Chapter 1 - Sugar And Meat

Yuu let out a gasp, tears in her eyes. Her chest rose and fell harshly as she caught her breath and her heart and lungs felt like they were on fire. Behind her was two doors, commonly found in high schools leading to the courtyard. Her back was braced against it just in case the wooden plank that is currently through the metal handles would fail. However, even though Yuu had braced herself, she found herself falling forward after someone jumped at the doors,

Yuu tried to put her hands in front of her but she was so weak that they instead fell uselessly to her sides. The result was Yuu crashing face-first into the hard ground below.The fatigue Yuu was feeling stopped her from getting up right away but, luckily, the pain flaring in her broken nose was all she needed to spring up, her hands clutching her nose. As her hands shot up, light pink sparkles like glitter fell from them. When a second has passed, the pain in her nose disappeared, allowing Yuu to think clearly again.

Taking her hands away from her nose, Yuu saw a drop of blood slowly disappear into her skin, letting out a small sigh of relief when the blood disappeared. Unfortunately, her little brief time of rest wasn't meant to last.

Her attention was brought back to the doors when someone else threw themselves on it. Then, another one. This kept going until the doors were constantly getting banged on. As Yuu slowly backed away, the doors let out an alarming groaning noise. It wasn't until the doors banged again, this time caving in a little, did Yuu snap to attention.

She spun around, her eyes searching desperately for a way out. In front of her was a little hallway that led outside and into another hallway. Unfortunately, the doors leading to the hallway was locked and the entrance to the courtyard was also locked by a black gate. The black gate leading out of the school wasn't locked but going out there would only put her in more harm. Plus, even if she makes it all the way outside the school's land, she'll get shot instantly by the military...or more like blown up until there is nothing but ash left. That's not even mentioning the giant moat that surrounded most of the school, the moat being a giant fleshy maw of living flesh that stands in her way.

The only other option is the open doorway to her left that leads to the basement of the school. However, not only was the staircase pitch black but there was dull orange balls like eggs lying right next to the door, meaning that the basement is heavily infected. That isn't even mentioning the warning her friends had given her after they escaped the basement, which was simply to Not go in there at Any cost.

As Yuu was debating whether she should allow herself to get eaten by cannibals, get blown up by the military, throw herself into the maw of living flesh, or take her chances in the basement, she heard the dreadful sound of the plank snapping in half. Yuu spun around just in time to see the two pieces of planks go flying in the air, one of the broken pieces flying past and cutting Yuu on her right cheek. The metal doors, broken and caved in, slowly opened.

However, the cannibals chasing Yuu didn't feel like waiting and so proceeded to kick one of the metal doors off its hinges while the other one was slammed into the wall so hard that it broke the doorstop. Seeing this, Yuu came to a decision and instantly darted into the basement, trying to close the door behind her. However, the door was stuck open, infected flesh, orange in color, sticking it to the wall. Just as Yuu turned around she was hit with the overwhelmingly strong smell of rotten and decaying flesh. Well, that and the darkness of the basement staircase. She couldn't see past the first step down.

Before Yuu could second guess herself a cannibal stepped in front of the basement door, panting and laughing like a hyena. Yuu didn't look back and started running, covering her mouth and nose. She didn't even manage to get her foot down on a step before she lost her balance and fell down on the rather slimy stairs. Before she could try to get up Yuu felt someone grab her left arm and yanked her right up into the air. With a scream Yuu kicked out blindly, trying to escape her captor. Call it blind luck but she somehow managed to get her left foot caught in the railing, stopping her captor for a long amount of time for Yuu to squirm out of his grasp. When she did, Yuu fell down and then, to her surprise, found herself upside down. She didn't have time to comprehend how she was upside down when she felt something crack in her left foot.

Yuu's eyes widened yet she couldn't even muster a scream. Instead, a tiny little whimper escaped her lips.

The cannibal that grabbed Yuu wasn't done with her yet and grabbed Yuu again, this time grabbing her right hand, crushing it in the process. Yuu let out another scream though her voice was all scratchy. Her tears that she had thought were dried up came back again, causing her vision to become blurry. Before she could struggle, the cannibal let go of her hand. Instantly Yuu could feel the pain in her hand start to fade away, like it wasn't crushed in the first place.

Then Yuu heard the sound of metal scraping against the floor.

"Ple-" Yuu began but cut herself off when the cannibal whacked her trapped foot with a metal wrench, crushing it.

