There's nothing quite like the sound of the business end of a crowbar swinging through the maggot ridden skulls of your classmates. Now, before you get the wrong idea; the world has been long turned on its head thanks to an outbreak of undead. These spaghetti faced students had it coming to them, I mean; who holes up in a classroom until they starve to death? I’m just happy circumstance chose me to put them out of their misery; an 18-year-old type-A narcissist whose got loose lips, a smoking habit and recently, a bit too much to drink.... Oh, let's not forget a rap sheet longer than a nun's pubic hairs.

Well, if my exposé hasn’t deterred you from reading my Digi-Diary, I don’t know what will other than the threat of bodily harm. But, if you happen to be one of those do-good McDougal 'Hero Types' who have managed to survive the initial outbreak and would like to return this piece to me, just do yourself a favor and burn it... God forbid you attempt to read this illegible cringe inducing mush.

Full disclaimer: I will not be held responsible when you get YEETed into next week by the Lost, and by chance you are a clueless foreigner; I'm talking about the Androids who've gone feral. I've seen them turn human orifices into pretty convincing salad bowls, so consider yourself warned.

It’s not like I’d leave my name and address for you to come and raid my stash anyway. Given that this is likely the end of the world as we know it and you probably can’t read my handwriting anyways since I’m piss-drunk, without further ado, allow me to introduce myself; my name is Else.

EL-SSS. Not ELSEE, nor EELSE and definitely not; E-LEESE or any variation thereof. If we ever have the misfortune to meet and you get it wrong, I’ll be sure to follow through on the threat of bodily harm. Call it a foible, but it’s the only name I have since I was, and still am, a third-rate citizen in this fucked-up city people call Scarlett Bay.

I supposed if you made it this far, you’re probably after my B.W.H measurements, but-

“Else, put down your Digi-Diary! Come quick! Someone’s at the door!” A quivering voice echoed down the dilapidated School's main hall just out of my line of sight.

With a push of a button on my hovering pendant, the projection of my Diary sealed shut as it returned to the chain around my neck.

“Did you give them the list of what we rehearsed?” I shouted back as I clambered to my feet, finding my classmate or rather, ex-classmate bracing the cafeteria doors with her arms spread out like the wings of an eagle. “You didn’t come off hostile or frightened at first, right?”

“I-I told them we don’t have any supplies to share, but they’re not listening!”

“And then you told them that we’re armed, and that we don’t want any trouble, right?”

“Y-Yes! I said it as calm as could be!”

“Huh, it usually works by then if you lay a little sugar down before getting stiff. Did you tell them the last idiots who fucked with us found a grenade lodged in their ass?”

“W-We have explosives?! Err- what butt?! I’m not touching anyone’s butt!?”

Now using her backside against the door to better gain traction flat on her soles, my Senior Classmate who I know only by the nickname ‘Zuzu’ beckoned me using her dopey blue eyes.

“That’s fine. I finished my Whiskey, so I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. You think someone can clench hard enough to keep the spoon from flying? Since we’re probably gonna set a record, perhaps we should time it?”

“You’re not seri-?!” The mop-headed gymnast gasped only to fall short of her words as I playfully tossed an M-37 Fragmentation Grenade into the air.

“This ought to do. Too bad it’s smooth and not textured like one of them old pineapple grenades. Maybe one of those potato mashers would be even better if their into depth-play!”

*CLINK*

Shrieking, Zuzu assumed the fetal position as I chased after the grenade I had dropped in my absentminded stupor.

“It’s fine- well, my ears might not be anymore. I hadn’t pulled the pin yet, see?”

As I looped the pin over my finger, the doors were released of their hinges, throwing my classmate to the other side of the hall. In the doorway standing six-feet tall stood a grizzled looking man who, by the looks of it, had not turned, but had lost his sanity.

His clothes, torn likely indicated that he had been bitten; but that little detail wouldn’t matter. To me, there was little chance he would ever leave this place alive.

