Sam Shepard's Story

The undead swarmed around their targets last known location. The young man seeking refuge inside the teachers lounge had attempted to bar the doors but to no avail. The horde was too thick and he had neither the time nor the interest in wrestling with the hungry ghouls at that kind of a distance to force the issue. The fight had spilled into the room, the teen being forced to use everything and anything around him as a weapon. Chairs, tables, office equipment and finally his own fists. The sounds of his shouting and cursing as he battled on could be heard outside as he fought on. Then a mighty roar of exertion and the wall came caving in as a portion of the counter top was hurled through it. Undead bodies imploded through the hole along with the massive projectile. Their bodies crushed to pieces from the chaos of the attack. Only one still moved. It's lower half pinned under the debris. It slowly lurched it's torso up as its intended target stepped through the hole he'd just made.

"Don't you fuckers ever just die?"

Sam asked before kicking the zombie hard in the forehead. The blow shot it's head back to smack on the hard floor, blood oozing from the wound it created. The big American was breathing heavy from exertion but was safe for now. Everything around him was dead, really dead. He glanced around to be sure of that before breathing out a sigh of relief. Allowing himself to catch his breath even if it was just for a moment. He looked up just as he heard a window crash. He watched in horror as one of his classmates hurled themselves out of a fourth floor window only to find an unceremonious landing zone in a bed of flowers. Sam ran to the window he was looking out of from the ground floor.

"Shit, they're still alive!"

He said aloud in shock. Part of him new the smart choice would be to leave him. Ignore it and keep moving. It would be the smart thing to do. Sam pondered his options for all of a few seconds before sprinting to the nearest exit.

"Ah fuck me."

He cursed at himself as he kicked the door in and charged outside. There was three zombies slowly shambling to the downed body of Sam's classmate. They never stood a chance. The fist connected with the back of the undead skull with such force Sam felt bone crack beneath his fist. The body went limp instantly as it went flying forward only to come to a stop after skidding across the grass. The second ghoul noticed his presence now and turned. One of it's hands extended, reaching for him. It's ghastly hands grasping for his throat. What it received instead however was a quick punch to the temple before being lifted off the ground and hurled through the air before smashing into the wall. It's skull cracking from the impact. The final zombie was fixated on the downed student. It was almost on him now. It loomed over the teen, it's soulless, lifeless eyes wide with unending hunger. It's blood covered hands nearing it's target. It's jagged, ruined teeth gnashing in starvation. Suddenly a handful of the zombies hair was seized from behind before it was slammed backwards onto the ground.

"Eat this you piece of shit!"

Sam said before curb stomping the creatures head in with one savage blow. With the zombies brains and blood all over his sneakers Sam turned to the student and was shocked to see he recognized him.

"Holy shit! Aika?!"

Shepard said in surprise as he reached down and helped the classmate to his feet. Chinen Aika and Sam Shepard sat beside each other in the same World Literature class. While the two teens weren't best of friends, hanging out and getting drunk every weekend they were friendly enough. The two spoke and even shared a joke or two in class every once in a while but the friendship really never went past that. Through no fault of either boy it was merely just one of those things. Sam helped the boy up and noticed he was clutching his wrist.

"Ah shit man ya break it? I saw you jump out of that window. I'm surprised your not dead bro."

"Well, this place has gone to Hell quickly. It's almost as if this was planned... Well shit, that... no, couldn't have been planned. Maybe it was just a freak occurance, yeah. That's probably it..... Although I can't really complain, since.... yeah...". Laz rubbed his forehead, tossing his Cigarette onto the body of the corpse nearest to him. He was pretty sure that it was dead, and he had nothing in his view for now. He decided to do something useful for once. He started up the stairs, glancing around occasionally to see if their were any threats, and he looked out of the window nearby just in time to see somebody fling themselves out, and land unceremoniously on the flower beds below. Laz thought they would've been fine, but decided that, considering the fact that he wasn't moving, he probably wasn't.