Yuu screamed again and started jerking her left leg, trying to free her trapped foot while simultaneously trying to climb down the stairs. Before she could her foot was hit again. Yuu shuddered horribly as she felt a painful and foreign sensation in her left foot accompanied by a wet tearing sound. Then, Yuu was free.

She tumbled down the stairs before she could catch herself. However, when she tried to catch herself, she instead started sliding down the stairs, something coating the rest of the stairs down. Down and down Yuu went, hitting her shoulder against a wall before she finally landed down at the bottom of the staircase...

....And kept on going. As she went the more disgusting whatever she was sliding on became, and the worse the smell got too. She no longer felt like she was sliding on stairs but now in some kind of chute. Yuu soon got her answer when she saw a light ahead. Before she could wonder if she was dead she was thrown into the light where she landed in a large puddle of liquid, whatever the liquid was helping break her fall.

As Yuu's vision slowly returned to her, she opened her eyes. When she did, she immediately darted to her feet, looking at the ground horrified. The ground was covered in a thick puddle of blood. As Yuu looked around, she felt her knees go weak. The basement of the school looked like some kind of factory, only this factory was covered in infection, guts, blood, and bones. There was also a lot of weapons lying around in a pile behind a locked grate. Yuu even saw a pistol.

Before Yuu could look around for any doors, she heard the sound of something sliding behind her. Immediately Yuu jumped to the left, landing right next to an open sewer tunnel...at least, it looks like one. The bars are broken and the smell inside isn't pleasant and is definitely different from the rotted smell the basement has.

Then, the cannibal arrived. His body fell down just like Yuu did, though he managed to get up much quicker. He also wasn't bothered by the puddle of blood nor the strong smell like Yuu was, though his nose did scrunch up a little.

Because of this, he found Yuu instantly when he looked around. His blue eyes trained on her and his orange pupils expanded, showing his excitement. Once upon a time, this student was probably attractive and handsome. Now, his eyes were wide with madness with dark bags showing his lack of sleep. His hands were scarred and his fingernails were thick and long, black and dark blue in color. His teeth were sharper than normal and his jaw seemed to be slightly ripped open too. To top it off, he has a long slimy forked tongue with large purple bumps. That isn't even mentioning the tears and stains in his dark blue jacket, shirt, and sweatpants he wore. His shoes, on the other hand, were so filthy it is impossible to tell what color they were before.

Yuu noticed that he didn't have his wrench with him. He probably dropped it during the slide down. While that evens her odds of winning against him by a bit, it was only by a bit. He was by far stronger and even more ruthless than he is strong. He won't even think anything wrong about tearing her to shreds. His mind is too far gone, consumed by the horrors, hunger, and insanity the infection brought.

The cannibal lunged forward. Time seemed to move in slow motion as the cannibal's outstretched arms reached towards her, his hands inches from her head within an instant...

....

....and when black skeletal hands reached out, the fingers elongated and sharp, and grabbed him. Then he was gone. Yuu sat there in shock until he heard the cannibal scream. His screaming was quickly cut off which made Yuu think that whatever grabbed him was more monster than human, not taking pleasure in killing like the cannibals do.

Yuu honestly didn't know which was better. Getting killed by a monster or getting killed by one of her fellow students. Currently, she finds her mind wandering more towards the monster. But, then again, the others would most likely keep her alive for a while. If they do, hopefully Yuu's friends will come and save her. But, if she gets grabbed by that monster, there will be no chance of escape. She'd be killed as soon as she is within the monster's grasp, or right in front of its maws more likely.

Whatever the monster is, it seems too large to leave the sewers. As long as Yuu stays away from the sewers and any tunnels leading them to the sewers, she should be fine. With that in mind, Yuu carefully crawled away from the sewer tunnel, ignoring the urge to gag being so close to a puddle of blood. When she was far enough away, she got up again and made it down to the lower floor of the basement, thankful the stairs aren't covered in slime or whatnot like the last one was. Once she got there, she instantly threw up.

After she finished, she noticed right away that her left foot hasn't healed properly. There was a noticeable throbbing pain and Yuu knew she wouldn't be able to run. It seems that even her magic has ran out, just like her luck.

'No,' Yuu thought suddenly, a rush of determination rushing through her, 'It's not over yet. I can still make it through this place. Home sweet home, here I come!'

"I Smell Flesh In the Middle Of The Room!"

Yuu blinked in surprise before turning around, facing where the voice came from. Out stepping from behind a grey door Yuu hadn't seen before...even though it was right in front of her face when she first came in, was a strange girl. Yuu knew this person had to be a student but she does know there are restrictions to what a student can wear. With no way out of the school, how could this girl get such an outfit?

