Taking in a deep breath, Tomohisa Kaname smiled at the smell of the eggs sizzling in his pan. After stirring them gently to give them a light, fluffy texture, he moved the pan off of the stove top and sprinkled just the right amount salt and pepper on the freshly scrambled eggs. He quickly scraped them onto a plastic saucer already holding slightly buttered toast and three strips of crispy bacon.
Sighing with a smile, he called out to his wife, "Junko, honey! Breakfast is ready!"
With a click of a heel, Mrs. Kaname now stood in the doorway of the kitchen, her hand resting on her hip, "And so am I!" She quickly stroked her other hand through hair and asked, "What do you think? Gorgeous?"
Already eating at the kitchen table with her younger brother, Tomohisa's daughter, Madoka, laughed, "You look beautiful, mom!"
Junko chuckled, "As it should be!" She walked over to Tomohisa, kissed him on the cheek, and took her plate of food, "Thank you, sweetie."
Tomohisa wiped his hands on his chef's apron and continued to smile, "It's my pleasure!" After Junko sat down at the table, he picked up his egg pan and placed it in the sink. As he spun the facet handle to run steaming water through the pan, he asked, "So? How is it?"
Madoka smiled, "Oh, it's absolutely wonderful, Dad! You're best chef ever!"
Junko pointed and nodded as she agreed with a mouthful of eggs, "Ditto."
His little toddler, Tatsuya, added, playfully tapping the armrests of his highchair, "Best Daddy! Best chef! Best Daddy! Best chef! Yay!"
The father scratched his head, chuckled and blushed, "Oh, you guys flatter me." He placed his hands on his hips and glanced at his wristwatch. Raising his eyebrow, he spoke to his daughter, "Madoka, aren't you going to be late if you don't hurry?"
The pink-haired girl gasped, "Oh no, you're right!" She quickly stood up and the shoved the rest of her toast in her mouth and gave her father a hug.
Junko nonchalantly raised her hand for a high five, "Go get 'em, kid."
With a mouthful of toast, Madoka replied as she dashed past and returned the gesture, "I will!" She darted around the corner of the kitchen and out the front door, slamming it shut behind her.
Silence fell as Tomohisa scrubbed his pan and Junko continued to eat her meal. Finishing the last few bites, the businesswoman checked her smart phone. She sighed, shook her head, and set her phone on the table, "…What's this world coming to?"
"What's the matter?" Tomohisa asked as he walked around the counter to the table.
His wife replied, "There's been another report of cannibalism in Southern Mitakihara. That makes three this week."
"CANDY! CANDY! CANDY!" Tatsuya happily shouted.
Tomohisa smiled as he lifted his son and bounced him in his arms, "Not right now, Tatsuya. Mommy and Daddy are talking. I'll give you candy later, okay little buddy?"
The toddler shot his hands up and cheered, "YAY!"
"Those three make twelve this month…" His smile faded as he mumbled. He asked, "Could it be a new form of gang war torture?"
Junko shrugged, "You got the wrong woman there. I do business, not investigate crime." She stared back at her phone, "I'm pretty sure it is gang related, though."
"This is beginning to get out of hand." The husband furrowed his brow. "Do you think we should've kept Madoka here?"
She replied, "I really don't want to worry her about this. It's still confined to the bad areas of town, and I have faith in the police force." After a few minutes of surfing on her phone, she shot glare to her husband, "Quick, turn on Channel 7."
He complied and reached for the TV remote on the table with his free hand. He pointed it to the flat-screen hanging in the corner of the room and pressed the power button.
The screen flashed on to a cartoon, a digital '5' hanging at the top, "RAINBOW DASH! You can't just-"
The screen quickly changed once, displaying a digital '6' in the corner, "-on the AMC's 'The Walking-"
And again, this time with a '7' replacing the '6', a reporter reporting live on screen, "-We have confirmation of two more victims of cannibalism. One is critically wounded with bite marks in his scalp; the other has a fatal wound to his throat and chest. Three suspects have been apprehended by the police and taken into custody. Stay tuned for more information."
Junko squinted, "Fourteen…" She looked at her watch and shot up out of her chair, "Shoot! I need to get going!"
"Would you like another cup of coffee before you go, honey?" Tomohisa asked.
Junko paused and pondered the offer, "…Nah, I probably shouldn't." She slung her briefcase around her back and walked over to kiss him.
The husband smiled and nodded, "Alright then. Have a good day!"