Laz was about to go and help the Student when someone else beat him to it. It was that Football Star... Erm... "Ah shit, what's his name.... Sam... Sam...... Shepard? Sam Shepard, I think it is". Lazarus glanced down at the two, and remembered what he was really here for. He looked around, then had an idea. He had her number, so why not call her and see if she picked up. Laz pulled out his phone, dialed her number and let it ring.

*Ring, Ring, Ring*

"Hurry up".

*Ring, Ring Ring*

"Dammit, Pick up, you idiot".

*Ring, Ring, Ring*

"Fuck. Great. If she comes back as a motherfucking zombie I'm gonna beat her up for it". Laz stomped in anger as he pocketed his phone and continued to search the Building. He'd catch up with Sam and the other guy later, but he really did have more important things to do. He racked his brains, thinking of people he coud try and find, but two people stuck out. One was his best friend, and the other was his sister. Both of them could handle themselves, easily. After all, his Sister trained with him and his bestie was an awesome Tennis Player, so they should both be fine though. He took a few steps slowly, listening for any sounds aside from his own, and when he decided he was sufficiently safe, he bolted around the rooms, opening doors in a frenzy, and eventually ended up on the roof. He panted, slightly out of breath. He felt good, since he knew that he'd be able to excape from things easily, after all, he was used to bolting as fast as he could. He looked up, noticing the smoke coming from the Greenhouse, and he double-checked on the figures below him. They still seemed to be there.

He sighed and turned as he heard footsteps behind him. He sighed again when he realised it was just another student, this one happened to be alive though. Laz eyed him suspiciously, and the student spoke. "I just... wanted to give you this. I think it belongs to you or a friend of yours, since you called it earlier". Lazarus' breath caught in his throat, and he coughed loudly to get himself started. "T-Thanks, gimme". He practically tore the boys hands off when he grasped for the phone and brought it up to his face to examine it better. 'Bloodstains on it, broken button, but this is definitely her phone. Fuck it all'. Lazarus sighed and pocketed the phone, thanking the student and taking his leave. He practically ran down the flights of stairs, and booted the door open. It was funny, he'd already done that twice today. He then kept on searching. If he couldn't find his friend, he at least wanted to find her body.

"Well shit, I've got a lot of ground to cover. This is gonna take ages. And then I need to find Sis...". Lazarus started up his search in the next room, and he could keep a good eye on the two students sitting in the flower garden from here too. He got to the third floor alright, and it was then that he started encountering those dead-brained fucktards. Of course, Laz was fine with this, causing havoc and having fun all at once. He was actually surprised when he booted one of the zombies out of the window, since: A, he didn't expect that, and B, he probably scared the shit out of the students on the flower bed. He walked past a wall, and then realised something. "Fuck, is this?". Lazarus opened the door to his classroom, expecting the worst. It's exactly what he got.

Dead bodies everywhere, some fully dead, others shuffling around randomly. Well, until Laz opened the door, that was. He hefted his Baseball Bat up towards his chest, and stepped into the room. There were 3 or maybe 4 Infected, and that would be a little bit challenging. One shuffled towards him, and he gave it a good face-palming with the tip of his bat. Kind of like a Lance, really. He grinned as another leaped at him, and he smacked it sideways, but it didn't fall, so Laz booted it in the gut happily, followed by a classic Bat-uppercut. The third zombie came for him, and he tripped it over, booting it in the face repeatedly. He sighed as it was over, and looked at the mass of dead bodies aroud him. His eyes fell on one of his friends, and he coughed back tears. He crouched down, and pulled off their necklace. He stood, fastening it around his own neck.

"Well.... Fuck, I need to find my sister and get the fuck out of here. Pronto".

Lazarus left the room, shutting the door behind him. He had one thing to do, and that was see if those two others were still on the flower beds. He left the building feeling sombre, downhearted and depressed.

"Don't worry Jake, you'll be missed. Dearly".



Lazarus exited the building and made his way over to the flower bed, a lit cigarette in his mouth, and the necklace glinting brightly in the rays of the sun. He arrived at the flower beds and sat down. Taking another puff of his cigarette and laying down. "Fuck".

