she couldn't kill Tsumugi, there was just no way. So she didn't; instead she ran as fast as she could away from the zombie.

"W-We lost it again." Azusa said as she held onto the wall next to her and gasped for breath.

Yui was doing the same, yet she was kneeling on the ground heaving like she was about to vomit.

"Y-Yui… are you okay?" Azusa asked while kneeling next to the heartbroken brunette.

Yui didn't answer at first, but soon she quickly wrapped her arms around her kouhai and sobbed loudly into her shoulder while hugging her.

"No! Of course I'm not okay! R-Ricchan and Mio-chan are d-d-d-d," Yui choked on the word so she completely gave up trying to say it before crying out loudly once more, "I-I knew this plan was a bad idea… h-had we stayed together… w-we wouldn't have lost them!"

Azusa felt tears once more in her eyes as she closed them tightly to try and keep them at bay, trying to be strong for the older girl as she broke down.

"Y-Yui… all we can do now is get out of here and hope the others get out as well." Azusa whispered as she tried to soothe Yui's fears and pains by stroking up and down her back. "Come on now, get up. Let's get out of here while that thing isn't chasing us."

Yui nodded slowly before pulling herself to her feet and she turned the corner beside them only to have something bump into her very hard, knocking her and the person over.

"A-Ah… Y-Yui? A-Azusa-chan?" Nodoka said in shock and still hysterical over what had happened to her and yet she couldn't believe she had literally run into the two girls.

"Nodoka-san! Are you okay? Azusa asked when she noticed how pale and terrified she looked.

It was then Nodoka remembered what she was running from.

"N-No! W-We need to get out of here!"
"We know, there's this thing following us that-"
"No you don't understand, Azusa-chan! Mugi is-"

Azusa helped Yui to her feet as Nodoka pulled herself up quickly right as the zombified Tsumugi rounded the corner and snarled loudly at the small group of girls.

Nodoka hear both Azusa and Yui pull their rifles up and trained them on the zombie.

"Wait NO!" Nodoka yelled as she got between them and Tsumugi.

"What are you doing? That thing's going to ki-"
"That's Mugi! Don't shoot her!" Nodoka yelled causing both Yui and Azusa to gasp loudly.

"W-wha-" Yui started, but didn't get to finish as the zombified Tsumugi lunged towards her, sprinting faster to get a bite of one of the girls.

Yui let out a startled yell as Nodoka quickly got between her and Tsumugi once more and she opened her arms wide as Tsumugi dove, claws out in front of her. But Nodoka didn't run; she felt the body hit her own and pain blossom throughout her being, but she quickly wrapped her arms around Tsumugi, hugging her tightly as the zombie bit into her neck.

Yui watched horrified as those claws penetrated Nodoka's prone body, going clear through her as she and Tsumugi tumbled to the ground as blood splattered the ground while Nodoka gave a strangled gasp of pain.

Nodoka's glasses hit the ground and broke in half from the force behind the tackle.

"NODOKA-CHAN!" Yui yelled out as she pulled her gun up once more.

That zombie may be another one of her close friends, but she didn't want to see Nodoka get torn apart by her.

So with a very heavy heart and tears streaming down her face, Yui quickly ran up to the zombified Tsumugi and shot her over and over to get her to release Nodoka.

Yui dropped her rifle to the ground right as Tsumugi's body fell over onto its side, lifeless once more.

"O-o-o-oh g-g-god." Yui whimpered shakily as she stared at the palms of her hands. They were now stained with her friend's blood.

Sweet, caring and kind Tsumugi.

"Y-Yui?" Azusa whimpered out after watching what had just happened.

"I…I-I-I k-killed… M-Mugi-chan." Yui said as she swallowed many times, as if trying to kept the contents of her stomach down from the horrible thing she had just done. "O-Oh g-god… oh god…"

Azusa wanted nothing more than to comfort Yui, but she knew it was useless. Tsumugi was one of the sweetest people she had ever met, and she understood how Yui felt.

Then she realized something.

Nodoka was still breathing.

"Y-Yui! Nodoka-san is still alive!" Azusa yelled as she knelt down next to the girl and looked over her bloodied body worriedly when she noticed how harshly Nodoka was trying to breathe.

Yui quickly crawled over to her childhood friend and hovered over her while looking down at her with wide fearful eyes.