She returned the smile, "You too."
"Bye Bye, Mommy!" Tatsuya waved and echoed his father, "Have a good day~!"
Junko chuckled and booped Tatsuya on the nose, "Keep Daddy in check for me, alright buddy?"
The toddler smiled, "Otay!"
"With that, I'm off!" The wife quickly turned and briskly walked out of the kitchen, the sound of a slamming front door following soon after.
Tomohisa turned Tatsuya to face him as he playfully exclaimed, "Hey Tatsuya, wanna help Daddy with his work today?"
"YAY! Help Daddy! Help Daddy! Help Daddy!" the child shouted.
The father chuckled and cheered childishly, "Yeah! Alright, buddy!"
Tomohisa whistled a charming, delighted tune as he plucked fresh tomatoes from his garden. Pausing to breathe in the crisp, spring air, he smiled as he glanced over at Tatsuya happily playing 'King' with a sandcastle and his sand toys in the sandbox. Then, a loud crash resonated from just beyond the garden fence inside the next house over, the residence of the elderly Hanatas.
Curious and slightly worried for his older neighbors, Tomohisa pushed up his glasses slightly, overturned an empty bucket next to the tall wooden fence, and stepped on top to peek over. He called out, "Mr. Hanata, sir? Mrs. Yuki? Is everything okay?"
He scanned the garden and back of the house until he spotted the couple through a closed window. Mr. Hanata appeared to be holding his wife as they both fell to the floor together.
Tomohisa chuckled and glanced at Tatsuya, "They're a spry old couple, aren't they Tatsuya?" The toddler simply cocked his head in confusion then continued playing in the sand. The father frowned as he continued to pick tomatoes and other produce, "They really should close the blinds, though. There could be children watching..."
After plucking the last ripe tomato, he stood up and sighed happily at a job well done. "Alright, Tatsuya. Time to go back inside."
Tatsuya frowned and crossed his arms, "King says no!"
Tomohisa rolled his eyes and chuckled as he picked up the toddler, now squirming, "The King has to go back inside his castle sometimes. And we have lots of work to do in the castle, right 'King' Tatsuya?"
The child stopped squirming, smiled, and cheered, "King Tatsuya! King Tatsuya! King Tatsuya!"
Stepping into the kitchen, the father replied as his slid the glass patio door shut, "That's right, King Tatsuya." He paused and wiped the sand from Tatsuya's bottom off his hand and onto his apron, "But first, it's time for you take a bath!"
"NOOOO!" The toddler cried out, squirming with all his might to break free.
"And after your bath, how about some lunch?"
The child gasped, "LUNCHIES! LUNCHIES! LUNCHIES!"
Tomohisa chuckled, "I thought so."
The vacuum quickly whirred across the soft, living room carpet as Mr. Kaname pushed and pulled in a swift, rhythmic motion. As he cleaned, glanced down and smiled at Tatsuya, playing with his little red toy car in the same motion of the vacuum, accompanied by various 'vrooms' and 'rwears'. After vacuuming for around ten minutes, he finally sucked up the last of the dirt. He turned off the machine and looked at the clock. Reading 4:30, he decided to heed the reporter's advice and check back on the news. He picked up the TV remote laying on the armrest of the sofa, pointed it at the living room television and pressed the power button.
The screen flashed on to channel 7, the same reporter from before on screen, "-spreading at an alarming rate. If you see a bite victim, do not make contact. I repeat, do not make contact. If at all possible, do not leave your homes until the police have sorted this all out. Keep your doors locked and stay tuned for more information."
Tomohisa set the remote down and raised a worried eyebrow, "Oh dear…"
"What's wrong, Daddy?" Tatsuya asked childishly.
The father picked up his son and masked his worry with a smile, "Oh, it's nothing, little buddy." He briskly walked over and locked the front door, then returned through the kitchen and did the same for the sliding patio door. "I think it's about nap time, huh, Tatsuya?"
"But Daddy…" The toddler yawned, "I don't wanna…"
"But look how tired you are!" Tomohisa jovially exclaimed as he began stepping up the stairs to the child's bedroom, "C'mon, I'll even sing you nighty-night song."
Tatsuya rubbed his eyes and replied, "…Madoka? Where's Madoka?"
"Sis is still in school, buddy." He glanced back at his watch and frowned. 4:45. She should've been home by now, or at the very least, called to let him know she was running late. He almost considered calling her himself, what with the advisory to stay indoors. He decided against it, holding to his and Junko's philosophy of not being too harsh and overbearing on their children.
