//------------------------------//
// Kira's Nightmare: Part 1 
// Story: Foretellers: Continuation 
// by BioQuillFiction 
//------------------------------//

"Alright, Lan, today is your turn the help with dinner." Cript said.

"I'm still concerned you might throw me against some eldritch abominations…" Lan frowned. "Kira might have been a fluke cause you want to coddle and spoil her."

"I mean…it's my turn so…" Kira said slowly.

"Oh relax Lan, it's not an Eldritch being or alternate dimensional monster we're hunting." Cript said as he opened a portal. On the other side was a large jungle forest. 

"So…hunting normal animals?" Lan inquired.

"Close." He said, a giant wolf-rabbit-boar rushing into view on the other side of the portal. It was easily the size of a two story building, as fast as a speeding muscle car and was strong enough to slam and splinter one of the large trees into falling over before it began running away. "We're hunting that."

"Oh…that's…a thing." Lan blinked. "That's not gonna be fun…"

As Cript dragged Lan through the portal, Kira was picked up by Scootaloo.





Kira found herself in, oddly enough, a School.

"Uh…why am I here?" Kira inquired. "Thought I would be…somewhere else."

"Yes, well unfortunately given your situation and Lan's… I won't actually be your trainer for this." Scootaloo said.

"Why not?"

"Well, despite being adopted into the family, when the curse hit and you two gained the genetics of Cript and Alushy… you two came out VERY much like them both." Scootaloo said. "I don't know all the details but apparently the curse favored you two more than Jenny, Dan and Alex. This just means you two are more…. Naturally powerful."

"I'm…not sure how or why that would happen." Kira frowned. "So…what am I supposed to do for training?"

"Well, that's up for him to decide." Scootaloo said. She motioned behind the desk behind Kira.

Turning, Kira spotted a man. Thin, Latino with combed back jelled hair dressed in mostly black and grey. "Sup?" He said with a nod as he stood up and walked to the front.

"Hi there." Kira said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you sir."

"Kira, this is Lord. He was Cript's teacher." Scootaloo explained.

"That's really cool." Kira said with a growing smile, getting a bit excited to learn from dad's teacher.

"Right." Lord said, a wave of his hand and Scootaloo left. "Alright, so first thing first, put this on." Lord said, tossing Kira a thin metal bracelet.

"Alright." She said, grabbing the bracelet and putting it on. "What's the bracelet for?"

"It will block and lock your powers and magic. You also can't remove it once it's on." He said.

The click of the bracelet was practically deafening to Kira. "Uh…why?" She asked worriedly.

"To be blunt I am not the kind of teacher you ever want to have. My lessons are harsh, traumatizing, physically and mentally demanding and above all they get results. This lesson is to help you be rid of something you honestly would lose over time but Fuck it you met the criteria to have me as a teacher so I'd kiss your childhood innocence goodbye." 

"I'd like to go home now…" Kira said worriedly.

"Too bad." Lord shrugged. "Cause I'm not gonna coddle and spoil you. Now, while this bracelet is on you are basically no different than how you were on earth. Now I've recreated your old world, but rather than that whole twenty twelve thing happening I set a different Armageddon in motion."

“And uh…what kind of Armageddon are we going with?” Kira asked, already knowing she’s not going to enjoy this.

"Well I started off with some Classics. Zombies. Demons. Mutants. Then I said Fuck it and mixed them together and threw in some other shit just to ensure the downfall time was logical so also expect some, well, to be blunt, bullshit." He shrugged. "You will have a copy version of your family, Lan, Dan, Alex and Jenny,  but they, as far as they are concerned, this is their world and reality and you are their Kira. So try not to say shit to blow that. Or die. Die and I have you start over from day one. Your goal is pretty straightforward. Survive ten years. How, don't care. Die and you reset your timer and go back to day one of when you arrive. And yes, you will remember the pain of death."

Kira blinked, trying to find words as she sputtered lightly, comically wagging her arms around trying to find words. “The fuck!?!”

"Hey, this is just my first lesson. Trust me, it gets way worse." Lord said with a laugh. Then, he snapped his fingers.





Kira woke up with a jolt. She was still in the classroom but it was… 

Blood stained the walls and floor. Chunks of… meat sat rotting in a corner nearby, the stench making Kira gag. She looked herself over, her bracelet still there. Her clothes looked dirty but normal. She noticed she had a backpack on and felt it had some weight.

”Alright…so everything’s going straight to hell…I have no powers…and I already hate Lord…” Kira thought to herself in quick succession.