Aika's eyes snapped open when he felt strong hands grip him. He thought he was done for, but after realizing he was being lifted up and pulled back to his feet did he remember that zombies didn't have such immense strength...at least these ones didn't. He looked up at his savior with watery eyes, still cradling his wrist as if it was a newborn child. THANK GOD, there was someone else alive besides him! Oh... although Aika often saw people as blurry images, there was no mistaking the large, bulky person in front of him.

"Ah shit man ya break it? I saw you jump out of that window. I'm surprised your not dead bro."

"Hey Sam...I think so. " Aika tried to move his hand again, this time it moved a little but hurt like hell. Then he glanced up at the broken window. "I'm surprised I made it too."

He nodded at the flowers. "Gotta thank Mother Nature." Upon surveying the dead undead littered around them, Sam must've helped him while he was incapacitated by the pain. That was when he noticed that he wasn't wearing his 'spectacles'. He pulled them out with his good hand and put them on. Instantly, his vision was blurred.

"Thanks. " he thanked the larger guy, knowing fully well they both knew what he was being thankful for. He then pointed at his 'spectacles', using the broken glass as an excuse.

"Lead me. I'll follow. Broken specs make it harder for me to walk around. " he said matter-of-factly, before smiling brightly. He caught the stench of cigarette smoke and wrinkled his nose before making his way over to the source of the smoke.

"Sam...is there someone here that's smoking? Or is it you? " he twisted his head around to look at the blurry figure of Sam. "But you're there...and I smell it coming from here...what...?" he looked back in front of him and stumbled, falling flat on his face. The fall jarred his wrist and he cried out before curling up into a ball. After the initial pain had subsided, he got up and felt around in front of him. He touched someone's shoes and looked up. Though his vision was blurry, he was pretty sure this guy was very much alive, like the rest of them...and smoking.

"Hey there. Sorry you had to see that. I'm pretty clumsy most of the time. " Aika told the person with a care-free smile.

Sam turned along with Aika at the scent of the cigarette from behind them. This guy was casually puffing away on as he relaxed, covered in the blood of God knows how many zombies he must've killed on the way here. Sam couldn't help but smile as yet another survivor came out of one of the doors carrying a handgun and a pen knife. The guy smoking Sam had never seen but the one with the gun Sam had met only once. Tenno Fugao was a pretty cool guy. Sam and Tenno had met at a party earlier this year. One of the guys got pretty drunk and was causing a scene. Once he smacked one of the girls Tenno and Sam hurled him into the street on his ass. The two shared a beer or two after that but never really hung after that. Sam was happy to see the guy. Tenno seemed from the one time encounter to be the kinda guy Sam would want having his back in a brawl. With a zombie apocalypse apparently coming down around them Sam could use someone he could rely on. Sam helped Aiko to his feet for a second time before taking a step towards Tenno with a smile.

"Hey Tenno, friend of yours? Glad to see we're not the only ones who're still alive."

Sam asked in reference to this guy smoking all the while happy to see the familiar face as he extended a hand to shake Fugao's.

Airi was heading away from the main hoard when she heard voices.

"Hey there. Sorry you had to see that. I'm pretty clumsy most of the time. "

"Hey Tenno, friend of yours? Glad to see we're not the only ones who're still alive."

Bandit hopped off her shoulder and took off towards them. "Ah, shit, Bandy." she muttered, sticking Juy, still covered in blood back into the bag and pulled out another popsicle. She stuck the orange flavored stick into her mouth and followed her wayward cat.

When she turned the corner, there were about 4 guys, one laying, one sitting and the other two standing. Bandit was rubbing against the largest one, purring. She rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. Bandit came back and hopped back up onto her shoulder. He rubbed his head against her cheek as a sorry.

"Hi there. So there are capable people in this mess... I'm actually quite glad to see this..." she rested Yuj on her shoulder and bit down on the icy treat. She was covered in blood, as was Bandit. "So, anyone got an idea of what's going on out there or are we all clueless out here..? Never a good thing..."