"What have we here?! How could we have missed some scraps?!” The middle-aged thug chortled as his eyes twitched between the easy target on the floor and myself. In response, there was only one thing I could say; “The short luck of the draw.” as I dropped the grenade at my feet with the spoon set in the ARMED position.

In the following four seconds, the man’s eyes widened to their fullest extent as flight overruled his fight response. Six paces back from whence he came, I decided that the window of opportunity had presented itself to kick the green orb into the cafeteria and then dive for cover.

Two…

One…

.

..

...

A dud!?

“You’ve gotta be fuckin kiddin me-!"

*BOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!*

Showered by a barrage of iron hail, the resounding thump of the blast dulled my senses. A minute or two later, I already had pulled Zuzu to her feet, taking off in the direction opposite of the Gymnasium where the roof had partially collapsed, towards the Cafeteria.

I could see the discontent written all over her scowl, but I knew there would be no time to verbally explain the reasons behind dropping the grenade. Had I thrown it, the man need only to kick it back to me and had I cooked it in my hand, my bluff held the potential to be tried and tested.

Despite my reckless disposition and culpability, my brain that had been sautéed in 120-Proof decided that this course of action was not only the best; but the only way either of us would be able to escape the other two thugs known as ‘Savagers’ tearing through the Cafeteria’s automated lunch cart.

“Else- h-hold up, my leg is cramping!” Zuzu whined breathily, though the ringing in my ears muffled her voice nearly out of existence. Knowing that she was likely yelling and giving away our position, I put a finger to my lips and guided her up the stairwell.

“Quiet.” I mouthed, motioning a cupped hand to my ear in the hopes that my Senior classmate could rationalize charades.

Giving a nod, a weight immediately lifted from my shoulders though not as much as I would have liked. With Zuzu’s armpit slung over my backside, we managed to access the roof-side basketball court where I had often spent my recess doodling- err, graffitiing the wooden bleachers using my favorite artistic expression of the phallic variety.

“Alright, that door locks only from the inside.” I sighed, leaning over my knees hoping to catch my ever elusive breath.

“Couldn’t we use the bleachers to barricade the door?”

With a quick scuffle over to the ledge, I spotted the large indoor pool beneath a glass canopy and the parking-lot littered with derelict vehicles and clutches of wandering corpses.

“Yeah, we could, but it wouldn’t hold for long. I got a better idea!”

As I mulled over an angle of trajectory, I gave my Senior Classmen a once-over.

Blood…

Her leg was bleeding, likely from having been hit by a small piece of shrapnel. Although it wasn’t a significant amount, the steadiness of the trickle meant that it had cut deep and that the Savagers would likely find a trail of ruby-red breadcrumbs.

“Hey, Zuzu, you’re bleeding. Is it your time of the month?”

“EH!?” She gasped, peering over the hem of her skirt.

Now, with her attention dissuaded, I scurried over to her side, then proceeded to toss her over the ledge and through the glass awning of the gymnasium pool just in time for the two Savagers to burst through the door, thus initiating phase two of my not-plan.

Operation – Full Moon!

“Oh, I really REALLY can’t wait to get my hands INSIDE you!” The left Savager cackled as his friend quietly sneered tamping the end of a nail-bat.

Snickering with my head between my legs, I pulled up my skirt that had been lapping at my ankles, making a mad dash for the edge, only I had not calculated for the right and left being opposite of each other as I had seen the world from upside down.

*CRACK*

Upon receiving the thrown nailbat’s lesser-end, the handle, to the temple, I blacked out momentarily just as I sent myself airborne over the balcony.

*CRACK*

The second, significantly more ‘meaty’ breakage of bones came from having fallen short of the center of the glass canopy, where the glass was at its weakest. Instead, I felt my tailbone turn to powder as I came to an abrupt halt on the metal support beams holding the awning's panels in place.