Kira got up, quickly moving away from the decaying meat and taking her backpack off and checking it's contents.

She looked it over, a few fond memories as it was the same backpack she wore to school both on earth and in the place she called home. Opening it, she found a bottle of water, a few granola bars, the book 'Holes' and a roll of Toilet Paper.

“Alright…good items…” Kira muttered, pulling out her water bottle and taking a quick swig of it, closing it back up and putting it away. “Now…where are the others?”

Kira examined the room, seeing it wasn't like the classrooms she had. It was a different high school than what her siblings attended at the time. Slowly she opened the door, and regretted it.

Kira was hit by the even more pungent stench of spoiled meat that came from the hallway. She covered her mouth and upon getting out the door, froze.

Corpses of teens and teachers alike lined the walls. Either as stains on them or in piles on the floor. Many were mangled and twisted into unnatural ways that broke and ground their bones and flesh. Hollow eyes of the dead, for those that still had eyes in their sockets, gazing out around in all directions. One, staring Kira right Into her own eyes.

She screamed.

"Kira!" From the next door classroom burst Alex. Kira seeing her older, pervert brother dressed in a hoodie and jeans that had magazines taped around his arms, legs and torso in makeshift armor. He had a wood bat that had seen use based on the dry blood, dents and scratches on it. He ran up to her. "What happened?" He asked her.

“Just…uh…” She pointed at the specific one staring at her. “Just…surprised me was all…”

He sighed. "I know it's hard seeing them but… try and not look at them… even if the smell makes that hard." Alex said with a sigh. "Come on, I found a few good things." He said, taking Kira by the hand and leading her to the next room.

It was here Kira saw her first zombie. Or at least, its corpse. It's head smashed in, likely by Alex as he walked her around it and to the teachers desk. On top of it was a duffle bag that was fairly empty. Alex reached into the teachers desk and pulled out some candy bars and an energy drink. "Not much but I figure you'd want this." He said, handing her an older iPod. "Got a charge and some decent songs."

“Thanks.” Kira nodded, thankful that there was at least some music that could help her deal with…all this.

Once the desk was looted Alex sling the duffle bag back one and took Kira's hand. The hallway still gave Kira a horrible feeling. The next classroom cemented it. As if melted, flesh and bone were stuck against the walls and part of the ceiling here. Alex saw this and pulled her along to another.

This room looked fairly normal. No blood but plenty of tossed desks and a few backpacks. "You check the backpacks, I'll check the desks." Alex said.

“Alright.” Kira nodded, moving towards one of the backpacks and starting to dig through it. ”Ten years of this…does Lord even understand what could go wrong?”

The first backpack had nothing of value. The third had a sketchbook she decided to keep. The third had a soda can she put into her bag. The last bag Kira checked had a flashlight. Checking and the batteries, it still worked.

"While I'm here I need answers…" Kira thought to herself. “So…how long have we been at this school?” Kira asked Alex. “Sorry for asking a weird question just…days seem to blend together in this nightmare.”

"Tell me about it." Alex sighed. "But this school has been on the checklist since day one. Jenny swears the sports equipment is better weapons than none at all. Has a point but eh." He shrugged. "We've been parked out front for a few hours. Once this place is picked clean we're heading back to my place."

Kira nodded. "Makes sense, Alex's house was massive. Plenty of space, gated, it would be safest." She thought.

"Can't believe it's been two months." She heard Alex add.

“Only two months?” She asked. “Still feels like years…”

"Yeah. Of course the apocalypse has to hit while I'm still a virgin." Alex huffed.

Kira chuckled. "At least Alex is still Alex…"

"Raagh!" Kira jumped, seeing her first actual zombie. An arm was missing and it's lips looked like it ate them off itself. It roared from the doorway and charged in.

Alex rushed in front of Kira and slammed the bat against the undead's head. It fell to the ground and tried to spin around but Alex slammed the bat onto it's head again. A deep cracking sound filled the room as Alex slammed the bat a third time on its head, reducing the skull and brain within to fragments and a slurry of brain and blood.

"Fucking Sprinters…" He huffed.

“The fuck was that doing here?” Kira asked worriedly.

"Probably heard us." Alex said. He walked over to his duffle bag, pulled out a notebook with the word 'Enemies' written on the front as he opened it and marked a tally on the page. "And that's nine Sprinters for me." He said.

“What’s the score so far?” Kira asked, trying to take a peak at the score, which the scene was a tad cute of the smaller girl on her tiptoes trying to see what her brother had written down in stark contrast to the death and decay around the room.

