Zombies And Alchemy

This was one mission that was turning into a hellish nightmare; cars abandoned, some on fire, buses entangled with other vehicles, strangely enough no people were around.

"This is a tad too strange don't you think?" I asked examining the remnants of a motorcycle.

"How so?" Jean enquired, also examining some of the wreckage.

"Well all this wreckage and no people around at all." I answered, while scanning the area, spotting a bus that wasn't as wrecked as the rest of the vehicles. Jean also caught on and we started to walk towards it. To say the least we were greeted with a horrific sight blood was pouring down the steps of the bus and a poor unfortunate person was impaled on the broken glass of one of the windows, their lifeless eyes staring down to the ground. I was now definitely feeling nauseous now.

"We found some people, but I wish we hadn't." I said, looking down only to see some more blood, what in hell happened here? I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up into the reassuring eyes of Jean.

"Let's investigate this, find the others, do whatever we were supposed to do and get back home." he said, I nodded.

"Ok." I said, while getting out a torch from the many pockets on the military uniform. "Right shall we?" Jean nodded and we climbed aboard the bus, the sight itself churned my stomach the smell just added to that. Corpses lay strewn everywhere; eyes hanging out, lips ajar, dead eyes staring, limbs missing, chunks of flesh seemed to have been eaten off of a few and blood splattered everywhere.

"This is too much." I stated. This had to be worse than Ishbal and that was one of the bloodiest battles in our history. "If anyone is alive please let yourself be known now." We walked further into the bus surveying it to see if anyone was moving or if there was any life at all.

"I don't think anyone is alive here." Jean stated, and just as the sentence came out his mouth a pained moan came from further in the bus.

"Hello?" I questioned, searching for the person who was making the sounds Jean also searched the mass of twisted bodies. A woman in her early 30s started to stand up a meter or so away from me an Havoc.

"Are you alright?" I asked lowering the torch a bit so she wouldn't be blinded, though with her face facing the floor she probably wouldn't be blinded. She started to limp towards us, her arms lying lifeless against her thin frame and brushing against her blood soaked suit.

"We can help you." Jean added, but all the reply was, was another pained moan. She started to raise her head and arms, and then I realised something, she couldn't possibly be alive! First of all where her arms had been, now you could clearly see a huge chunk missing from both sides of her, and secondly looking through the strands of hair that cascaded down the front of her face, I could see that a good quarter of her face was missing including part of the neck.

"J-Jean how can she be alive?" I asked nervously, while trying to look at both the woman and Jean. The woman was now closer to us than before and she now kept on moaning.

"I…I don't know, maybe we should get off this bus and find the others quickly." he suggested quickly before starting to back up towards the door. However I couldn't follow because I was rooted to the spot with the woman quickly approaching.

'Move, move come on Jade just move and get out of this city.'

But to no avail could I just move an inch, and now I was shaking and neither could I think straight Jean must have now been at least by or out the door, where as I was stuck with the woman now mere centimetres away from me. She suddenly stopped, and stood up straight now I could clearly see those lifeless eyes I had boundlessly saw on the battlefields and around her. May trail of thought was interrupted by the woman lunging at me, mouth wide open and arms trying to grab at me. But as suddenly as she'd lunged a gun shot rang out. The woman fell back as the bullet went through her right leg, but she never fell to the ground or held onto the injury that was just inflicted. A hand then grasped my arm and pulled me away and out of the bus, I was completely dazed until another hand was placed on my shoulder and I was slightly shaken back to reality.

"Jade, Jade are you ok? Your not hurt are you?" he asked in a worried voice, still shakily me slightly.

"Uhuh I'm just I don't know dazed, scared shocked, confused, it's all so…so surreal. Thanks for saving me, I'm not sure what happened I just froze." I answered quietly. He let go for a minute giving me some air to breathe, until he suddenly hugged me tightly and then as suddenly as it happened he pulled away.

"I think we should keep alert and get to the others quickly." he suggested. " Whatever happened here has made these people…not to sound cliché or completely stupid, but it looks like these people are walking around but are defently not alive."

"So you're saying these people are like zombies?" I asked sceptically, he shrugged pointing over his shoulder to where the bus was, the woman from before now fell from the bus and other passengers were also clambering out the bus, and like the woman there wounds made it impossible for them to be alive.

" Maybe we should move out of this area." I said, while taking out one of the handguns I had on me and making sure it was loaded.