Seconds later as I continued to rub the intense pain radiating from my ass, one of the Savagers decided to follow my descent, only his folly was that he had struck the edge where Zuzu had broken through and where I had fallen.

Screaming all the way until the shards of thick glass caught his stomach, the Savager had been effectively made into one of those things- err, I think they call it a ‘blooming onions appetizer,’ dangling from his entrails like a chandelier.

As for the second Savager who had all the while been giving me the most malicious glares, he bolted off back into the stairwell allowing me time to clamber down into the pool.

“BWAH!” I gasped, doggy-paddling my way over to Zuzu who had lost consciousness due to the initial impact. “Sorry, Senpai, but you're weighing me down. I’m going to have to ditch our jackets- I don’t really know how to swim!”

Carefully, I navigate the forest of glass that nearly turned invisible beneath the sloshing waves. Once I clambered onto the tapered edge nearing the 7ft marker, I found the blur of a hefty steel-toed boot racing towards my face.

“FOUND YA!”

*THUNK!*

.

..

...

I’m…

Sinking…

I could feel my backside come to rest against the deepest portion of the olympian pool and the weight of the water bearing down on me as Zuzu floated up to the surface overhead.

“Man,” I thought to myself as I felt my consciousness beginning to fade. “At least I get an up-skirt view to wrap up my loose end.”

Although I had followed my original not-plan almost to a tee, Zuzu is where things began to get complicated.

[Flask Full of Kraken Label Whiskey: Check!]

[A Carton of Cigs: Waterlogged, but Check!]

[Pack of Mystery Flavor Chewing Gum: Check! (But seriously, I wish I had that zebra striped shit!)]

[One Freightliner sized Boat-Load of Regrets: Check!]

[Reasons to Live for: Nah.]

I lost all those long ago.

Even when there were a couple reasons I could physically count; they weren’t very good to begin with being a 3rd rate Citizen and all. Well, perhaps there was one, but there’s no use dwelling on it now that I’m laying at the bottom of a pool in a school I really only attended for posterity... or so I've been told.

Any~who! Now I get to find out if I’m worth enough to enter the gates into the afterlife!

Or so I thought; it seems that my Senior-Classmate still has a bit of fight left in her.

It’s not that I’m hoping for her to lose. It’s just sorta… lame… things were getting… real peaceful…

As Zuzu took a glinting shard into her hand despite self-inflicted injuries, she thrust the jagged end into the man’s chest causing a plume of brownish-red to burst into the water. But that would not end their struggle, it took another twenty-seven stabs until the Savager ceased his spasming and fully exsanguinated.

“El…”

.

..

...

“El…?”

Out of the inkling darkness, I raised my head swiftly only for it to collide with an immovable surface.

“O-ou-ou-ouch!” Zuzu’s voice teetered nearby as my vision came pouring back to me.

“W-Wha? Zuzu? Did you?”

“P-please! Don’t move so much, you just had a lot of water in your lungs! I did, err, performed life saving m-measures! – That’s right! That’s all it was!”

Laughing to herself nervously while rubbing her noggin, I wiped the spit from my mouth left over from her method of resuscitation.

“We… need to get out of here.” I groaned, stumbling over my feet as the pain from my shattered tailbone shook me to the core. “It was a mistake for me to come here. Once we get off of school grounds, we should split up.”

“What- why!? N-No! I won’t accept that!”

“I’m going to end up getting both of us killed. You know that, right?”

Shaking her head defiantly, Zuzu snatched my hand and began dragging me towards the locker-room.

“Hey- let go of me, stop!” I protested to a great deal of restraint in the hopes that I would not draw attention to the scars etched in my forearm.

“El, what are those? You didn't do that to yourself, did you?”

I froze, unable to answer. I never expected to actually get this far. Up until I made it on the rooftop, everything went according to plan apart from finding Zuzu about to be mauled to death by a Zombie in the janitorial rec-room.

