Quarantine Failure: Nerima
Due to the timelessness of the series, I have moved it forwards in time to coincide with my previous story, just to keep the dates right.
Previously, on Ranma ½…
The adventures of Ranma Saotome brought him from central China, the cursed springs of Jusenkyo, to the Tendo home, and one and a half years later, to the centre of Jusendo, and the death of the demi-God, Saffron.
After that, at least things didn't take a turn for the worse.
There weren't any crazy people out there kidnapping someone close to Ranma, or strange new and obscure martial artists trying their luck against the heir to the Anything Goes School. Even the emergence of potions and magical item interferences had stopped.
One year later, Ranma still hadn't made up his mind over whom he really loved, and which engagement he wants to uphold. After the failed wedding, no one pressured him any further (well, no more than usual), which suited him and Akane fine, and they continued their normal life, with a bit less of the usual mayhem, and a bit more of love.
However, these things can't remain that way forever. Soon the dam would burst, and the worst imaginable situation would arise, leaving nothing in its wake.
The new chaos begins 18 months after the defeat of Saffron…
A/N - If you want to see what happened before the following section, please read the prologue of Love Hina - Nijuuhachi Hi Ato. No knowledge of Love Hina or 28 Days Later is needed to understand it.
Fall, 2000
28 Hours Later
Beneath Tokyo University
9:30am
A technician was walking through the dark corridor, yawning all the way.
"Damn power cut, my alarm reset itself again… I need to move to somewhere with better wiring…"
Resisting another yawn, he pressed the elevator button and was rewarded with the lower basement, not wanting to take the stairs. Once it opened, he walked by the rooms. "Hmm, looks like my boss isn't here yet… Maybe I won't get fired after all!" He seemed to brighten up, like all the university students milling about a few levels above him, going about with their normal lives. Dumping his bag in his office space, he picked out his security clearance card.
"Might as well check on the subjects…"
He walked towards the animal testing lab, secured against intruders with a special access code. He heard the screeches coming from inside the room and shook his head.
"Gees, they're loud today, what's up with them?"
Paying no heed to the noises, assuming they came from the hot spring turtles, he swiped his card and keyed in his personal code. The door hissed and opened slowly, at which point he was immediately beset upon by three humans, covered in blood, their eyes (including the white part) completely scarlet.
Screaming pathetically, he was unable to break free from their solid grips, and couldn't stop from having his flesh and limbs torn off, bit by bit. Once sated, the rage filled former humans began their search for new blood, jerking and twitching their way towards the stairs.
The Infection had begun.
One hour later
Nerima
Nerima had changed slowly over the years. While the antics of certain martial artists were known all around the area, their fights were tolerated, if only to stave off the inevitable boredom that all salarymen, housewives, students and children alike.
Their battles were never that destructive, only confined to their own properties. At most, chain-link fences, plastered walls, lampposts and such had to be maintained regularly, as those were the victims of the nearby fights. Signs that were put up on them, with simple requests such as 'Please do not hug telephone pole' were ignored.
Yet, despite the high costs in city upkeep, the police never had to intervene. Their presence was merely there for display and official law purposes. They rarely had to be called out for any disturbances, firstly due to the high powered individuals involved would make their jobs harder, and secondly because those very people made the area safe. With such dangerous people living there, burglars, muggers, druggies and other miscreants steered clear for the 'safer' parts of Tokyo.
It was inevitable that the one time the station was left closed, on their weekly check up on the destruction of public property, they all missed the urgent call sent out to their base radio. The scratching microphone with gunshots in the background was accentuated by the manic voice of their superior, screaming down the line for reinforcements and declaring warnings.
However, as the screeches increased the radio soon cut out, never to be re-established again.
Meanwhile
Elsewhere in Nerima
It had been three years since Ranma arrived, and the sharpest member of the Tendo family, Nabiki, smirked.
After the building of the first branch in Nerima of a successful finance company, already based in central Tokyo, she plied her trade well, using her final year of school to get work experience with them. Displaying a small spurt of her skills, they eagerly snapped her up when she graduated, and offered a reasonable salary for a first timer.