"Yeah, but where to?" he asked as we moved away from the bus and over a police barricade. He also had a gun at the ready.

"I don't know, but we'll just have to find somewhere, where we can think how we can get out of this city in one piece." I answered, while surveying the area for any of the 'living dead' there had to be a scientific explanation to all this chaos. "Do you think Roy, Ed and Al are alright?"

"I'm sure they are." he said trying to be reassuring, but I think he also had thoughts that the trio most probably had, had a run in with these things. Again he put a hand on my shoulder to try and calm me down. It's funny how I'm in a higher up position of the military been in countless times were I had to take peoples' lives or see the lives that had been taken by wars or other alchemists and yet he the less inexperienced lower ranked officer had the cooler head. We continued on through the road keeping an eye on the situation that we knew we had just left behind.

'I hope they're all right, if there is a god please help them.'

With Ed, Al and Roy (Ed's P.O.V)

It just isn't my day, first I was forced on this idiotic mission with bastard colonel mustang, second we now have no means of transportation out of this city, thirdly out of being paired up with either Jean Havoc, Jade Collins or Roy Mustang, I was paired up with Mustang, I get that he's experienced in battle an all but he has the same experience as Colonel Collins does so why couldn't I be paired up with her even Havoc would have been an improvement to him. Anyway finally this city is starting to creep me out and I don't think it's only me; I know Al is scared of a lot so it wouldn't surprise me that he would be scared, but Mustang is unnerved by the 'ghost town'.

"Brother?" Al's voice interrupted my thoughts as I looked up at my younger brother, someday I would defently get his body back, but for now he seemed to be pointing at something in the distance. Mustang was also looking in the same direction Al was pointing, I looked in the same direction to see a man walking or should I say struggling to walk to us. He was in his, what I could make out from the distance between me and the man, late 40s he defently wasn't very young anyway. But what really took my attention was his blood stained clothing an matted brown hair that fell across the left side of his face shielding half his face.

"Sir, are you alright?" Mustang shouted to the man, but he did not reply. "Do you need any help sir?"

Still no reply, but he seemed to take notice we were there and lifted one of his arms out pointing towards us. My eyes widened and I felt like I was going to throw up. His arm was merely hanging on its last…tendon, it looked as though something had taken bites out of his arm, but what I don't know nor do I want to find out.

"B…b…brother?" Al asked scared, I looked at Mustang who looked at me, worry setting into his obsidian orbs. I looked back towards the man who was quickly stumbling over debris that lay over the road and that was when he lifted his head, mouth wide open, blood dribbling down his chin and most terrifying of all his dead white eyes. His neck was for the most part not there at all, and judging by the wounds the blood loss would, yet this man was still standing, still walking.

"How…how can he be alive?" I asked, shocked at my quaking voice, again I turned to Mustang for answers.

"I…I don't know." he replied, his fear imminent in his voice. " I just don't know."

"Brother!" Al exclaimed, I turned round and the man was now lunging towards us, what was he trying to do? I was tackled to the floor by this man and his jaw started opening and closing quickly as he tried to bite me, but he couldn't as I held him off trying to push him off, but I just couldn't muster the strength to do so. I heard a gun shot and the man collapsed on top of me, now he was dead and wasn't trying to get back up again. A hand pulled me up and I looked to see Mustang who had just saved me from being eaten by the guy who now lay dead sprawled in the middle of the street.

"You alright Ed? He didn't bite you did he?" Roy asked, keeping an eye on the man.

"If alright is being scared like hell and nauseous than yes I'm alright." I said with a slight shake in my voice. "He Didn't bite me. Thanks.""Brother, what happened here to make him like he is?" Al asked, while looking around at the deserted street.

"I don't know, and I don't think I want to know." I answered, while wiping the sweat off of my brow.

"I think we may find out." Mustang said, I looked up he honestly didn't expect for me to stay here in a dangerous area risking both mine and Al's lives for a mission.

"Why? Shouldn't we get out of here? You Can't be serious that were going to stay here what if there is more of him?" I asked angrily, he turned to look at me, the fear and worry still visible in his eyes.

"We have to find Jade and Jean then we can get out of here." he answered. " I'm not leaving them behind in this hell hole."

I respect him for caring about his subordinates, I see why they look up to him sometimes, though sometimes he really is a bastard.

"I can see now what she meant about saying things and then the things you say come true." he said while staring towards where the man had come from. I looked in the same direction and to may horror I saw more of the 'dead' people coming our way.