In my jacket, I had brought a kit not only to kill Zombies, Savagers and the dreaded Lost, but I had explicitly obtained various means in which I could quickly exit this world for the likely occasion that I happen to punk out at the last minute.

A switchblade, a .22 caliber pistol, and a grenade, paired with the four-story drop from the rooftop, I was set to stick the middle finger to the sky and kiss it all goodbye.

But then my cheap pocket blade broke in the skull of the Zombie gnawing on Zuzu’s gym shoes when I first found her, and the .22 caliber 50% of the time couldn’t even kill squirrels when I went out foraging for meat. That meant the grenade for all intents and purposes was intended for my ass before I would take the earth-bound plunge into solid concrete… and I’m not really sure if I mean that figuratively.

“I’ll let it slide because I just threw you off a building. Seriously, stop calling me El! I have one name that--,” Catching myself short of revealing my past to a total stranger, I listened in for what I thought to be heavy footsteps echoing behind in the distance.

Hurriedly, I pressed us into the hall divider near the Men’s changing room where we found a narrow window seated above a long row of benches that spanned the entire length of the walkway in which we clambered upon.

“I’m not going to let it go. Not after you saved me twice!”

“Well, you saved me once; so if you want to make it even- quit asking! It’s not like you can claim you care about a total stranger. We weren't even in the same class. I didn't even attended this shit-hole for more than a week anyway.”

“Izumi.” She interjected though I could only respond with a “Haa?” as I was at a loss.

“Izumi. That’s my name. Izumi Hiroshimura. Now we’re not total strangers… and I’m willing to indebt myself even further so that I won’t have to let it go.”

It seemed that Izumi had no qualms about me using the shoulder of her shirt as a bandage for her lacerated hand. Instead, she entirely fixated on me. Not that I can complain; not with the noticeable decrease in decibel as her nerves began to settle.

“Why now… just why? You’re becoming a more a pain than what’s already in my ass…”

“Err, pardon?”

“I smashed my coccyx on the damn window frame -just nevermind. I think someone may be here, but the footsteps I heard were awfully heavy… too heavy…”

“Are you going to use that cool ability of yours and come up with a strange solution?”

“Cool? Ability? You mean dumb luck?” I stifled a chuckle as I cinched the end of the bindings into a square knot. “I don’t know to what standards you’re holding me to but multiply it by zero. I’m just writing the script as I go.”

“I-I know now isn’t really the time, but I was hoping I could have the name of my rescuer. Like… your full name? So that way, if we do get separated, I can… maybe tell stories or perhaps even find you again… unless you're planning to ditch me…”

And then all the progress of trying to keep everything together fell apart in the form of briny little stars falling from Zuzu’s face.

“W-Wait, are you crying? Did that fucking Pig-Bastard hurt you?” I sneered, looking over the minor cuts and bruises, none of which appeared to be any more significant than that of falling off a bicycle.

“Y-You see; I realize I’m not going to make it all on my own… I should have died back there… many times over… If we separate, I don’t see how I could ever make it… Without you I’m as good as dead.”

“Alright, alright- Shhh! Shhh! I get the point, and I told you already, my name really is Else! I wasn’t born privileged enough for a last name. Now, will you please be quiet? I have a bad feeling… (someone is approaching).”

Nodding, Izumi and I scanned the horizon through what little relative safety the window provided until the weighted thud of heavy militarized boots began pacing along the pool-side tile.

*Tap-Tap*

Izumi prodded my shoulder, hinting with those teary blue eyes over in the direction of the meat-chandelier leaking liquid refuse into the rose-tinted water.

“Understood. I have two recently deceased bodies that have yet to turn in my vicinity. It appears they may have intentionally thrown themselves through the skylight. Please advise.” A dull sounding voice echoed the entire expanse of the gymnasium following the click of a radio echoed shortly after.