Before Tenno had a chance to speak Sam noticed a soft, pressure at his foot. He looked down to see an adorable siamese cat rubbing itslef against his leg with a joyful purr before trotting back to it's master a few steps away. The big teen chuckled at the cat as he turned watching it make it's way to it's owner. His eyes widened in surprise and despite what Sam might have intended a big stupid grin made it's way on his face as he looked at the cat's owner. A pretty young girl with pixie like features and black blueish hair and deep blue eyes. Her cheek was marred only by the blood of others and a few bandaids that only added to the character of her features. Besides the blood the school girl clothes were suplemented with headphoones, dogtags but and oddly enough a unique looking chainsaw. Sam couldn't help but fall in love for the next thirty seconds.

"Woah... Zombie Apocalypse aside it's not every day you meet a cute girl with a chainsaw and an awesome cat. Hi, I'm Sam."

He said casually as he took a few steps closer, his grin seeminlgy glued to his face. Sam usually wasn't so hopeless when talking to girls but this girl got him girnning like an idoit and there wasn't a whole hell of a lot he could do about it.

"So how about we make a battle plan." Tenno said as he nudged his gun to attention. "Rest of my ammo is in the principles office but I don't know how we can get up there that well. I've got 19 shots left, but does anyone know where to go?" His father had given him losaction of a safehouse in town in case of an emergency, like a rival gang coming to town.

"Hey guys," Tenno said out loud to no one in particular "I know about a safe house my family owns in the city that was meant for me in case of...old enemies coming to town. I think this is a reason to go there. There's most likely more of those things in town so I don't want to go alone. Who's in?"

Airi smiled at the large teen. "Why, hi there Sammy boy. Name's Airi." she winked though on the inside, she was swooning. The guy lacked nothing in the looks department at all. She knew that Kukai-sempai was out there, surrounded by deadly zombies but come on, girl's gotta have options!

"Hey guys," Tenno said out loud to no one in particular "I know about a safe house my family owns in the city that was meant for me in case of...old enemies coming to town. I think this is a reason to go there. There's most likely more of those things in town so I don't want to go alone. Who's in?"

"Sounds cool. I need to head back to my place for a tactical retreat, got lots of cool guns and shit... But we should check for more survivors. Get as many people out then blow the place up. Keep most of them busy and let the others leave. I've dealt with the undead before but never this many... We should eliminate as many as possible..." she told Tenno, she knew the teen in passing. Mostly just head nods back and forth.

Bandit meowed in agreement before he hopped back down and hissed. There were a couple zombies coming at them "Well, looks like we got company~" she sang out, revving Yuj with a grin. "Inaction is my biggest dislike!" she charged and rammed the chainsaw into one and flung him into the greenhouse with a wide arch, blood making a rainbow over her.

Sam was on her heels, quick to back her up as the zombies lumbered towards the group. The first he took down fell quickly. A quick punch to the temple before his head was crushed under Sams shoe. No sooner had the blood sprayed the grass had a ghastly hand grabbed Shepards shoulder. The big teen whirled and seized hold of the zombie before hurling him into the crowd like it was weightless. The body collided with its fellows toppling three in one shot.

"Damn, i could use a weapon right now."

Sam said more to himself than anyone else before he attacked the next nearest ghoul. He hit it hard with a punch to the gut that literally took it off its feet. Shepard followed up by grabbing a firm hold of it before smashing its skull on the floor.

Tenno wasn't about to just let Sam get ganged up on by zombies. He walked ahead to them pistol in his right hand set on his left forearm to steady. He took 2 shots to kill a zombie behind Sam. "Sam take that fence post I just tore off, it's right next to the bum smoking!" Right after saying that Tenno shot another round at a zombie 2 meters from his left in it's third eye.

Airi jumped over a zombies, legs spread and chainsaw the ground. She sliced through the head and landed in an crouch. She ran at two zombies that wanted Tenno for lunch. "Watch your back, Ten-Ten, or I'll do it for ya!" she quickly dispatched one before throwing their carcasses at the other one, knocking him back. She jumped on its chest and dug Yuj into its face. She revved the engine and watched with sick fascination as it exploded. She turned the volume up on her music and the stragglers came after her. She sliced and hacked to the song, singing as she went.