Alex handed Kira the book

Opening it, Kira saw the first page had Alex, Lan, Jenny, Dan and her names all written in pen at the top going down. The very top of the page read, 'Total Kill Count'. Alex had thirteen. Dan had six. Jenny had twenty four. Lan had sixteen. Kira frowned as she saw her name has zero kills.

Looking down she saw a name under hers that shocked her. Crow. Kill Count of two.

“Crow…” Kira thought to herself sadly. “Well…yeah I see these numbers are correct.”

"Yeah. Crow thinks keeping a scoreboard will help our morale. Not too wrong." Alex shrugged. "Which reminds me we need to check pharmacies. Crow needs more pain meds." Alex added.

“What’s wrong with Crow?” Kira blurted out in worry.

"... You feeling okay Kira?" Alex asked. "I know it's been stressful but you forgot what happened to him?"

“I’m…still trying to process things…” Kira shook her head sadly. “So many thing’s keep going on it’s…hard to keep track and…it only hurts more when I keep wishing everything could just go back to normal…”

Alex sighed. "Fair. Well, you were really out of it in those early days. Well, about three days after shit hit the fan Lan and Jenny went to the Juvenile center Crow was at. Place was, according to them, flooded with some weird… mutants. They were eating people and… well, they got Crow out but not before those fucks made a meal of his legs." Alex said with a sigh. "He's clear from infection, a bath in all that fancy booze my parents kept and a gut wrenching cauterizing later he won't be bleeding out but he won't walk and has pain all the time."

“O-oh…” She muttered in horror. “I…oh god…”

Alex just nodded. "Yeah. Zombies. Mutants. Monsters. Fucking aliens… world went to shit and it's going out in a bang." Alex huffed.

Kira was silent as they looted the rest of the classrooms. A few more zombies appeared, but Alex dealt with them. Soon Alex arrived at the Cafeteria where he and Kira saw Jenny.

Jenny wore some football gear, helmet included, and had a machete in hand. "Hey. Any luck?" Jenny asked.

"This and that. Not too much." Alex shrugged.

“Alex killed a Sprinter.” Kira brought up.

"Nice." Jenny said.

"Eh. So, any luck on your end?" Alex asked.

"More bats, some sports gear and such. Food wise the cafeteria here didn't have much. Milk and meat went bad. But chips and some drinks and juice were fine. Loaded those in the car already." 

"So, guess we just need to stop by a pharmacy." Alex said.

“That would be good.” Kira nodded.

Jenny pulled out a map from her backpack and put it on the table. Various building had been marked as House, Offices, ECT. "Looks like the closest one is only a few miles from here. Or we can try and hit the hospital."

"Isn't the hospital infested with the Swarm?" Alex asked.

“This is so annoying that I can’t ask basic questions…” Kira mentally groaned. “Well, maybe we could go there when the Swarm is…less active?” Kira brought up, not knowing if this ‘Swarm’ ever is inactive for a time.

"They do hunt at night so the majority will be gone if we go then." Jenny nodded. "Still, I'd rather have real armor and weapons."

"We… could ask Crow where that Ventral base he worked at was?" Alex asked.

"You know he and Lan hate bringing up the times before." Jenny said.

"Well it's that or he'll be in way more pain in a few days." Alex argued. "Besides, odds of one of them being there are slim."

"I'll ask but I won't force him to tell."

“I’ll come with…maybe I can help him tell us." Kira brought up.

"Maybe." Alex shrugged.

With that I followed the three to the car. Apparently it was a truck and once in we did stop by the pharmacy. It was still standing and aside the crashed fire truck, looked to have stuff still inside.

"Looks almost too easy." Jenny said.

"Think it's a trap?" Alex asked.

"Dunno. Some of those monsters are crafty…"

"Well, only way we can figure it out is if we go in. They won't expect our expecting." Kira said honestly.

We got out of the truck and carefully made our way to the pharmacy. It was a CVS. One Kira remembered Alex would buy them all kinds of junk food at on weekends.

Once they were inside the trio saw… something. It looked like a dog but also partly human. Thin, inhumanly thin and it has two antlers out of it's boney skull. It was sleeping on a pile of clothes and trash. "Shit it's a SkinWalker." Alex whisper yelled as he and Jenny backed out, pulling Kira with them.

"Are there multiples of them?" Kira whispered worriedly.

Slowly, Jenny leaned back and examined the place. "Looks like just one." She said. "Shit we can't fight that."

"What's special about it? Is it an adult or a mutant version?"