[Radio: Tag em’ and bag em,’ L-1. The rest of Harbinger Squad are continuing towards the inner city. There isn’t much left of the suburbs, so pack it in quick and regroup. The convoy can’t be kept waiting.]

“Understood. Liger One, Initiating Perimeter Sweep.”

*Step*

**Step**

***Step***

In the blink of an eye, I caught only the shadow of a slimline suit of full-body combat armor before instinctively reaching for Izumi’s hand before she made our presence known.

“(What’s wrong?)” She whispered with a vivid expression of confusion in the form of a scowl.

“(Wait…)”

As I suspected; a third Savager broke from the women’s restroom wielding a cleaver and a handgun, firing wildly into the air.

“You killed my -my- ARHG!! I’ll kill you ALL!!!” The scraggly looking woman screamed, choking on her words in blistering rage.

And then out of nowhere, the clatter of footsteps and bellowing abruptly cut to silence causing Izumi to hold her injured palm to her mouth in terror.

Nearly out of the window’s field of view stood a man garbed in high-tech power armor and matching helmet, clutching the Savager by the throat.

“(We need to avoid this guy at all costs… Quietly, I need you to check if this bathroom has a window leading to the outside- or vents. Don’t worry if they’re bolted shut, just report back to me what you find. -on second thought; if it’s a window, I want you to go without me. I’ll count in my head then figure out the rest.)”

Shakily, Izumi nodded once more before taking off her track shoes.

I’ll have to credit her for thinking abstract enough that the soles of her leggings would provide a stealthy way to get around, but I couldn’t afford her to leave them behind, so I tied the laces through a hole in my shorts.

*CRACK!*

That sound just now became all too familiar. The breakage of bone; the Savager’s neck. Shortly after, a loud splash signified that the body had been discarded alongside the others.

Fifteen Seconds…

Izumi’s nearing the mark where I can assume; she’s made it to safety, but I-

Where’s the lumbering Hulk!?

For only the briefest of moments, I glanced at the doorway to the Boy’s Locker room and back to the last location before the Soldier vanished.

Maybe I had watched too much Television in the past, but most people by now should know; A.) Poking one’s head around the corner means that ‘He’s right behind you’ or B.) Returning to your previous position meant that the main character takes a bullet right between the eyes.

Seeing that I would prefer not to have to choose between the former or the latter, I came up with the only viable solution to sit still, slow my breathing and listen in with all my intent.

.

..

...

THAT’S IT! I CAN HEAR THEM ROMPERS A’ STOMPIN!! HE’S APPROACHING THE WOMEN’S BATHROOM ACROSS THE POOL!!!

From a prone position on the floor, I decided it would be safe enough to peek around the corner within inches from the ground, but before I managed to crawl along the floor on my stomach, the door behind me opened.

“Izumi?” I mouthed as she shifted awkwardly in the slit of the doorway. Then, without warning, she tumbled to the ground. Her clothes, torn beyond recognition and her body deeply bruised, yet another Savager stepped over the crumpled mass whimpering like a small animal.

Wetting his lips, I could tell by the Savager’s leather jacket that I was dealing with one on top of the hierarchy. “A lone tree falls in the forest. Does anyone hear it scream?”

“Dunno, I was just about to ask you the same thing.” I spat loudly in the hopes that the Soldier retained some sort of benevolent duty to protect civilians against the atrocities I have witnessed in the past. At this point, death by a mere gram of lead made far more sense than rediscovering the extent of humanity’s darkest side, but this wasn’t just my fight anymore.

Izumi, under normal circumstances, would never have been my friend. Despite being a total stranger, we found common ground; a desire to see the tomorrow's sunrise, even if it meant living in uncertainty… well, I can’t say I’ve known anything but. So maybe that makes me an expert on procrastination, a professional stain against humanity, a perfectionist in all things disappointing… But I’m needed. For once in my life, that’s something I can hold on to, and I’ll be damned if I have it torn from me.

