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Twilight of the Dead
A Ranma 1/2/Day of the Dead crossover 

by James Epnett
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Author's Notes: Well, here is chapter 1. It's mainly to TRY to
establish what has been happening with the charters that are
featured in the story (the ones from Ranma 1/2). 

Please, do C&C, and let me know about any grammar, spelling, and
other mistakes that appear here. Due to a death in the family, I
haven't been able to sleep, and decided to work on this and CoR.
A pot of coffee, Dr. Pepper, and soundtracks (Final Fantasy VII,
Final Fantasy VIII, Resident Evil 2, and both the Ranma 1/2 TV
soundtracks) are no substitute for sleep, so there are bound to
be tons of errors here. 

Please, C&C, Flame throw, MST, it's all good. ^_^ I would also
like to mention that I am very surprised by all the positive C&C
I got from the prologue. I hope I don't let anyone down.  

All the characters excluding Cooper, Kelly, Rembrant, McDermott,
Johnson, Quinn, Brendan, and Cloud belong to various people
(Rumiko Takahasi, George A. Romero, etc.)  

WARNING: This story contains scenes of extreme violence, gore,
and explicit language. Don't say I didn't warn ya. ^_^  But, if
you think all this is violent, gory, or vulgar, just remember --
My stuff looks like a cute lil bunny when compared to Romero's
original script for Day of the Dead (which would have gotten him
an X rating) 

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Chapter 1 - Memories I
DRAFT


The city had become a war zone. It had all happened
so fast. So damn fast. No one had any warning, and 
no time to prepare. It just happened.

	The bodies of the dead -- They were coming
back. No one had an explanation, or even a theory.
No one in authority, anyway. Rumors of all types
had been flying -- Witchcraft, Voodoo, Satanism,
and other various black arts had come under fire.
Then there were the accusations of a chemical
spill, but there was no way the entire planet could
have been effected in one night. 

	Akane Tendo sat under a skylight that looked
up into the dark night sky. She stared out it,
seeing very few stars because of the thick overcast
that had been hanging above the city. 

	She continued to reminisce, thinking of the
days of old, and how cruel people had become to one
another when the first of it had begun. She
couldn't believe how easily her peers could place
blame. 

	She remembered how a group of her 'fellow'
students had gotten together and decided Hikaro
Gosunkugi had been the cause of the waking dead. A
preposterous idea, as far as she had been
concerned. Gosunkugi may have been naive, shy, and
what most would consider an outcast, but he was
harmless.

	After Furinkan had become one of the official
shelters in the Nerima area, the students had
ganged up on Gosunkugi. 

	Akane remembered hearing his screams and
pleas as she moved down the corridor, towards the
coed washrooms. She shivered as she remembered.... 

*	*	*

	Akane busted through the doors of the coed
washroom and gasped in horror as she watched poor
Gosunkugi dangle from the rafters, a rope tied
firmly around his neck. 

	They had strung the rope over a crossbeam
high above the ground and dropped him. She looked
up from the floor to see 5 of the students in the
rafters, watching.

	She could see a thin trail of blood and
saliva drooled from the corner of Gosunkugi's
mouth, his body hanging before her limply. The fall
had broken his neck. She suddenly felt sick to her
stomach. 

	"It's that Tendo girl!" one of the students
screamed.

	Akane backed up slowly towards the door,
shaking her head in shock as her eyes darting up to
the students.  

	"She helped him cause this!" another one
accused, his voice dripping acid. "Why else would
she have rushed to his aid?"

	The other students made sounds of agreement. 

	"Get the bitch!"  

	Akane's mind snapped back into place as these
words reverberated throughout the washroom. Her
feet slapped against the tile floor loudly as she
raced out the door, hearing the other students
scream and holler. 

	"Get her!"
	
	"Don't let her get away! She might let those
things in!"

	Akane ran as hard as she could, turning the
corner of the corridor. She stopped behind the wall
and whimpered as she realized she had made it right
to a dead end. 

	"Where'd she go?"
	
	"I saw her go that way!"

	"Let's get her, then!"

	Akane slid down onto the floor, closing her
eyes tightly. So many times in the past she had
taken on these very students. She remembered her
daily duels with them before school every morning.
Things were different now, though. She didn't know
if she even wanted to fight anymore. 

	"URGH!"

	"OOF!!"

	"URNK!!!"