Certain she was merely just staying with a friend and forgot to call, He renewed his smile mask as he stepped into the Tatsuya's room and gently laid him in the crib, "It's just me right now, buddy. We'll get Sis to sing with us tomorrow, alright?"
Tatsuya sleepily blinked and lied down, "Otay…"
Tomohisa gave a small grin and started singing Tatsuya's favorite bedtime song, rubbing the boy's stomach as he sang, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, How I wonder what you are."
"Twinklie… Twinklie… Twink…lie…" The toddler mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.
The father sighed happily, slowly stood up and walked back downstairs into the kitchen. As he descended the last step, his stomach roared something ravenous. He laughed, "I guess you want some dinner, huh?" The organ gurgled some more in acknowledgement. He threw his arms into a shrug and conceded, "Alright, alright! I'll make us dinner!"
He walked over to the pantry, and gazed at the all the food stocked therein. Or, to be more precise, the lack thereof. He frowned, "I knew I should've gone to the supermarket yesterday…" Then, something caught his eye. He sighed as he picked up the cylindrical shape, "Well, at least we still have Ramen."
Tomohisa apprehensively sat on the living room couch, giving his watch another glance, the fifth time in the past three minutes. The most recent time displayed 7:27. Madoka still hadn't called yet to check in, and it was almost dusk. He bit his lip as worry began to show in his face. He walked into the kitchen to the nearest house phone and decided to call her just to be sure. However, as he began typing numbers on the phone pad, the sound of irritating interference emanated from the living room television.
Confused, he stepped back into the living room and gazed at the TV, only to see it displaying static. A warning also repeatedly flowed from right to left at the bottom of the screen:
"THIS IS A CLASS 1 EMERGENCY. ALL RESIDENTS OF MITAKIHARA CITY ARE REQUIRED TO GO TO THE DESIGNATED LOCATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE EVACUATION. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
Tomohisa's worry increased exponentially as he questioned, "What's going o-"
A blaring siren from the outside quickly silenced that thought. Tomohisa eyes shrank to pinpricks as he momentarily stood in shock. Something truly awful must be happening. With his heart pounding and head spinning, he started urgently gathering supplies and sprawling them on the kitchen table; bottles full of water, what little food he could find, some extra clothes for his family, four sleeping bags, and his trusty frying pan.
With the siren still continuing it's deafening parade, he dashed upstairs to his storage closet and threw open the door. After frantically digging for a few minutes, he yanked out a large duffle bag. He snatched a few family photos off of the walls and headed back downstairs to pack the bag. Just as he finished packing what he could, Tatsuya started wailing, awoken by the siren.
Trying to remain calm, Tomohisa took a deep breath, pushed his glasses up and ran back upstairs into the toddler's room. He quickly picked up his son and bounced him in his arms to calm him down, "Shshsh! It's okay buddy, Daddy's here. Daddy's got ya."
"I'm scared…" Tatsuya cried.
"It's okay buddy," The father assured as he briskly walked back downstairs, "Everything's going to be okay."
That assurance wasn't so much for the toddler as it was for himself, praying that Junko and Madoka were alright. However, it did seem to do the trick, as Tatsuya calmed down considerably. As they descended the last step into the kitchen, Tomohisa set Tatsuya on the table as he tied the sleeping bags around his back.
Tatsuya stared at the supplies, tilted his head and asked, "Daddy? We going camping tonight?"
Tomohisa paused before picking up again his son and smiling, "…You got it, little guy! We're gonna meet up with Mommy and Sis and then we'll all go camping!"
"Yay!" Tatsuya cheered, "Camping! Camping! Camping!"
With a happy toddler in his arms and supplies on his back, Tomohisa briskly carried himself and his son to the front door, cutting off the power to everything along the way. As he unlocked the front door, he gave one last, long, despairing look into his pristine home before forcing himself to exit.
With a quick gaze at the orange setting sun, he swiftly turned to his driveway to enter the family car, before remembering his wife taking it to work. Sighing, he turned back to the street, ready to make the trip to the evac center on foot. It was then that he noticed Mrs. Hanata just standing in the streets, shoulders slumped.