"Nodoka-chan! N-Nodoka-chan! P-Please get up! I…I don't want to lose you too! P-Please!" Yui yelled as she placed a hand against her friend's face, giving her a harmless pat on the cheek to try and keep her awake.

Nodoka's eyes fluttered a little as she stared up almost lifelessly at Yui. It was getting very difficult for her to breath; it felt like her lungs were full of water, yet she knew better.

"Nodoka-chan… y-you h-have to be okay… w-we were g-going to g-go h-home. Remember?" Yui asked as she brushed a hair out of Nodoka's face.

"…h-home…" Nodoka mumbled softly, almost too soft for Yui to hear. "…t-that'd b-be… w-wonderful…"

Yui almost screamed when she watched Nodoka's body shudder a little before going limp, her eyes closing as a small tear trailed down her cheek.

"N-Nodoka-chan?... N-Nodoka-chan!" Yui yelled out hysterically as she quickly buried her face into her childhood friend's chest, fists gripping her shirt tightly as she cried loudly into the bloody mess.

Azusa sobbed softly as she watched Yui almost completely lose it once Nodoka took that final breath. It was almost too painful to watch as Yui tried hard to get Nodoka to get up even though it was hopeless.

Finally the kouhai had enough, she quickly made her way over to Yui and grabbed her tightly by the shoulders and tried her best to pull her away from the bespectacled girl's body.

"Y-Yui! P-Please, s-stop, there's nothing we can do for her!"

"N-No I'm not leaving her! I c-can't leave her too! NO!" Yui yelled out as she struggled to get out of Azusa's hold before the kouhai quickly move in front of Yui and hugged her tightly to stop her from trying to go back to Nodoka.

"There's n-nothing more you can do for her!" Azusa yelled as tears streamed down her face. "P-please let's just get out of here, please." The younger guitarist begged as she hugged Yui even tighter once she felt the older Hirasawa stop struggling before she buried her face into Azusa's hair and cried loudly against her.

Azusa gasped when Yui suddenly pulled away, a look of realization on her face as she stood up and turned towards the hallway that led to the exit.

"Ui."

'W-What?" Azusa asked, not really hearing what Yui said before she watched as the brunette took off down the hallway.

"Ui! She's still alive! She has to be! We have to find her!" Yui yelled as she ran towards a closed door.

"Yui wait-" Azusa yelled as she got to her feet to follow, but was cut off by the screaming roar of the hybrid panzer.

The door Yui had opened revealed the zombie and it reacted much more quickly than poor Yui and Azusa screamed as she watched it smack Yui across the hallway before she skidded to a stop right in front of the stunned kouhai.

Azusa quickly got down to help Yui up, but right as she pulled on Yui's arm she felt a warm liquid on her hands as well as heard Yui yelp in pain.

"A-Ah! M-My arm!" Yui yelled out as she struggled to get up with Azusa's help.

Azusa surveyed Yui's arm and noticed a large gash from the panzer's claws running up and down the length of Yui's left shoulder and didn't get to do much about it as the panzer closed in on them once more.

Azusa quickly pulled Yui along as they dodged the large arm before Yui looked down and saw the flare gun that Nodoka had been carrying.

With some massively quick thinking on her part she bent down as they passed by and turned around.

"Yui what are you do-"
Right as Azusa turned to see what Yui was planning, she watched in amazement as Yui shot the panzer in the face with the flare, causing the monster temporary blindness as it began trashing around madly.

"Run Azusa!"

The two of them quickly got away from the panzer once more while Yui put the flare gun on her belt, that way when they got out of the power plant, they'd be able to signal the other carriers.

But right now she had more important things to do.

She had to find Ui.

She didn't understand how it happened, one minute her and Jun were turning on the power on the control panel, then the next they were running for their lives towards the exit while trying to kill the flood of zombies that had tried to ambush them.

Ui was thankful for Jun's quick reactions as the pigtailed girl tugged her along as they shot and ran at the same time.

It wasn't long before the final zombie fell and they were now in the open lobby of the power plant, just feet away from the exit.

Jun sat down hard on the floor and tilted her head back to pant for air; sweat dripped from her brow as her body shook from exhaustion.

"A-Ah… oh god… I thought we were… gonna die." Jun said between pants as her violet eyes looked up at Ui who flopped down next to her to pant as well.

"M-Me too… God I'm so happy you got us out of there as fast as you did…" Ui replied as she slide her fingers across the knuckles of Jun's hand before the violet eyed girl shifted her hand so they could intertwine their fingers together.