As the last of the mini hoard re-died, she finished her popsicle and grinned. "Well, that was fun~" she sang out, turning her music back down.

Sam was punching in the skull of a zombie when Tenno called out to him.

"Sam take that fence post I just tore off, it's right next to the bum smoking!"

Sam turned to look a grinned at the sight of the simple metal fence post.

"You're tha man Fugao!"

He said as he ran over and picked up the simple yet effective metal implement. Sam lifted it up and turned redy to crush some skulls only to see that the remaining zombies were all already dead, laying around the grass near Tenno and Airi. His shoulders slumped in disapointment as he frowned slightly.

"Figures..."

Sam grumbled before walking up to the others. Airi was playfully fininshing her popsicle as she adjusted her music. Sam couldn't help but be captivated. He felt like a damn puppy around her. It was really quite sad but Sam was loving it. As he stared his grin returned but at least this time he was able to try and reign it in, at least somewhat.

"Well, that was fun~"

She sang aloud. Sam chuckled and shook his head.

"Gosh she's cute...

"Son of a bitch!" Takeo yelled, backing up from a persistent flesh-eater, with a surprisingly thick skull. "You scratched!" he yelled again, smashing the zombie in the face with his weapon. "My fucking!" he yelled, continuing to bash the zombie's brains in. "GUITAR!" he finished, the annoying undead laying on the ground, it's head now a fine paste. Satisfied with himself, he brushed zombie grey matter off of the arm of his jacket, slinging the guitar over his shoulder.

He had been to the parking lot, and rescued a couple survivors there, after which he went to the pool, but he didn't enter, because of the high volume of zombies, and he didn't want to face that many of the walking dead without back up. He was now making his way to the greenhouse.

He was walking fairly briskly strumming a tune on the ol' zombie killer when he spotted a group, flag-shipped by what he recognized as Hayashi-san's trademark blue hair. With her, he saw Sam Shepard, an American exchange student who he'd partied with a couple of time, and had taken quite a liking to, and Aika Chinen, a rather ditzy boy who he'd shared a couple classes with. He also noticed two other boys that he didn't recognize right away.

"So Hayashi-San, I see you've put together quite a merry bunch of zombie slayers." he said, approaching the group with a grin.

"So Hayashi-San, I see you've put together quite a merry bunch of zombie slayers."

Airi grinned at Kukai and saluted him. "Yo, Ku-ku! Nice to see you're still breathing!" Bandit walked over to him and began to purr. "Bandy missed ya as much as I did!" she set Yuj on the ground and looked at her little group that had she inadvertently gathered. "As for my merry band of zombie slayers, well, they're not pro but damn, are they close enough! A couple weeks under our training and they'd be as good as us, even better, maybe!" The song "Envy Catwalk" played as an undertone to her words.

"So, any idea on what this shit over there is? If not, then we're blasting this place after some evac and destroying! Cause I love my grenades~" she sang, holding one of them in her hands and pressing a kiss to its blue exterior. "And then we're outta here because I hate these damn things... Hoped I never see another and look! They come in hoards! My luck's fucking amazing!" Bandit gave a agreeing meow from his new perch on Kukai's shoulders.

"Anyways, Ten-ten there's gotta bunker we can hide out in for a couple days but you know zombies... We're gonna have to keep moving... Then I thought we'd stop at my house. I know Asher's dying to tear some of these things a new one. Plus I got that flame thrower that I know someone'll wanna play with~" She told the other hunter, grinning.

"So Hayashi-San, I see you've put together quite a merry bunch of zombie slayers." he said, approaching the group with a grin.

Tenno looked at the guy coming toward them. Could always use one more he thought to himself. "Your just in time " he told the other student. It was time for him to speak his mind.

"Listen up guys." he addressed the group. "We can't just sit here out in the open or we'll be swarmed." Tenno turned to the woman with the chainsaw. "You said you have somewhere to go in town right? So we can all head out to her place for the night and plan our next course of action. So, where is this haven your talking about?"