“I think I can speak for my Crew that we all enjoy mouthy brats like you. Screaming is good, but defiance is precisely what we stand for. Maybe if you can make it past initiation, you can become one of us if your mind doesn’t break like your friend here sniveling on the floor.”

Rearing his steel-toed boot lined with rivets, I ripped Izumi’s shoes from the hole in my pant's leg and sent them flying down the hallway. Like a hunting bola, the pair spiraled through the air then wrapped themselves around the Savagers calf and ankle setting him off balance.

And then unexpectedly, the outer wall crumbled. In the wake of the dust and rubble, the Soldier had shoulder-rammed clear through to the other side, his incredible strength augmented by his pitch-black armor.

Those acute red slits for eyes…

Standing up to the Savager was one thing, but the harrowing glow trailing through the thick plume of dust locked every joint in my body as the powerful blows began to land.

Three quick jabs later and I knew the Chief Savager had been dispatched. Regrettably, my shellshock had not even begun to drain as I fell back on my rear, completely unable to react to the massive wave of pain radiating from my shattered tailbone.

As the dust settled, those red eyes peeled away hinting that the Soldier’s mask had been removed. But I was mistaken, the fight wasn’t over. A loud gunshot threatened to rupture my eardrums in such close quarters, and then a successive breakage of bones and tiny squeal established that for certain, the Savager Chief had been dispatched.

“Liger One. Combat Report- I have.”

Everything happened at once. As the Soldier spoke into his radio, my body’s ‘Fight’ response overruled the fear keeping me pinned to my rear. Before I could even process what I was doing; my fist connected with the only exposed portion of the Soldier’s face.

Given my angle and ferocity of my attack, I managed to offset my own meager weight, taking us both to the ground until a mighty hand wrenched me over onto my backside.

Now face to face with the young man behind the mask, I caught a glimmer in his eye; an optical implant scanning over my terrified reflection.

Emotionless and cold, the man spoke as if detached from our struggle.

“That is peculiar. Although you appear to be Human, I am not able to find you in the Citizen’s Registry. Seeing that you are not aligned with the Savagers, who or what are you?”

“I ain’t telling you a damn thing, Monster!” I spat, continuing short little bursts of effort in the hopes that I could break free.

As I looked past our bodies, I noticed Izumi had disappeared. Even though she had abandoned me, I couldn’t help but grin impartial to a small victory.

“Then I will have to detain you for further questioning. But first, tell your companion to lower her weapon. Otherwise, I am authorized to exercise self-defense protocols against a Civilian.”

Huh!?

Turning my head towards the open grounds of the pool, I found Izumi clutching firmly to the handgun that had been discarded in the scuffle. Though my eyes were blurred with tears, I could tell she was petrified, shaking uncontrollably.

“Get the fuck off her- get the fuck off my friend, right now! I don’t care if you’re a Cop, I don’t care if you’re Military! Else is the only thing I have left, so back the fuck off right now goddamn it!!!”

It was plain to see that Izumi had no experience with a firearm by her posture and wavering aim. She was as scared of the weapon as I was being unintentionally shot, and regrettably, that meant if I recognized the potential; so did the Soldier looming over me.

“I will ask you one more time; Izumi Horishimura, put down your wea-.”

*BANG!*

I’ll never know if she had been startled by the knowledge of her name granted to the Soldier through the use of his implant or that Izumi settled on her resolve... I can only hope that she did not fire that weapon for my sake, as a perverse form of compensation.

In the following moments, I felt the weight bearing down on me release as a burst of sparks tore past me.

*BANG-BANG-BANG!!*

Regrettably, I knew I had been hit by a ricochet, and unlike the instance in the pool where I had nearly drowned, I lost consciousness almost immediately. But before I did, I saw Izumi look at me one last time before the silhouette of the Soldier blanketed her from view.

Those deep blue eyes never left me, and as I lay my head to rest, I found myself troubled with the regret of having considered her for a moment, my first and only friend.