The outfit in question was a bright orange, amber, and black frilly dress, the dress being definitely gothic in design. It was tattered and torn in some places, especially in the back skirt area, but it still showed its luster. On the girl's wrists were two fancy black gauntlets that nearly blended into her dress. She wore black boots and black socks, her socks being the long kind that Yuu has always wanted to wear.

Yet, that wasn't the strangest part of her. Her hair was pitch black, straight and long, ending halfway down her back. Her skin was tan and bordering on being an albino, yet her eyes weren't red. Instead, her eyes are larger than any Yuu has seen, her eyes a bright orange color, clearly glowing. Instead of pupils, the girl had swirls going through her eyes like a whirlpool, and she had clear bags under her eyes. She was smiling, her voice bright, cheery, singy, and clearly crazed, her smile showing sharp teeth.

In her hair was a bright orange and dark grey bowtie, which now Yuu realized was holding her hair in a ponytail. She kinda resembled a pumpkin. What didn't resemble a pumpkin was the curved hooked violet claws that looked like jewelry the girl had...

....nor the entirely black sword she had in her right hand. If Yuu remembers correctly, the sword is a gladius, a roman short sword. Even from this far away, Yuu could see the gleam the real blade had.

The girl was not in a hurry. She calmly, or more of half-skipped, her way over to the railings and looked at Yuu down below.

"A little fleshling suffering oh so much, praying for safety," The girl said, her voice still song-like. She seemed to find the situation funny as her smile was definitely a smug and amused one. So was the look in her eyes.

"I-I don't pray," Yuu blurt out, not knowing why what the girl said bothered her.

The girl blinked in surprise before she leaned forward more, the smugness in her smile and eyes gone, instead replaced by more amusement.

"Oh really now?" The girl asked, her voice no longer song-like, "Then just hope?"

"J-just hope," Yuu confirmed, giving a little nod.

With a little hum, the girl got up and walked down the stairs Yuu walked down. Instead of stopping, she walked towards Yuu, the blade of her sword facing behind her. Yuu knew right away upon spotting the girl that she was infected and was probably a cannibal too. There was a clear hunger in her eyes and there were blood splatters on her dress that clearly weren't a part of the design...and Yuu was positive they weren't from stepping in blood puddles.

Then there was the sense of danger Yuu felt from the girl. The girl felt like someone one should not mess with, both in terms of combat and just the general terms of messing, or dicking around with as her brother would often say.

Yet, even when the girl stopped two feet away from her, showing a six inch height difference between the two...which meant the girl was five point four since Yuu is four point eight feet tall, Yuu did not try to run away. Somehow Yuu could tell this both was amusing and enlightening to the girl. Yuu had no doubt that everyone would normally run away of someone who's so infected their eyes are large and entirely orange.

'That must also mean she feels the hunger worse than the others.' Yuu grimly realized.

The girl and Yuu stared at each other for a while, neither one making a move. After two minutes had passed of each other studying each other, Yuu having a small blush on her face from the prolonged eye contact, both from having the girl study her and from studying a pretty girl, the girl finally spoke.

"You smell sweet, like sugar," The girl said, leaning forward to sniff Yuu whose blush deepend, causing her to avert her eyes out of embarrassment.

"You're two of my favorite things. Sugar and meat, both in one."

Those words were like a cold bucket of water. Yuu looked up and met the girl's eyes once again. The hunger in them was even deeper now and Yuu could make out some orange droll running out of the left corner of her mouth.

'Just when I had hope, huh?' Yuu thought with a chuckle, the little flash of surprise in the girl's eyes not going unnoticed by Yuu, 'Well, here you go. A free meal home delivered right to ya.'

Yuu somehow found her own sick joke funny. Still, seeing no way out of this, Yuu closed her eyes and waited.

"Jill."

Yuu opened her eyes and noticed that the girl was offering her free hand, an actual hint of friendliness in her smile.

"My name is Jill Riley, and I don't have any plans on eating you. Besides, I've already had my fill," Jill explained, patting her stomach.

"Unless you want to be eaten?" Jill tried, a longing tone in her voice.

"U-um, n-no thank you!" Yuu quickly answered, doing a little bow.

Jill let out a chuckle and wiped away the drool from the corner of her face, not even realizing it was there in the first place.

"Alrighty then," Jill said with a sudden clap of her hands. Yuu didn't even notice Jill had put her sword away, the sword being held in place by a tight orange rope that normally comes with dresses around her waist, "Let's get you someplace a little more comfy."