	Akane's eyes snapped open as she heard the
cries of pain from around the corner. She could
hear more grunts and groans, and then a familiar
voice. 

	"Ya got somthin' negative to say to Akane, ya
say it to me first."

	"Out of the way, Saotome," one of the
students said, his voice shaky. "This don't concern
you." 

	The voice darkened. "Wrong answer."

	Akane heard another loud oof and a tumultuous
inrush of sound, followed by a flash of energy and
concrete crumbling under great force.

	And then silence. The general sounds of a
building full to the breaking point with people
still existed, but she no longer could hear the
sound of false accusations.

	Akane adjusted her position on the floor and
crawled on her hands and knees over to the corner.
She peered around it. 

	Ranma stood silently in the hallway, his face
riddled in a most confusing array of emotions as he
looked around himself. A light mist rose from the
wall next to him, where one of the students had
been flattened into the structure by a bolt of raw
ki. 

	Around Ranma on the floor lay the other 4
students, beaten and unconscious. Akane's eyes
trailed from the destruction to Ranma himself. She
noticed a change in the pigtailed martial artist.
He looked older, somehow. As if the whole situation
had aged him before his time.

*	*	*

	Indeed, Ranma had matured since the whole
ordeal had began, but not much. He still had that
childish, foot-in-mouth characteristic. This Akane
was thankful for, because otherwise, Ranma had
become quite uptight. He snapped often, but still
verged on the softer side. 

	They had all changed a lot after the first
few creatures had arrived in Nerima. She knew Ranma
was still suffering for what he considered his
ultimate failure. She sighed and looked back up and
out the skylight, into the night sky. "Where are
you, Ranma?"

*	*	*   

	The young male looked out over the city,
watching the dead town. It was so damned dark out
there. Most of the power had gone out. The building
he stood upon had a small solar powered generator.
He could hear its endless drone behind him.

	He focused his concentration on watching the
streets below. His eyes had grown used to the dark,
and he had never had a problem seeing almost every
detail of the town. In the distance, he could see
what remained of Furinkan High. Most of the upper
levels of the building had been destroyed in a
"freak explosion".

	Ranma knew better. He could remember how it
happened. No one could get along, and moral had
begun to break down. Everyone in the building began
bickering and arguing. 

	Finally, somehow, some of the creatures that
had attacked Nerima made it into the school
building via a door into the basement area. It was
a slaughter. Ranma had saved as many people as he
could, and had watched as one of the students who
had been surrounded broke a gas line with the
bottom of his boot and lit a lighter. 

	He had been thrown out the window, to the
ground below. Thank the gods for his quick reflexes
and agility. Those things were on him in no time.
He had scaled up what remained of the school and
had, after much effort, escaped.

	But when he rendezvoused the survivors,
several people had gone missing. Ukyo, Ai, Cloud,
and... and... 

	"Akane," Ranma said, his head hanging low.
"I've failed you. I'm sorry." He closed his eyes
and fought back tears, knowing it would be
"unmanly" to cry. But what did that matter anymore?
After all, Nodoka was no longer around to enforce
the rules of said manliness. And it was his fault. 

	He felt a rush of wind blow through his hair,
and he let his thoughts drift along with it.

*	*	*    

	"Ranma!" 

	Ranma skidded to a halt. He turned his head,
breathlessly, and looked at the person who followed
him.

	Ryoga moved up the street quickly, darting
around the abandoned cars. He took special care to
dodge the vehicles that were on fire.

	Ranma turned fully to face his long time
rival. He straightened his posture and watched the
lost boy approach. "What do ya want, Ryoga?" he
demanded, his usual air of defense appearing.

	Ryoga slowed down and stopped, standing
opposite Ranma. They were on a small clear area,
clean of wreckage and debris. A somber expression
lined Ryoga's face. "I'm not hear to fight, Ranma."

	"Then what do ya want? I got to get home and
warn the others!" Ranma turned to face in the
direction of the Dojo. He forced himself to ignore
the unitary groans of a walking dead person.

	"Ukyo's dead," Ryoga reported, his body
language betraying his unease and sadness.

*	*	*	

	Ranma could still feel the sting of that
news. He didn't know weather or not he'd ever get
over the loss of his friend, Ukyo. Out of all the
fiancees, he knew she would be the most likely to
remain his friend if he had not chosen her. 

	He could feel a familiar ache rising in his
stomach, one he had never felt until all of this
had started. 