He jogged over to her and called out, "Mrs. Hanata? Are you okay? The warning said we had to meet at the evac center ASAP." As he approached, he grasped her shoulder, "Mrs. Yuki-"
Mrs. Hanata swiftly turned and shrieked, causing Tomohisa to fall on his back in shock. He couldn't believe his eyes; Mrs. Hanata stood over him with an open chest cavity—exposed ribcage and all—with blood dripping from her throat. Her normally ashy skin, now gray and torn, barely stretched over what was left of her body.
She growled and reached for him as he held Tatsuya—who had now started crying—close, clamped his eyes shut and screamed, "HELP!"
Just then, he heard a smashing sound, and then a solid thud. He opened his eyes to see Mrs. Hanata's own diseased, glazed over eyeballs hungrily staring back at him on the ground, sideways. She growled again and gnashed her blood-stained teeth, resulting in another scream from Tomohisa. He continued to scream as a steel bat crushed Mrs. Hanata's head multiple times, absolutely mutilating it while splattering blood and brain matter all over Tomohisa's face.
Now shaking in horror, Tomohisa slowly turned his head to see his savior, "…Sayaka Miki?"
Sayaka, blue haired best friend to his daughter, sighed in relief, "Looks like I was just in time." She smiled and offered a helping hand, "Any longer, and you would've been Walker food, Mr. K."
"Walker food?" Mr. Kaname asked as he accepted the assistance in standing up.
"Saya?" Tatsuya sniffed. He then smiled and cheered, "Yay! Saya save us!"
Sayaka giggled as she tickled under the toddler's chin, "That's right, Tatsuya! Auntie Saya saves the day!" She sighed again and rested her blood-stained bat on her shoulder, "Honestly, I'm just glad to see another friendly face that didn't want to eat mine." She then noticed the great pack Tomohisa carried, "Here, let me take some of that for you."
As Mr. Kaname handed over two sleeping bags to her, he asked, "Friendly face? What's going on? Where's Madoka?"
As she straightened the new load on her back, she jogged up the abandoned street and beckoned him to follow, "We gotta hurry and get to the evac station. I'll explain on the way."
As Tomohisa increased his pace to catch up, Sayaka continued, "It all happened so fast… one minute we were just sitting there in class having a good time of our day, the next, we heard that someone stumbled onto campus and bit someone… People began to panic, people who got bit started biting, and everyone started going absolutely crazy. It just went to crap from there..." she paused, "...I had to put down at least three Walkers before I found you... Four, counting the one that almost made a meal out of you."
"What about Madoka?" Tomohisa asked worriedly, "Did you see her?"
She avoided his gaze and hesitated, "…We got separated. I don't know where she is…"
He stopped. His heart fell to his stomach like an anchor, "W-We have to go back! I can't leave Madoka with those things!"
Sayaka shook her head, walked back to him and started pulling him along, "She made it out! I know she did… At least, I know she's not there anymore." She tried to throw on a comforting smile as she faced forward again, "Hey, with any luck, they'll already be at the evac center."
Defeated, Tomohisa followed on his own again and sighed. He questioned, "What do you mean by 'Walkers'?"
The girl remained silent for a moment before answering, "…You ever heard of those creepy, campfire stories you tell to spook your friends when you guys are all alone? The ones about the dead coming back to life to eat the living?"
"Yes…" Mr. Kaname cautiously replied, not certain he wanted to know the answer anymore, yet, after his confrontation with Mrs. Hanata, he was afraid he already knew.
She sighed, "Yeah, turns out, those stories were real. Some sort of unknown virus broke out months ago. They tried to find a cure, but those with the virus escaped before a cure could be found. No one really knows how the virus truly spreads, but I know one thing," She turned and gave Tomohisa a serious leer, "the bite victims are the walking dead."
Tomohisa couldn't process this information. It was just too much to take in at once, so he just walked with his daughter's friend, eyes wide open and mouth agape in shocked silence.
That is, until the trio heard the cocking of two guns. A chill shivered up their spines as they both felt the weapons' barrels press against their backs. They froze as a harsh female voice ordered, "If you value your lives, you'll do as I say."
Sayaka shakily growled, trying to stay tough, "W-What do ya want? Money? Food?"
When Tatsuya squirmed to get a better look at the assailant, Tomohisa begged quietly, "No, Tatsuya! Don't!"
The toddler ignored this and simply cheered, "Black hair! Black! Black! Black!"
As the father begged for his life internally, he heard a simple 'Harumph' echo behind him.
"Move," the voice commanded again.