"Yeah… whew…" Jun panted out as she inhaled deeply before allowing her body to relax. "Say… Ui?"

Ui hummed as she felt her stomach drop below her navel and a cold feeling of dread replaced the relaxed feeling.

"D-Did… do you have this… really bad feeling that something happened?" Jun asked as she squeezed Ui's hand tighter. She could feel the brunette shaking slightly before she turned her chocolate eyes to Jun.

"Yeah… I do. You don't think…"
"No no they should be fine… they're with each other right now. I-I… they have to be okay." Jun said softly as she gave Ui a gentle kiss on the cheek.

Ui smiled at Jun's optimism before she stood up and looked at the exit.

"We should get out of here while we can; maybe Goro and the others are out there right now."

"Hai, that sounds like a pla-a-augh!"

Ui's eyes went wide as she watched a spike impale itself in Jun's right shoulder before the tip of it stuck out through her chest.

"JUN-CHAN!" Ui yelled out desperately as the spike suddenly wiggled its way completely through Jun and began wrapping tightly around you before yanking her backwards; causing the young bassist to scream in pain before Ui quickly grabbed hold on the other arm and tried to tug her back.

Blood began to ooze from the wound inflicted upon Jun by the tongue, as Ui now realized, as the brunette shot a look at what had a hold on her friend and lover.

There, behind Jun, was a zombie Ui had never seen before. It was spiky like the spiker she had seen before, yet it had a hold on Jun like a tonguer.

"G-Ga-aah! U-Ui!" Jun yelled out as tears coursed down her cheeks as Ui continued to try and pull her back to the ground.

After a moment of struggling with the thing Ui finally gave up and grabbed the handgun on her belt and shot at the zombie without looking. A bullet pierced the tongue and both she and Jun collapsed to the floor as the zombie shrieked in pain and disappeared into the darkness.

Ui quickly recovered from the fall and she tugged the tongue out of Jun's shoulder as carefully as she could, and it hurt her to do so as Jun let out several loud screams of pain as she removed the tongue.

Ui then noticed that the gaping wound in her friend's shoulder was low enough that it could have possibly punctured her lung.

"J-Jun-chan… y-you're going to be okay… just stay with me alright?" Ui pleaded once she realized Jun was coughing up large amounts of blood as she reached up to clutch the wound tightly.

"U-Ui…a-ah…u-ui it h-hurts." Jun cried softly as her face scrunched up tightly in pain while her body arched slightly, blood began dripping from her lips while her body shook violently.

"S-Shhh… I k-know it does. B-but don't worry, I-I'll get you out of here." Ui replied tearfully as she tried to look for anything she could use to bandage the wound.

She was about to reach for her gun that had ended up a few feet away from her when sudden pain struck her arm.

To her horror, she noticed the same spiked tongue sticking completely through her arm before it began to wrap itself tightly around her arm and it yanked her into the air away from Jun.

She could hear Jun yell out before she was suspended in the air, face to face with the large spiky tonguer.

Ui swallowed back a sob of pain as blood began to flow down her arm from the wound as the zombie gurgled happily in front of her face.

She tried to reach for the rifle on her back, but as her hand touched the finger hold, something slithered up the back of her shirt and it suddenly became much harder to breath.

It took Ui a moment to realize what had just happened as she tilted her head down to the middle of her chest and she saw why she suddenly felt pain.

The zombie had impaled her straight through her chest from her back and it was almost like it was laughing at her as she struggled to breathe as blood began to fill her lungs.

She let out choking gasp, coughing up the blood in her throat as she slowly tried to reach for her rifle once more even as the spiky tongue wiggled in against her insides.

It was about to devour her when a shot rang out and the tonguer dropped Ui unceremoniously on the floor, which caused the young Hirasawa to finally grab hold of the rifle and she fired a few rounds into its face before it finally collapsed in a puddle of its own blood.

Ui dropped the rifle and tried desperately to pull herself up, but her body refused to move once the danger was over. She could still feel the spiked tongue in her chest, though she was thankful it no longer moved; however she knew her time was very short.

She couldn't breathe and her vision was getting darker.

"…J-Jun…" Ui muttered as she turned her head slightly in the direction where her friend was.

She felt more tears in her eyes when she noticed Jun staring back at her, eyes completely lifeless and her gun lying limply in her open hand.

She was gone, but not without trying to help Ui.

Ui let out a choked cry as she turned her head back up towards the ceiling and stared at the blackness that was slowly closing in on her.