"We don't know. All we do know is that it can knock a tank aside, avoids fire and most bullets just piss it off." 

"Oh…" She muttered, doubting she could just sneak over and slit it's throat like Dan could back home. "That's…that's not good at all…" She whispered worriedly.

"Looks like we will need those weapons then…" Alex said. "Zombies are one thing. Those fucks in the street. We'll be fucked."

The group quickly returned to the truck and went home.

Kira had never actually been inside or really seen Alex's house before. It was gigantic.

"I see you three are back." Lan said as he walked up to them all. "Any luck with anything?"

"SkinWalker was guarding the pharmacy. Other than that, more bats and sports equipment." Jenny said.

"Yay. Sports…" Lan huffed.

"Better than nothing." Kira shrugged.

With that Kira began walking around the mansion. It wasn't long until she found Dan… and, Crow. Crow was laying on the fanciest bed, but he looked horrible. He gritted his teeth and held back pain as the stumps that were his legs twitched or moved slightly. The movements made him want to scream but he held it in.

Dan gave him two pills and a bottle of water. He rapidly took the pills and drank the water. Nearby, a wheelchair sat with a bag sling over the back.

Crow had always been strong. Even his dark half she fought was so strong and full of determination… this… this Crow… looked lifeless.

"Hey Crow…" Kira said softly, feeling so sad and upset that this happened to him.

"Heh. Hey little sister." Crow said. The second his lifeless, hopeless eyes met her own Kira felt so guilty over… ever being mad at him. He winced.

"Don't move much." Dan said. "It's still gonna take a few more months before your… stumps, fully heal."

"Tell my bladder that when I need to take a piss."

"If you'd let me install that Catheter-"

"I'd rather be mutant chow again…" Crow huffed.

“Well you either get the Catheter, or we have to drag you to the bathroom, or you wear a diaper.” Kira pointed out.

"Oh that's a low blow." Crow laughed a little before wincing. "Fucking hell how does laughing make them hurt?"

"Most likely it's just your nerves still shot to hell from the trame. Plus the… procedure wasn't exactly medical grade." Dan pointed out.

"Fuck trauma…"

Dan left and Kira jumped onto the bed next to Crow.

“I’m sorry…” Kira said to Crow sadly, knowing she couldn’t really explain herself to Crow but…feeling like her actually saying it to him would help her in someways.

Crow pat her on the head. It was a gesture he had done for Kira for as long as she could remember. "Hey. It's not your fault." He said with a sigh. "Damn apocalypse. Mayans were off a year but hey, at least we're still together."

"A year off? That means it's 2013." Kira mentally noted.

“I still…should have done something.” Kira said. “I could have said something…done something sooner…”

"Hey. You're not the one who got me thrown in there. I was. I'm just lucky Lan and Jenny saved me when they did. Honestly, I thought I was going to die without seeing you all again."

“I know…” Kira sighed. “I just…still feel like part’s of this are my fault…like I should have done more to help all of you instead of…just be me…”

"Hey now, you're the reason most of us get up in the morning these days." Crow said, still affectionately parting Kira on her head. "You're the heart of this group Kira. Don't ever forget that."

“It’s also because I cook you breakfast.” Kira giggled warmly.

"Yes. No one can microwave a hot pocket like you." Crow said, laughing but wincing as he did. "Ouch. Heh, worth it…"

Kira rolled her eyes as she gently held onto Crow’s hand. “Thing’s will get better Crow, I promise.”

"Maybe. If those aliens flying around crash and they have a few cans of leg grow medicine let me know." He said, laughing and wincing again.

That night, Kira slept in Crow's room. It felt nice to have him with them again. For the first time in a long time… she felt like her family was whole again.





The next month, Kira got more accustomed to the odd new post apocalyptic earth. For starters, Zombies had several groups. Walker. Sprinter. Special and Litch.

Walker and Sprinter being, as the name implied, slow, basic zombies and faster, quick zombies.

Special are infected or undead with a unique Ability. Like being able to hop like a grasshopper with proportional skill and grace. Swallow people whole and digest them as such. Scream at a high pitch that disorients people and calls other infected. And many more.

The Lich can take any corpse and make it one of the listed above and take a lot to take down.

Then of course there is the monsters like the SkinWalker, Wendigo, Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, dragons… ECT.

Also the aliens, portals to other worlds that open to drop a random new monster or random debris wherever and several what look to be gods fighting in the sky above.

Kira knew this earth was beyond fucked.

And she had to survive it for ten years as a normal human.

Each passing day only fueled a hatred of Lord in her.