"Sorry, but I don't think that's gonna happen buddy, that's a barrier." he said, gesturing toward the small glitch in the air that made and odd buzzing motion, signifying the invisible wall."But..." he continued, "If we can find the barrier rune, then we can release the seal, and the barrier will be gone. I'm just puzzled as to how this happened. Some one would have to have a lot of knowledge of the occult to cast a spell like this...it makes me wonder if it might have been one of the teachers." he said. "Anyway, it's good to know that we're not the only ones who can hold our own against these walking corpses. I just wish that my brothers, or someone higher up from the order was able to get here before the barrier went up." he said to Airi. "Oh, I almost forgot! Are you alright? Is anyone else injured?"

Airi grinned and pointed west. "That way! We'll have to pass through the main hoard in the front of the school but that should be easy." She started towards the entrance of the school, whistling. Anytime a zombie got near her, she flicked the chainsaw their way and pop, those the head. Bandit followed, deftly avoiding the little zombie bits that littered the ground.

When she saw the main hoard again, she sighed. "My poor clothes..." she muttered before she turned behind her and pulled out a popsicle. "At this rate, I'll run out before I get home..." she munched on the ice, waiting for the others to ahead of her and fight. She wanted to see what they're made of.

Her eyes roved over the hoard, picking out the best course of action to get out and she charged. She sliced through the weaker ones with ease, and dodged the larger ones. She had to backflip to avoid getting a new hole in her shoulder. "Shit! Boys! A little help here!"

Sam saw Takeo and was happy to see him. Takeo and him have partied a few times and the guys were pretty good friends. He was glad that he'd survived. Unfortunately he stopped listening when he noticed the distortion in the air. Unbenounced to Sam this magical barrier was all but impenterable. That was information he could have used before his attempt. While the others were talking Sam's hands were on the barrier in amazement.

"Woah... It's like a forcefield... I bet I can..."

He muttered to himself as he took a few big steps back. After taking a couple deep breathes to amp himself he charged at it, using his body like a battering ram just like he'd done so many times on the football field. Unlike sacking a quarterback however the forcefield didn't budge. Sam threw his body into the magical barrier only to be rebounded off it, flying backwards into the grass. He groaned and sat himself up in shock.

"Well shit... That didn't work worth a damn."

Sam almost missed the others take off for an exit. He rushed after them just in time to hear Airi ask for help. A metal fence post was the reply she recieved. He tee'd off on the nearest zombie. It's head imploding on the wall. Shepard turned and smacked the base of it in another face before crushing its skull with a downward swing like he was splitting wood. He kicked a third in the chest sending it flying back before splitting a fourths skull open with a quick swing. One lunged for him only to be shoved off before Sam gripped up it's shiirt collar and tossing it away like it was a rag doll.

"Is it bad I'm starting to enjoy this?"

Sam asked aloud with a laugh.

Takeo looked at Sam dumbstruck, as he charged head-on into the barrier. He had to fight to keep back his laughter as the boy felt the impact of force field in full force as he was thrown backward. To be fair, he had never encountered such a thing before, and Takeo had actually done the exact same thing the first time he'd seen one. He also found it a bit odd that no one had questioned their being zombie hunters, but he was sure it wasn't very hard to believe now that the walking dead were...walking. His thought process was interrupted by Airi's call for help, and he quickly obliged. He strummed a chord on his guitar, and a long thin blade came out of the end, wich he stabbed into the nearest zombie. He strummed on the chords violently, and the guitar sent vibrations through the blade wich caused the zombie to explode messily. He brought out the guitar's axe blade and continued to hack away at the hoard.

"Is it bad I'm starting to enjoy this?" Sam said, with a laugh. Takeo grinned.

"Now you're starting to think like a zombie hunter!"

Tenno's father always told him that when battle came to always strike fast and topple the head upon the neck.

Tenno to three shots (14) to clear Airi's way back to the group.

"Diamond formation. Sam take to the front left and Takeo take the front left. Aika stay to the back and alert us of any zombies coming to flank us. Airi take the the front. I'll be in the middle to shoot any flankers. We all back up as they try to swarm to limit their numbers. Remember it's kill or be killed!" Tenno yelled to the group with a distinct commanding tone.