	He remembered what happened that night at the
Tendo Dojo....

*	*	*

	Ranma and Ryoga dashed through the streets,
dodging cars, trucks, and other debris from
buildings, etc. 

	Ryoga was having a hard time keeping up. He
kept catching unwelcome glimpses of what he knew to
be dead people. In his 16 years, he had never seen
a person killed in such a manner. Eyes, throats,
stomachs eaten out. Heads ripped from bodies, and
many various other forms of death. 

	Ranma, on the other hand, had barely noticed
any of the dead civilians. He could only think of
Ukyo, and reaching the Tendo Dojo.

	The two martial artists rounded the corner
that entered the street that the Tendo Dojo had
been built. They ran up to the gate that was built
into the concrete wall and looked through it. The
doors hung wide open.

	Ranma grimaced as he and the lost boy bolted
into the yard. He cried out in surprise as one of
the dead latched onto him from beside the gate. He
thrashed and jerked, swinging the groaning zombie
around in the air. 

	Ryoga pulled back and punched, growling. His
fist embedded into the creatures back, causing it
to hiss in pain. He pulled his hand back and looked
in horror at the creature, which was still on his
arm.

	The zombie turned it's head to look at Ryoga
and hissed in agitation.

	Ranma spun around to look at the zombie. He
kicked up and towards its head.

	Ryoga watched as the creatures head separated
from its body at the base of the neck. It flew
through the air, spraying Ryoga with a thick white
liquid, before landing on the ground. 

	The body twitched as blood began to pour from
the neck, down it's body, onto Ryoga's arm. He
pulled it back and let the corpse fall to the
ground.

	Ranma looked down at the creature in disgust.
HE then glanced up at Ryoga.

	The two looked at each other for a moment,
but both suddenly averted their attention to the
house. 

	"NABIKI!!! NOOOOO!!!"

	"That was Akane!" Ryoga bellowed, his face
growing dark.

	"Come on!" Ranma bolted towards the front
door of the house, which also hung open. 

	He didn't like the looks of this. He had to
dodge 4 of those things just to get into the house.
Once inside, his mouth fell open in horror. 

	The house was infested. The dead humans
stumbled around the room, up the stairs, into the
kitchen, and out the back door onto the veranda.

	Ryoga burst into the house behind Ranma.
"Akane?!" He stopped and looked around. "This can't
be."

	"Trust me, Ryoga, it is." Ranma moved towards
the stairs, going up them two by two. He pushed the
zombies out of his way as he went, not giving them
a chance to attack him. 

	Ryoga followed the pigtailed martial artist.
He moved with more agility than normal, which he
knew could only be caused by one thing -- fear. 

	Ranma stopped at the top of the stairs and
turned to move to Akane's room. He froze and looked
down at the floor. 

	A group of zombies huddled down around
Nabiki's corpse. Her neck had been ripped out, and
the hollow space that remain drained blood across
the floor. 

	He watched as the zombies began to prod at
her, grabbing at her flesh and pulling. Her shirt
had come up, and her stomach was exposed. 

	One of the creatures slid its hands down onto
her stomach, grasped the flesh and pulled in
both directions. Ranma watched as the skin
ripped as easily as latex, exposing her stomach,
intestines, kidneys, and other vital organs. Blood
splashed across the floor as the creature began to
chew on the flesh it had torn from her.

	Ranma covered his mouth and turned away,
gagging. He closed his eyes and felt his body
shaking in horror at what he had just seen. 

	"Look out!" 

	Ranma jerked around in time to see Ryoga's
fist separating a creature's head from its body.
The body slid uselessly to the floor, and the head
hit the wall hard, leaving a large red dot.

	Ryoga looked at Ranma, who nodded his thanks.
He nodded in return and turned to see Nabiki, her
body being ripped to pieces "Oh gods..."

	Ranma moved over to Ryoga. "Come on." 

	Ryoga felt his stomach turn and almost passed
out. He managed not to, though, for he knew what it
would mean.

	Ranma darted past Ryoga, who followed him
promptly. They moved down towards where Nabiki lay. 

	As Ranma passed one of the creatures that
feasted on Nabiki, he pulled his fist back and
snapped it forward, sending the creature into the
wall. He heard a sickening crack, and knew the
creature's skull had just collapsed.     

	Ryoga glanced down at Nabiki as they passed
and shook his head. They reached Akane's room
and Ranma threw the door open.... 

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