“Seriously! This is some grade A horseshit! And Lord think’s I can do this for ten fucking years?” She mentally screamed in anger.

"Hey Kira." Lan said as he walked up to her. "Jenny, Alex and I are heading to that Ventral Hideout." 

It was a week after arriving here that Jenny got Crow to let them know where the hideout was. And longer for Lan to finally go. Crow needed more medicine and was almost entirely out.

“Can I come with or do I have to stay here?” Kira asked.

"You'll be staying here." He said.

“Alright.” Kira nodded. “Then stay safe alright?” Kira asked, moving over and giving Lan a hug.

"We'll try and be back before sunset. Just keep an eye on Crow. Dan will be working on the solar panels. Power's still on but not sure how much longer that will be." He said as he hugged Kira back.

Once they left, Kira went back to Crow. She found him doing what he usually did. Playing Birth By Sleep on Alex's PSP.

“Are ya winning big bro?” Kira asked with a smile.

Crow chuckled. "Already beat all three on critical. Now I'm just grinding for all the abilities and max level."

“That’s good.” Kira nodded. “Have you faced the super boss’s yet?”

"No. Can't even beat the third form of that Arena Boss." He sighed.

As she sat there watching Crow play… she realized… she could ask for answers. Answers that might help with… the other Crow.

“So…mind if I ask you some questions?” Kira inquired.

"Sure." He replied.

“So…mind if I ask…why did you work with Ventrals?” Kira asked nervously.

Crow sighed, pausing his game and turning his head to look Kira in the eyes. "I did it for us." He said plainly. "I… overheard the Orphanage head… Lan and I were gonna be shipped to some Catholic boarding school for boys in Georgia… you were gonna be sent to a random foster family in New York… course, that timeframe passed so either they changed their minds or it was delayed."

“O-oh…” She muttered. “I…didn’t know we were going to…be separated like that.”

"I didn't want you to freak out. I mean… you and Lan, you're blood. I couldn't bare it to tell you, so… I did what I thought was right. The… thing I did that got me arrested, that was the last thing I was supposed to do before I got our ticket away. Fake birth certificates. Hacked credit card. A fake ID and driver's license for Jenny. We… would have been free. Could have gone anywhere." Crow sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

“But…why didn’t you tell us? At least tell Lan…he would have understood…” Kira said sadly. “All of us would…we’re family.”

"I wanted it to be a surprise." He smiled. "A Christmas gift from me to you all. Could have packed our shit, rented a car, and drove off. Heh. It would have been great."

Kira… didn't know how to respond…

“O-oh…” Kira blinked. “That’s…wow…”

"Well, it might not have happened how I wanted but hey, Apocalypse is a pretty good close second means of sticking together."

“Yeah…” Kira said. “An apocalypse is…a good close second…” She said, hating how technically this exact event happened but went horribly wrong for all of them.

"So, anything else you wanted to know?"

“Were…the Ventral’s at least nice?” Kira asked. “Cause…well, they’re Ventrals…why would they help orphan’s like us?”

"Well, I only really met two. They're… well, my boss was okay. A little crazy I won't lie, but for every bank he blew up, some illegal shit from other people got blown up to. Then the other one… Zeke, the new Red Eyed one. He was… quiet. I got the sense he didn't care for it but I also got the sense I didn't want to make them mad…"

“If only you knew.” Kira mentally chuckled. “Well…it’s good to know that there’s at least…some good people in that band of crazy people.”

"Yeah. Sucks what happened to them though. Lot of people were hoping they'd actually save us."

“Really?” Kira inquired.

"Well shit, you know the crazy crap they did. People figured if anyone could kill these monsters it would be the Ventrals. Sadly most either died, became mutants or monsters, one was abducted by the aliens I think and after that, well, no one knows what happened to the rest." He shrugged. "Probably died or are monsters for real now."

Kira frowned. She knew Eclipse and Zeke were strong, but pre-kingdom hearts powers them, she wasn't so sure. 

"Well…that sucks." Kira frowned. "But we can still make this work."

"Think Alex has his ds around here somewhere. Maybe you can play one of those?"

“Yeah, he should have something.” Kira nodded. “I’ll be back to find it.”

Kira rushed off, hoping to find the handheld somewhere nearby. She searched the various rooms, mostly finding nothing much.

She came across a Library where she saw a large painting hung on the wall. Kira had never met Alex's family, his parents or sisters, but she saw above their images. They looked like him, the relation was clearly visible, however they all looked distant. Cold and indifferent to one another. A family murel portraying a family together not by love but by high social obligation and business.