Staring out her window after finishing her sentence on her document, she sighed. The view showed the whole of Nerima, as she worked in one of the few high rise buildings in the region.
"Man… This is boring…"
She thought back to her time at school, her old accomplices in her gambling syndicate.
"I miss those times…"
This is a little too boring, and legal. There's nothing like the thrill of finding some juicy gossip or secret… There's no challenge in coaxing out money from unwilling people…
She shook her head. While reminiscing was all well and good, doing it on company time meant that she would suffer pay-wise. Returning to her desk, thanking the Gods for her private room, she uploaded the document to synchronise with the main headquarters based in Tokyo.
She raised an eyebrow. What the…? Tapping a few more keys, she figured out that the computer wasn't hanging, but it apparently wasn't receiving a response from the HQ.
Speed-dialling the IT department, she gave the query and they responded that saying the issue came up a few minutes ago, that all communications had ceased with them. They were checking to see if there was a physical break, but any telephone contact with their parent branch, as it was on a different line complete, did not receive any replies.
Hang on… I know someone there… Thanking the operator, Nabiki picked up her new Nokia 3330 and loaded up her phonebook, scanning down the list for a number she hadn't picked for a year. Clicking the button, the dialling began.
The phone picked up. "Hello?" The female voice sounded a bit ragged.
"Yo Natsuko-kun, been a while, eh?"
"Na-Nabiki?!" Her former second in command was shocked.
"That's me." The middle Tendo gave a wry smile. "I heard you transferred into Toudai, anything -"
"My God, Nabiki…" This time the fear and tiredness was readily apparent down the phone. "You've got to get out of there…"
"Huh?" She grew confused. "Why?"
"The centre… These monsters…" A few seconds of rustling against clothing and the voice continued. "There's blood everywhere, and they won't stop killing."
"Mo-monsters?!" Nabiki stood up, the sunlight from her new position blinding her momentarily as Nerima came back in focus. "Something else for Ranma to get rid of?"
"NO!" She screamed down the line. "They're… They're humans Nabiki, but they're different, their eyes are bloody, and they keep eating people… Th-There's hundreds of them, and there's so many of them…"
"Nat-Natsuko…" Nabiki paled, recognising the emergency. "Wh-What about the police, the army?"
"They're gone, Nabiki, all gone…" A series of screeches was heard, distorting the speaker so much Nabiki had to hold her ear away from the phone. "OH GOD! THEY'RE HERE!"
"Natsuko?!" The screams from her old friend were unmistakable as the screeches became louder. "NATSUKO?!" The loud clattering made Nabiki hold her mouth in horror. Her phone fell… That means…
The sounds of screaming, screeches and tearing came through, as a loud smashing ended the call.
Nabiki stared at her phone, the call time reading as just under two minutes, before returning to its normal logo, that of her telephone company. Feeling her stomach lurch, she bent over double and hunted for her bin, throwing up her rice breakfast into the container.
"Nabiki-kun, are you okay?" One of her co-workers popped his head into the room after knocking.
"No…" She wiped her mouth. "I'm not…" She stood up and picked up her jacket and phone, then put her satchel on. "I'm leaving, and if you know anything about me, trust me when I tell you that you should leave too…" Her eyes narrowed. "Tokyo is going to hell in a few hours…"
Kentaro Sakata, who was employed at the same time as her, nodded gravely. Despite the relatively short time he spent around her during the training and group projects, he knew that her word, when serious, was true. Running back to his own room, he grabbed his bag and legged it from the building, never to return.
Nabiki took her time leaving, knowing that at the moment there was little she could do to speed things up.
She dialled her home number, and prayed for her family.
Tendo home
"Hello, who is it?" Kasumi's smile could be heard down the phone.
"Kasumi, it's me Nabiki..."
"Oh my, it's so nice to hear from you! How are things?"
"No time for pleasantries. Where is everyone?"
