So, this is one of the stories I began writing during my student teaching experience. Both are still works-in-progress, but I wanted to at least get this one out there. I'm planning for this to be a longer story that may even be broken into several parts. I've written down a few chapters, but, as I said, still working on this one. I also have been greatly influenced by movies, songs, and settings. I'll post the list of inspirations once this story has concluded. Please enjoy yet another zombie story, but this one for the How To Train Your Dragon verse.

Almost forgot, I am going under the assumption that Hiccup is 13 in this fic. The others are the same age except Snotlout (he's 14—that will be explained later). Appearance-wise, Hiccup looks like he does at the start of the film (meaning, two real feet), but with more modern clothing. Hope this helps for visualizing.

Chapter 1: Another Typical Day In Berk

"It's the end of the world as we know it

And I feel fine."

–R.E.M, "It's the End of the World As We Know It"

…

The day was normal, giving no indication of the horror, the tragedy, and the sorrow that would soon befall the small city of Berk. It was just another calm day in late October, a little chilly, but nothing out of the ordinary.

A shrill alarm clock tone rang through the room, breaking the peace of the calm morning. Hitting the switch on the clock, the tone ceased and the boy rolled over, trying to catch just a few more minutes of sleep. No such luck, though, as his "snooze button" activated. The cold, rough tongue of his black lab puppy, Toothless, scratched its way across his face. Pushing the puppy away and burying his face under the blanket, he tried again. Unsatisfied, the puppy began to yap.

"Hanson!" came the voice from downstairs.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," said boy muttered, pulling the covers back and bracing himself for the cool morning air. Yawning, he shivered slightly. From the floor, Toothless stared up, his yellow-green eyes so cat-like. "I really don't like you right now," Hanson told the puppy, pointing at him. Toothless, distracted by the finger directed at him, just wagged his tail happily in reply.

Changing quickly, Hanson walked briskly down the stairs to join his family for breakfast. Toothless bounded down the stairs after him.

The boy made to sit down, but was immediately halted by his mother. "Ah-ah!" she scolded, pointing down at the wiggling little Toothless. Sighing slightly, Hanson started for the backdoor. As he walked, he gave a short whistle, calling the puppy's attention.

Once the puppy had bounded out into the backyard, Hanson shut the door. He never worried too much. Toothless was a good puppy and, just in case he happened to slip up, the family had installed an underground electric fence out back to separate the backyard from the forest. Not that Hanson hadn't snuck out with Toothless to the forest several times. They'd even discovered a beautiful hidden cove.

Each morning, Hanson's one task was to let Toothless out to relieve himself. Later, after Hanson boarded the bus for school, one of his parents would let Toothless back inside.

"I don't know why I have to remind you every day to let Toothless out, Hanson," his mother chastised as he sat down for breakfast.

The boy gave no reply. As he ate his breakfast, Hanson tuned in to listen to the news coming from the living room nearby. It was a Friday, so the newscasters were reviewing the new television show episodes from the week. Much of the discussion was based on "Vikings", "The Walking Dead," and "Revolution." Hanson did not often tune into such shows, but he knew that his father enjoyed watching them.

Finishing his breakfast, Hanson deposited his dishes into the sink and grabbed his coat. It was only 6:30 and his middle school bus arrived at 6:45. However, he had to walk to reach his bus stop. His family lived in a small log cabin at the top of a small hill. The bus did not trek up the private drive, so Hanson had to take the walk down to the main road. Some would hate walking the 10-minute walk, but Hanson enjoyed it. It was heck of a lot nicer than being on that school bus; that was for sure. Even when the weather turned colder, he would rather freeze than spend time on that bus. He couldn't wait until he could drive to school. He may actually be able to sleep in a bit later…if Toothless would allow.

The walk downhill this morning was pleasant. It was not overly cool and the leaves had begun to turn. Soon enough it would be snowing. Because he lived on top of the hill, there were some days when it would snow at his house, but nowhere else in the city. Winter in Berk always seemed to last much longer than any other season.

Though he walked as slowly as possible, it was not nearly slow enough. Hanson didn't really mind school (he was ignored most of the time anyway); it was just the bus ride that he disliked. Sighing slightly, he noticed the bus on its way down the road. The next stop would be for him. As the bus approached, its yellow lights blinked, successfully slowing traffic to a halt. Hanson did not have to cross the road to board the bus, so he slowly entered the bus and made his way to the back.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Hiccup the Useless," came the taunting voice of his cousin. Why did he have to live close enough to be on the same bus? As if Hanson didn't see him enough already. This was the prime example as to why he hated riding the bus.

Once Hanson was seated, the bus lurched forward, continuing its journey closer to the middle school. Sneaking a peak at his cousin, Hanson was slightly relieved to see that he had diverted his taunts to a heavy-set boy seated toward the front. Sure he felt sorry for the boy, Franklin, but he was glad to be left alone.

Yep, it was just another typical day in Berk…or so he thought. Somewhere on the other side of town, near the border with the city of Raven Pointe, a glass, half full of water, slipped to the floor, shattering on impact and splattering water everywhere.

So…there we have it. Chapter 1, just a chapter to set everything up, but I guarantee that it will start to pick up. Yeah, I prefer to change Toothless into a cat for modern-day stories, but it works better if he's a puppy this time. As for future chapters, looks like I have chapter two finished and I was working on writing chapter three, but I'm thinking that's just about done. Well, if this was enjoyable, I will post up chapter two soon. Thanks for reading!