It gave Kira chills to look at.

“Ugh…no wonder why Alex bailed…” Kira muttered bitterly. “I wouldn’t want to be here if…it was this cold…”

She left the room and kept looking, finding Dan in what looked to be a makeshift workshop of sorts. Piles of various scrap and junk items littered around as he worked on something.

“Hey Dan.” Kira said. “How goes the work?”

"Hey Kira." He said, focusing on what was on his desk. "I figure we should probably not rely too heavily on the guns and such, mainly because as time passes things like guns, oil, bullets and such will become harder to find, so I'm working on a few homemade weapons."

“Yeah, can’t really rely on stuff that’ll end sooner or later.” Kira nodded. “So what are ya making?”

"Well, these." He said, holding up a tin can that's got some tape and in marker has the word "Boom" on it. "Homemade grenades."

“You sure those are safe?” Kira asked nervously, now worried that her brother might accidentally blow himself up with these homemade grenades.

"Yes. Well, as safe as homemade explosives can be. They're mostly filled with either fireworks or lighter fluid and random scrap for the shrapnel but so long as the pin stays in they won't just go off." Dan said, motioning to the pin, that seems to be a paperclip bent into the shape of one, sticking out the top. "I'm hoping to eventually make Nitroglycerin so we can make TNT and some real heavy duty explosives. Be a nasty surprise for some of those big monsters."

“Well, as long as what your making won’t accidentally blow up in your face.” Kira said carefully.

"I know how to be safe. Chemistry, engineering and planning are all things I know well. Plus my math checks out and I always triple check."

“Always good to triple check your work.” Kira nodded with a smile.

"That aside I did finish your weapon." He said, making Kira smile as he handed her the item. It once various tubes, all thin and made of metal. The hand grip, stock and such looked all to have once been parts of cut up furniture. The main things that caught Kira's eyes about it however was the small butane gas canister screwed In and held by a metal holster on the side, and the pilot switch at the front.

Dan, had made Kira a flamethrower.

“Oh~ me likey.” Kira practically purred as she held the flamethrower.

"Yeah. I figured most weapons would be too physically demanding or big for you so, flamethrower was the easiest to make. I am trying to make a compound crossbow, basically something that's easy for you to hold, reload and use like a normal crossbow but smaller and still hits as hard. So far… not so easy."

“I can imagine.” Kira said, still holding her flamethrower like a brand new puppy. “But thanks Dan, this means a lot.”

"Just be careful with it. The butane is set to max heat. The can at that output will last only twenty minutes but will definitely burn anything in front of you. I wanted to go with propane but the tanks are a little heavy for you. Even as a backpack. Plus if it got shot well… Kira rocket…"

“I’d rather not become an impromptu astronaut thank you very much.” Kira said nervously.

"Well, remember to be careful with it. It should be compatible with any portable butane tank "

“Cool.” Kira smiled. “And with this, I can deal with the more…flammable monster’s out and about.”

"Just remember that there are a lot of things that can catch fire." Dan said. "Don't want to accidentally burn a building down when you use it."

“Yeah, burning down buildings would be a bad thing.” Kira nodded.

With that Kira took her new weapon and was off. She put her new weapon in the room that had become hers. It used to belong to one of Alex's sisters.

She kept looking around and found nothing of interest. The DS eluded her and it made her annoyed.

With a grunt she opened the next door only to find a large office, everything was elegantly crafted from floor to desks and bookshelves, filing cabinets, safest and so forth.

As she searched the desk she noticed the computer was on, the screen coming to life seemingly by itself suddenly.

“Hmm…that’s…weird…” She frowned, hopping onto the chair and seeing what the computer had to offer.

Before she could touch anything the screen popped up a black window where lines of code ran through almost automatically until finally she noticed the camera light was on. The speakers gave some light static until,

"Hello? Can you hear me?" The voice spoke through the static.

“Hello?” Kira asked carefully. “I can hear you, it’s just staticy.” She said, not sure if she had to type it but considering what’s going on she might as well just speak out loud.

"Good. The virus did its job. Are there others or are you all alone?" The voice asked.

“Before I ask, are you friendly or an enemy?” Kira asked carefully. “I just want to be careful here considering…well, everything’s gone to hell.”

"I'm friendly. Been using my talents to hack into anything with a camera I can to find people still alive. And keep them that way to the best of my abilities."

“Alright…” Kira said carefully. “There’s two other people where I am at, while three others went out to gather supplies.” She answered carefully. “How many are with you?”