"Umm, father and Mr Saotome are here playing shoji, Mrs Saotome is helping me with cooking, and Ranma and Akane are still at school. Why, is there anything wrong?"
"Yes." Her tone was final. Get the parents to drag their kids from school, and Ukyo I suppose, to prepare to leave. Pack anything light, nothing to too heavy." She thought for a few seconds, her mind working overtime. "Call the Nekohanten and get them to do the same, and meet in the house in thirty minutes, that's how long my bus takes to get there."
"But, why?" Kasumi sounded concerned.
"I'll explain when I get there, just please, hurry and do this!" The line was disconnected as Nabiki hailed her bus from the stop.
Kasumi, not one to panic about anything, felt that her sister was under extreme stress, but did what she was ordered to do. Informing Genma and Soun, despite their confusion, they ran off to Furinkan High. As they bounded out the front door, Kasumi went about the house and began to set aside some emergency clothing, identification, money and anything useful.
She packed a large medical box in her own, beginning to realise that there may be a need for it.
Five minutes later
Furinkan High
Ranma watched as the teacher droned on about trigonometry, and sneaked a glance at Akane, who was seated one place to the right and behind him. Winking at her and miming a large yawn, he delighted at seeing the slight giggle from her.
His danger sense flaring up, he caught a piece of chalk in his left hand. "Mr Saotome, I think you will find that this is not the drama club, as your act of pretending to look interested and feigning boredom is not suited for this class." He turned to the board. "If you could please stand up and help me with this formula." He pointed using his marker at the triangle. "What is the value of 'sine' of the angle indicated here? The fraction alone will suffice."
He stood up, idly kicking away the chalk at his feet before finally turning his attention to the front. "I'm not too sure, sir. Is it adultery over greed?"
"What?!"
"Sorry, I meant sloth over wrath... Wait, isn't this Religious Education?" He scratched his head comically, earning a hearty laugh from his classmates. His cocky grin however gave the game away.
"Saotome! Buckets! Now!"
As he was about to walk through the door, it burst open and two people strode in. "M-Mr Tendo... Mr Saotome!" The teacher cried out. "Ah, perfect timing, your son has been -"
"No time for telling me how great he is, I already know..." He looked to Ranma. "Boy, you're coming with me, there's an emergency." He looked to the girl he left behind all those years ago. "Ukyo, you come too."
"Sure pops, anything to get out of this lesson." Ranma cracked his knuckles, ready for a battle.
"Akane dear, you need to come with me." Soun said, and his daughter demurely got up.
"Is there a contender for the dojo? I'll beat them easily!" She held up her fists.
As they left the sputtering teacher in his slowly dissolving class, they asked what exactly was so important to bring them out of school.
"We don't know... You sister called Kasumi from work. Apparently it's serious..." Soun told Akane, but for everyone to hear.
"Really?" Ukyo was surprised at hearing how she might actually care one iota for her family. "Must be some money making scheme..."
"Well, it's bad enough that she called Shampoo too..." Genma added, and Ranma shivered at the thought of the cat girl hugging him again.
"Well..." He finally spoke after his fear left him. "I'm sure we'll find out soon."
Twenty minutes later
Tendo dojo
Nabiki was red from her run, the stop was a bit far from the home, and she was heartened to see the group there waiting for her.
Taking a small amount of time to relax, and accepting a glass of water from Kasumi, she stood up tall.
"So, what's all the big hurry?" Ranma asked, brashly.
"Your subtlety escapes me sometimes, Saotome." He grinned, then lost it, as her cold business face set in. "Something bad is happening in central Tokyo, something big."
"Ah gees, is it that Pantyhose causing trouble? I told him not to go hassle the Emperor..."
"No..." Nabiki shook her head quickly, she needed to get the point across, fast but detailed enough for them to understand just how serious it was. "I spoke to my friend Natsuko on the phone. She said there were monsters, humans with red eyes, killing others and eating them. She... She was killed soon after she told me..." She saw them pale accordingly. "There's too many of them. Tokyo is shutting down bit by bit. We'll be next, and then there's no hope for us to escape."