"…g-gomen… ne…. o-onee-chan… g-gom…en…" Ui whispered sadly as her breathing finally stopped and her mind ceased to think.

"This is the way out! Quickly, maybe Ui is out there since she wasn't in the room!" Yui yelled while running towards the slightly closed doors. She was a bit concerned when she saw the many bodies of zombies that had been shot all over the hallway she and Azusa were running through, but it gave her hope that her sister was still alive along with Jun.

"Wait for me Yui! You're running too fast!" Azusa yelled out as she panted loudly. Her legs were screaming for her to stop, but Yui was in no such mood. She had one thing on her mind and that was to find her little sister, the most important person to her on the face of this earth other then Azusa herself.

"She'll be right through these doors, she'll be outside; I just know it!" Yui yelled out as she reached the doors and she flung them open before her legs began to move once more.

However, she felt her foot hit something and she tripped over whatever it was before smacking the floor hard.

"Yui!… o-oh… n-n-no."

Yui heard Azusa whimper this sentence and she slowly pulled herself up and surveyed her surroundings with care.

Chocolate eyes fell on the dead body of Jun, whose eyes still stared unblinkingly towards her. The gaping hole in her chest told Yui more then she wanted to know as she slowly pulled herself to her knees.

She heard a loud sob from Azusa and that told her she didn't want to turn around to see what she tripped over.

However, Yui couldn't stop herself.

She held her breath and turned her head to look on the ground behind her.

Her heart shattered.

Her beloved sister lay just a few inches from her, bloodied and not breathing.

"Y-Yu-"

Yui shook her head firmly as she scooted towards her sister's body and looked down into the pale face as tears fell onto the cold skin.

Yui could feel her body shake even more as she slid her arms around Ui's body and held her close, cradling her tightly.

"No… n-not Ui… n-not m-my sister…" Yui whispered as she pressed her lips against Ui's forehead as she slid her fingers through the matted and bloody hair. "U-Ui… w-wake up… p-please… n-not you too…"

Azusa could bear to look at Yui as the older of the Hirasawa's sobbed over her sister's body; it was just too much for the twin-tailed girl. She sniffled softly as she tried to calm herself down, but this was too much.

Her senpai, as well as her two best friends, were dead.

It was just her and Yui left, yet Azusa didn't know how much of Yui was still intact. She figured the death of her sister probably shattered whatever was left of her psyche, but Azusa had to at least try to get Yui to get out of there.

After she walked over to Jun to close her eyes Azusa slowly brought herself to Yui's side and got down behind her and placed a hand on her back, feeling just how badly the brunette was shaking as she rocked back and forth with Ui in her arms.

"Y-Yui… w-we're so close… l-let's just leave this place… g-get away f-from everything. I… I don't want to be here… n-not to sound disrespectful… or something like that but… t-they'd want us to-"
"N-no… n-no…" Yui mumbled over and over as she buried her face against Ui's head, trying to imagine a better time as she hugged her sister closer.

"Yui…please." Azusa begged softly as she put her forehead against Yui's back, crying softly into the fabric of her shirt.

She was too busy trying to convince Yui to get up that she didn't hear something creeping up behind her.

She didn't hear the soft gurgling noise accompanied by a hiss as the thing behind her opened its jaws, spiked tongue snaking out for the kill.

But Yui did hear it.

And Azusa was startled when Yui suddenly whirled around with a rifle, eyes looking completely feral as she shot at the zombie behind Azusa.

The kouhai heard the sound of bone and muscle squishing before a body flopped beside her.

She looked down and noticed that the body was missing a head now as well as she looked at Yui wide eyed with fear.

The brunette laid her sister back down on the ground gently before she stood up and turned to face Azusa once more.

"Let's get out of here." Yui said firmly as she pulled the still shocked kouhai to her feet and the two of them began to run once more.

Yui got to the doors of the exit and kicked it open before continuing there ran.

We're the only ones left. I have to protect Azusa. I can't let those things happen to her. She deserves to survive.

Yui thought as she tugged Azusa along before she let go to stop in the middle of the open space outside.

There was nothing around.

No zombies.

No military.

No carriers.

Yui panted heavily as her wide eyes glanced around a bit before she pulled the flare gun off her belt and held it up to the sky.

She shot into the air and sighed softly as it exploded, bathing the area in a soft green glow.