"Right now it's just me. Part of why I'm looking for people is that I'm trying to change that." He said, the screen showing a new Window. This one showed the blueprints of a bunker. "This is where I am right now. Some super rich pretentious and religious assholes built this to ride out issues be they political, economic or apocalyptic. Lucky for us they didn't get to get in and lock the doors. I did however. This place has everything. Media archives, Satellite Internet which is what I'm using right now, a huge garden and even farms of fish, chicken, cows, goats, pigs. Water from a well that's purified, everything. I lucked out when I came across this place."

Kira’s jaw dropped. “Wow…that’s…that’s really good.” She said. “Where is that place?”

"Religious nuts called it New Eden. I call it The Hole. Your group is more than welcome to come but therein lies the issues. The Hole is in central Canada. And according to this you are in Texas."

Kira frowned. A trip like that would take them very far and through possibly most or all of the chaos Lord put into this world.

“That…would be quite a road trip, and one of us is…not really up for leg work if you know what I mean.”

"Sadly… what if I can find you guys some armored transport? There was a fuck ton of military movement in the early days. Odds are one of these bases or someplace near you has something armored."

“Hopefully.” Kira sighed. “Hopefully when the rest get home I’ll be able to get you to talk to them.”

"That would be best. Oh, and what's your name?"

“My name's Kira, what’s your name?" Kira asked.

"Call me Coder. It's what I always went by back in the day online."

“Fair enough.” Kira nodded.

"I'll leave the program running so whenever your friends get back you can all talk it over with me. Hopefully by then I'll have found you some transportation."

“Hopefully.” Kira nodded. “Well, glad to know that thing’s are…starting to look up.”





It had been another month and Kira's family was preparing to move.

Coder got them that armored truck. It had a satellite radio so he could keep in contact with them, a fair amount of space for them and cargo, and was able to travel very far on a full tank.

The Ventral Hideout proved a boon. Guns and ammo, a few explosives, body armor and even medicine.

Unfortunately with this boon of supplies came more issues. Mainly, the various monsters and their activity began to rise. Zombies were traveling in packs, demons started appearing, and, unexpectedly, looters showed up. Kira did not like the way they looked at her and Jenny but they left them alone for now.

“Hopefully we can get out of here before things get worse…” Kira shuddered, not liking the looter’s more than the demon’s or zombies.

"We just need a few more things and we can head out." Lan said. "Water mainly."

"Another run? We can try the Super Walmart?" Jenny offered.

"It's a demon nest. Those things take a lot of bullets to put down." Alex reminded.

“Is there any other place close enough to get water?” Kira inquired.

"Maybe one of the semi's on the highway?" Dan offered.

“True.” Kira nodded. “Any shops that aren’t…’guarded’?”

"... The… orphanage might still have stuff." Dan said, making my eyes go wide.

“I…mean…that is possible…” Kira said worriedly, not liking where this line of thought is going.

"You sure you want to go back there?" Dan asked.

"Only ones aside from me who know that place are Kira and Crow, and Crow isn't gonna be able to help so… yeah." Lan said with a sigh.

"I'll come with." Alex said. "Someone is gon a need to snap you out of whatever PTSD you might fall into."

"Thanks." Kira smiled, hoping this won't end poorly.

The ride to the orphanage was quite. Driving up to it, the place almost looked untouched.

Almost.

It was thick with heavy overgrowth. Far more than should be possible for the few months it has been.

"Keep your flamer ready Kira." Alex said. "Think whatever did this is plant monster magic bullshit."

"At least we brought the right tools then." Lan said, griping his machete tight.

The trio walked into the building, the long halls covered in vines, flowers, and moss. 

Looking around brought mostly bad memories to Lan and Kira. They hated this place. Especially the mean caretaker, Ms. Portland. Kids made their own meals, cleaned up everything and she didn't care if you were out past curfew, or if you came back at all. Any time a kid cried she'd slap them to make them stop.

Kira silently hoped she'd find her corpse or zombie here. She wanted to burn them with her new flamer.

"I hope that means caretaker is dead…" Kira grumbled. "Or a zombie, I want to burn her…"

"Heh. Apocalypse got a bloodlust in ya Kira?" Alex said with a chuckle.

"Cafeteria is this way." Lan said, cutting through some hanging Vines. "With luck stuff should still be there. She usually kept jugs of water there for cooking."

"Why didn't she just use the tap?" 

"Said the flavor was bad. Something about old pipes but she never bothered seeing about changing them."

"Yeah, she was cheap as hell." Kira frowned.