"Escape?" Soun shouted, aghast. "But the duty of a martial artist -"
"- is to defeat demons and protect the weak and innocent..." Nabiki recited back to them in a bored fashion. "This time the demons are human, and the weak and innocent are us..." She gave them the look she used rarely. "We are getting out of here, and now."
"Okay, I get all that..." Ranma asked, his finger on his chin in thought. "So why don't we just head to the airport?"
Nabiki shook her head. "I already thought of that, the major airports are being flooded by people, not to mention that the nearby ones might already be caught up with the chaos.
He nodded in understanding. "What's the plan then?"
"I'm lucky to know someone with owns a private jet." She smirked. "Old Kuno-chan can come in handy at the most opportune moments."
Akane hmphed. "That jerk... I still haven't forgiven him for the time he used that potion on me..."
Cologne jumped onto her stick. "I take it you have seen fit to inform all those who have any chance to defend themselves. This jet must be far enough to need a long run."
Nabiki nodded. "I value my life greatly, as well as Kasumi's, Akane's, heck, even Happosai's." She switched the television on, hoping to catch a decent channel. "The roads are gridlocked, the only way out is roof hopping or on foot, and as you can imagine, Mrs Saotome, Kasumi and I aren't well versed in that." She gave a sly look to Soun. "I think that dear daddy also may have a problem..."
Soun burst into demon-head for a second, then, once punctured by Kasumi, started crying. "Sh-she's right... My body isn't what it used to be..." He looked to his old training partner. "Genma, my friend, would you help me in this plight?"
Giving him the look that he reserved for people asking for spare change on the side of the street, Genma stalled. "Well, umm..." He saw a news broadcast. "Hey, look at that..."
They all began to watch the report, and the confusion behind the face of the anchor.
"We still have no news of what is going on, other than Tokyo is being attacked. We're here in front of the Imperial Palace for official news from the Emperor, as Prime Minister Koizumi is unavailable for comment." She moved to the side as the camera began scanning the area around them, and continued to give a voiceover. "Several services have shut down, the telephone lines were one of the first to be cut, with no indication of whether others will be affected."
A male cry was heard, as the camera shifted abruptly to a distant street.
"What is it?" The girl asked, moving into view with her microphone. "Are we going to see which country has invaded?"
One figure, then two, soon five on them stumbled out of a side street, and strange noises were echoing around the area. Their heads pivoted to the camera, and they started running.
"This is odd..." She moved forwards slightly, scrutinising their appearances. "They don't seem to be carrying any weapons, nor are they wearing any conventional uniforms, though they all share the same shade." She stepped back and whispered to the cameraman, though it was still heard on the tape. "We'll be fine, the press are neutral in any conflict..."
Her doubts began to show as the people got closer, with no sign of stopping, nor trying to communicate with them. She flinched at their red clothing, which had just become clearer.
"Oh God... That's blood... "
They were now a hundred metres away.
"Their eyes..."
She dropped her microphone and started running, the cameraman dropping his burden and joining her, coincidentally leaving the film focussing on their escape route.
Despite them being so far away, the Infected, with their evolved muscular abilities and stamina, caught up to them only several dozen metres from where they left the equipment.
The screams, screeches and bone rendering cracks were captured by the camera and microphone.
The room became eerily quiet, no one daring to make any sound, as the screen changed to a 'Technical Difficulties' image. Nabiki turned the TV off, much greener tones reflected in her face.
"I hope you don't think you can win against that..." She held off a rush of bile and continued. "That was only with five of those things, imagine a street of them, then a district, then imagine the whole of central Tokyo..."
Ranma, much whiter than before, shook his head. "Th-there's no way to beat them..." He looked at his right fist. "We'd have to kill them anyway... And I'm not sure I want to do that."
Akane sidled up to him and placed a hand on his raised arm, her touch rendering him mute and red.