"W-We made it Azusa… w-we're out of there." Yui whispered softly as she put a hand over her heart. They had been running so long that they were completely exhausted and running off of nothing but pure adrenaline.

"H-Hai Yui… w-we'll give them a proper burial… I-I promise." Azusa said sadly as she walked towards her lover.

She was about to grab her hand when something wet and slimy wrapped around her waist, neck and arm, before yanking her backwards back into the power plant.

"YUI!" Azusa yelled out desperately as she watched her senpai turn around with terror in her eyes.

"No no no no no no no NO!" Yui yelled out as she grabbed her rifle once more and chased after Azusa and the tonguer that had grabbed her. She was thankful it was just a normal tonguer and not a hybrid one like the one that killed Ui and Jun.

She finally caught up to Azusa and wrapped an arm around her kouhai as she unloaded the last of her ammo into the tonguer's body making it's tongue snap off and Azusa to come tumbling into Yui's arms.

The brunette dropped the now useless weapon onto the ground and she hugged Azusa close while shaking out of fear.

I almost lost her…

"T-Thank you Yui…" Azusa said softly as she smiled up gratefully into Yui's face.

Yui forced a smile onto her lips and she leaned in to kiss Azusa.

But she didn't get to give that kiss.

Yui noticed the wall behind Azusa explode open as the panzer that had been chasing them earlier barged through.

She didn't get to scream as she watched the thing slam its fist into the back of Azusa with enough force to rocket both of them through the exit doors, across the open space outside before they both flipped and tumbled on the rocky ground before Yui was knocked unconscious for a few moments.

When Yui was finally able to open her eyes, she felt like every bone in her body was either broken or close to it as everything began to sharpen in her vision.

Her chocolate eyes began to frantically search for Azusa, hoping somehow the younger guitarist was okay.

"A-Azusa…" Yui whimpered out as she slowly lifted herself up, crying out as she felt one of her ribs rub against another.

Of course, the pain didn't matter once her eyes fell onto the unmoving body of her lover not too far from her.

"…A-Azu…" Yui choked out as she began to drag herself with one arm towards Azusa's body. She wasn't moving, she wasn't breathing, and it looked like she had suffered a more deadly blow to the head from the smack that she must have died on contact with the ground.

It was about that time that Yui just stopped moving. She just laid there on the ground staring at Azusa's body as tears once more began to flow down her bloodied cheeks.

Then Yui heard a huff and a loud roar before something came charging towards her once more.

I don't care… as long as I can be with my friends once again… I don't care.

Yui thought as she felt a giant fist slam down onto her prone body.

She let out screams of pain as the panzer began beating her already broken body furiously. Bones that were close to breaking snapped on contact, her ribs cracked under the force of each punch and blood poured out of her mouth with each scream.

Just when she thought the pain would get any worse, she heard men yelling, then gunfire.

The panzer's attacks stopped and it charged towards the men that had showed up at the power plant.

Yui could hear the battle rage on for a little bit before the hybrid panzer took its final breath and collapsed to the ground.

It was finally dead.

"Jesus! There are two girls over here! F-Fuck one's already dead…" Yui heard a man yell before she felt someone turn her over onto her back, which caused a surge of fresh pain to course through her entire being.

"Sir this one is still alive! Holy fuck-"
"Let me see… oh God."

Yui felt her breathing get more labored as blood filled her mouth when she saw the familiar face of Washi bend down in her view.

"I…I told you… why didn't you listen."

Yui shook her head slightly and turned to look towards Azusa once more as she slowly reached out with her broken arm towards her kouhai, her friend… her lover.

Azusa…

Fingertips touched just barely as the edges of Yui's vision turned dark and slowly she faded into blackness.

Author Note: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, you have no idea how emotionally taxing this chapter was. As much as I enjoyed working on this, I did not like writing the end. ;A; My pooor K-ON girls! I'll be writing a happy end for this, because I WANT ONE, and I need one after this! Plus I'll be writing fluff for the rest of my life to get over this. XD Anyways be looking for the happy ending chapter soon and… yeah… don't kill me. –dives for cover-

Beta Note: Because I'm tired of looking at this, Yui's magic flare gun has two shots.

Well? What did you guys think? I put so much planning into this story and it's not even mine. XD Originally we were going to end on a happy note, but decided this was ten times more epic. Buuut I guess my poor Wolfie is now depressed and wants to write a happy ending. So don't be surprised if this gets updated one more time. Consider it a bonus chapter. XD