Once in they made it to the cafeteria where…

Kira and Lan Froze. Before them in the cafeteria sat all the other orphans. Of all ages seated at the table. Their skin decayed as plants vines their way in and around and out of their bodies. Bowls of long since rotten something before each of them. Each child's corpse was grasping at their throats, as if chaoking.

"I don't like where this is going…" Kira said worriedly, readying her flamer worriedly.

"Me neither…" Lan said, practically growling as he rushed passed the bodies and kicked the kitchen door open. There, he saw the body of the caretaker, hanging from the ceiling by a noose. "Coward…" Lan growled.

"Hey." Alex said, putting a hand on Lan's back. "Nothing we can do now. Let's just find the water and get out of here.

“Only reason why I’m not burning her corpse is because it might set the rest of the building on fire.” She huffed.

"Well, whatever happened here… we can burn it all down when we leave." Lan said. He walked over to the nearby pantry, opening it revealed nine five gallon jugs. Five of which had water, four did not. "Bingo."

“Awesome.” Kira smiled. “Twenty five gallons of water is amazing.”

"We can keep and use the empty ones for when or if we refill." Lan added.

"Or Crow can use them as a bathroom." Alex added.

"Gross but also an option." Lan shrugged.

“Yeah…that’s a very gross option.” Kira agreed.

The trio began moving the water to the car. Kira and Lan placing the empty jugs into the car. "Wait, where's Alex?" Lan asked, looking around.

“Uh…he should have been here with us…” Kira said worriedly, looking around quickly. “Oh no…” She muttered, fearing that those Vines were a lot more alive than what they first saw.

The two ran inside, screaming Alex's name. They arrived back at the cafeteria, Alex hanged from the ceiling, clenching his neck as a vine wrapped tight around it. He looked down at Lan and Kira, tears in his eyes.

Krack.

It was a deep, loud noise that deafened the room. Alex's limbs all went limp, the vine still hanging him there like a noose.

Kira’s eyes went wide, tears falling from her face. “Lan…get to the car…” Kira muttered, raising her Flamer and ready to torch this entire goddamn building in grief stricken rage.

"Like hell I'm leaving you!" He yelled, picking her up and rushing with her out of the building. Hanging Vines slowly, tauntingly moving looking for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Kira was slowly losing her sense of the world, seeing Alex having been killed and there being not a single goddamn thing she could do about it.

She barely registered the footsteps. The noise became static.

Suddenly, Lan dropped her. A vine around his leg wrapping around and upwards. Kira got up only to have another Vine rapidly wrap itself around her own neck.

"Kira!" Lan yelled, trying to hack the vines off of him only to have them wrap more and more around him.

Kira felt the pressure around her neck immediately. The lack of air causing her body to panic, the pain, the pressure-

Crack.





Kira woke up with a coughing fit. She clenched her neck to push the vines off only to feel none. The phantom pains and memories making the memory forever imprinted on her brain. She looked around and blinked… she was… back at the school?

She stood up rapidly, remembering what Lord said. She does, the timer resets her to day one…

Wasting no time she rushed out of the classroom and into the next, where Alex was dumping a backpack's contents onto the floor. "Damn it. Nothing agai- what the? Kira?" He asked, seeing her clinging to his torso like a live vest. "Are you okay?"

“I…I thought…” Kira cried. “I…heard a Sprinter and…was scared…” She cried.

"Ah. Good thing you came here." He said, patting his little sister. "Those shits scare me sometimes too." Alex said. "I know it's scary being on scavenging duty, but remember, you're the one who wanted to tag along. Did you find anything?"

“I…did…” Kira sniffed. “But…the Sprinter should be here soon, I heard it closeby.”

As if on cue the noise of the Sprinter's feet on the tile ground was heard incoming. "Just wait here." He said, rushing over and standing next to the doorway. The second the Sprinter entered Alex swung, the impact knocking the Sprinter on it's back and wasting no time, Alex swung down, slamming on the Sprinter's head and finishing the zombie. "Ah gross. I got it's brain goo on my shoes…"

Kira couldn’t help but giggle a bit, knowing she won’t get over the fact that she literally saw Alex died but hearing him again was…so good.

She frowned. That memory so fresh in her mind still… it sent chills and fear down her spine and through her heart. She did not want to remember… but to save Alex and prevent him, and the others from.meeting the same fate… she'd remember. As many details as possible and if she needed to… she'd die. Over and over again to keep them alive.

Lord said he didn't care how she survived, and she wasn't going to try and survive without them.



End Part 1