"So..." Nodoka stepped up. "How far is this jet?"
"South..." Nabiki looked to the clock. "I would say, for us, it would take three hours to get there, but we need to move fast."
Even as she spoke, distant screeches could be heard, followed by human screams.
"Th-they're here..." Kasumi whispered, the fear evident on her normally positive face.
"Ah shit!" Ranma looked around at everyone, evaluating the battle and escape options. "We need some extra firepower!"
Splashing some water on himself, Ranma-chan made a cute noise and teasingly opened the top two buttons of her shirt.
"This bra looks nice, maybe I should -"
Seconds later, a small man was embedded in her well-endowed bosum. "Ranma-chan! Please say you'll wear this one!" He pulled out another bra from his stash.
"Hey that's mine!" Akane cried indignantly.
Biting back a remark that she'd never fit into something of Akane's, Ranma politely elbowed Happosai in the head, straight into the ground. She started closing her top again.
"What did you do that for?!" He sounded angry.
"Old man..." Ranma's serious face halted his incoming tirade. "We're leaving Tokyo. Monsters in the shape of humans are killing and eating everyone they see... Their eyes are bloody, and their voices are weird, all screeches."
Happosai's stunned look infuriated the heir, who turned away to the door.
"Look, you don't have to believe me if you want, but, much as I hate to say it..." She turned back and smiled weakly. "We need your help."
A collective skipped heartbeat occurred as everyone took in his words. Happosai's jaw opened up involuntarily, as the same thoughts flooded through his head. Ranma's asking me for my help? That's he's too weak to handle this by himself? This must be very bad...
"Okay Ranma." Happosai stood up tall and gave her a respected look. "I believe you, we're going to leave, now."
"Thanks, old man." She gave a relieved smile, then looked to her mother. "I'll be taking you mum, so I promise you'll be comfortable..." She looked over to Genma. "Pops, you take Mr Tendo, Akane, will you be okay with Nabiki?" The nod from his blue-haired fiancée allowed him to continue. He looked to the Amazons. "Shampoo... I know this is a bit odd, but could you carry Kasumi?"
The part time cat looked over at the peaceful Tendo. Shampoo want to be close to Airen, but he ask me for help... "Okay, I carry her."
Ranma's smile again lifted the spirits of the room. "That's great. Now..." Ranma's pigtail straightened as she built up her ki, preparing her body for battle. "We'll be carrying people who can't fight. Pops and Mr Tendo can though, so that's a bonus. I'll need you..." She pointed to Mousse, Cologne, Ukyo and Happosai. "... to clear a path for us when we're on the ground." Her expression grew a little worried. "Is that okay?"
Looking at each other for a few moments, they nodded as one. Ukyo removed her battle spatula. "Don't worry Ran-chan, I'll protect you."
Mousse started crying and hugged Cologne, his glasses once again on his head. "Shampoo! I'll make you safe!"
A rap on the head and his glasses slid into place. "Ugh, I hugged the mummy." Another rap, this one harder, and he picked himself up off the floor.
Ranma coughed once to get everyone's attention. "Okay, all ready?" Honed ki began to glow simultaneously in response. "Good. Mum, climb on my back, we're gonna be taking the roofs for a while."
Getting down on her haunches, Nodoka delicately got on, and was surprised by how easily Ranma carried her weight. She waited a few more seconds until Genma had Soun, Akane holding her elder sister Nabiki and Shampoo delicately holding Kasumi.
She grinned, and powered up the ki in her legs.
"Let's go!"
Nabiki checked her watch whilst on Akane's back. 11:11... The three hours begin...
---
Author's Notes
Had this on my hard-drive since July 2006, thought it was about time to release it to the public. Based on the horror film 28 Days Later, using the setting I created in my Love Hina story (Tokyo University being the source of the virus outbreak). Inspired by a Nabiki cameo in the epilogue of that story, this was dreamed up fast.
No idea as to when the next chapter will appear, but it's the thought that counts!
Hope you enjoy it!
- J