"Does that mean a place with a nicer smell?" Yuu asked, not sure if she was trying to joke or if she was being serious.

Jill cocked her head slightly before answering, though Yuu could tell that Jill found what she said funny.

"The place tones down the smell a little but it's either here or the sewers, and both of them are their own smells."

"H-Here is fine!" Yuu answered as quickly as she can, "There is a sewer monster in the sewers after all."

Jill's smile seemed to almost fade away completely as she slowly turned to look into the sewer tunnel.

"...Sewer monster, ehh?" Jill asked, though Yuu didn't think it was meant as a question.

"Yeah. These big black skeleton hands reached out and dragged a student who was chasing me," Yuu explained.

Jill's tension faded away upon hearing Yuu's words and, for a brief second, Yuu thought she saw relief in her eyes, but it was gone so fast that Yuu was sure she imagined it. After all, who would be happy to hear about a sewer monster living right next to them?

"You know, how about you stay here for a bit while I go check something out?" Jill asked, though once again Yuu realized it wasn't really a question.

"Um, s-sure," Yuu got out with a couple of small nods.

Jill cast her a sideways glance, this time the emotions in her eyes hidden, before she skipped her way back up the stairs and through the door they came from, not bothering to close it behind her. And so Yuu was once again alone in the middle of a heavily infected smelly and bloody room.

. | . - . | .

"What the hell was Sammy thinking? He knows what lurks down there!" Ordean shouted, pacing around the stairs leading to the basement. The other four students nodded in agreement. While Mikey himself has never been down there, apparently Ordean, Sammy, and Ryan have.

What lurks in the basement is the second person who feels the most hunger, and her name is Jill. When the infection first started, Jill had brought out a fake gladius out of nowhere, as well as a nice gothic red and black dress. But, when the infection really started to pick up, the gladius Jill had became real, and her dress changed too.

Whatever training Jill had done with her sword was enough for her to be made the head of security here before she too fell to the infection and the hunger it brought. She killed so many students by herself that even the hungriest of the students dared not prey on her. A sadist through and through, Mikey has seen some of the "pastries" she cooks, the one he saw being cupcakes with the little peel-off being made of human skin, the frosting a mix of sugar and blood, and the cake part being made of, surprisingly, just normal cake. Apparently, she had left them as a present for a group that had helped her out since there was around twenty-eight of them inside the carved open stomach of another student with a white thank you sign.

Out of all the cannibals here, she is by far the worst.

"Maybe Sammy finally lost it," Ryan said, shaking his head angrily. While Sammy's laughing is annoying, he was still their friend and was more than capable in a fight.

"Nah. He would clearly remember not to go down there," Ordean disagreed, hitting the wall with his fist.

While the two started talking about what could have made Sammy go down into the basement, Mikey noticed that Sammy's wrench was still here. He crouched down and picked it up. Judging from the blood on it Sammy had clearly hit the girl they were chasing, enough to make her bleed, Still, seeing as the girl was down in the basement, there was no chance of ever getting her back. She would be made into snacks by Jill just like everyone else that went down there.

Recalling how pretty and tasty the girl looked, Mikey licked the blood off the wrench. Then, he frowned and did it again. After the second time he jumped up to his feet, nearly slipping down the stairs. Luckily Ordean caught him in time and pulled him to safety.

"What is it?" Ordean asked, gently setting Mikey down away from the stairs.

"The girl's blood," Mikey began, pointing to the top of the wrench in his hand, "tastes like sugar."

"What are you talking about?" Michael asked, crossing her arms.

"Sammy loves sweets and this girl's blood tastes like sugar," Mikey explained, handing her the wrench.

Michael licked some of the blood and instantly her eyes widened.

"So it's true?" Ordean asked, seeing Michael's reaction. Michael only nodded in response, staring at the blood with wonder.

"If we get this girl, we can sell her blood for protection and food!" Sean, the smart one of the group, spoke up.

"That does sound like a plan," Ordean started, scratching his chin, "but we not only have to get the girl before Jill gets her, but not get caught by Jill either."

A silence set in as the group decided on what to do.

"Well," Mikey said after a while, "if we are going through with this, we are going to need more supplies and, possibly even more people."

The others nodded, agreeing with him.

"We'll go back to base for now and sleep on it. If tomorrow, four of us want to go, then we will go," Ordean decided.

With that, the group of cannibals left the basement door, taking Sammy's wrench with them.