[Type the document subtitle]
[Okay this is a new genre for me in terms of publishing so...bare with the groups journey they come across "them"- as usual, but when Hirano does a brave move to diminish "their" population some unknown force halts it. With his group unaware of where he is Hirano finds himself oblivious to some behind the shadow plotting. Will this new "edition" help the group or is something more sinister heading toward them? In this fanfic and currently in the process chapt. 2 the mind of the human and human will are tested!]
"Just keep going already!"
"I'm running as fast as I can!" said the blonde haired women carrying a box of what appeared to be medicine and pain killers.
"Look, you're slowing us down! Get in the middle of the group."
"Why?"
The pink haired girl passed up the blonde and was now behind two other people. "Rei, up ahead." Warned a boy carrying a baseball bat.
"Got it." The orange haired girl by the name Rei swooped up in front of one of "them" and plunged her spear made from just a broken cleaning tool into its head. She was well equipped for a high school girl and counting the conditions it was a formidable weapon to wield. The thing reeled backwards and blood spewed from its gaping hole as Rei removed the spear. As soon as she lifted the spear another one of "them" appeared right behind her.
"Ahhhh!"
"Don't worry I got it!' a chubby young boy with glasses showed up into the picture and shot it but missed and instead shot it in the stomach. "Damn it…okay, aim at shoulders length on the thing, and then shoot. It should hit it in the head…is it me or should we have had at least more time to think this through…"
"Ahhhhhh"
The thing came closer to Hirano, forgetting Rei. Hirano adjusted his position and shot it square in its forehead.
"Ha! Score one for Hirano the gun Otaku!"
"Quite your victory parade already! There are still some more of them!" chastised Takagi.
"Sorry…"
The group breezed through the crowd of the undead and made it to the nearby shopping district. An ideal place to stock up on some ammunition, hygiene supplies, and food.
"I have to use the bathroom." Said a little girl tugging on Takagis' skirt.
"Okay, follow me. Umm, Hirano, keep an eye out. I'm taking Alice to the bathroom."
"Alright, but take a gun with you just in case."
"Yeah just in case we run into any of them…"
"Uh, no. I mean just in case some survivors are in there and they start to think before they die they can get off."
"You are so disgu-"
"I have to really go!" whined Alice.
The two girls walked to one of the bathroom stalls and Zeke followed suit.
"Zeke, go to a fire hydrant, not on me!" yelped Hirano.
The group had made a risky choice and split up so as to find more of what they are looking for in a faster manner. Takashi was on his own and was assigned to look for hygienic supplies. He walked with a light bag full of combs, brushes, toothpaste, and tooth brushes, anything he could find that wouldn't be a bother to carry while in action. He came across a shelf in the store and heard something in the distance.
Bang. Bang, bang…
Relying on his first instinct he crouched to the ground and crawled. Once he was near the edge of the shelf he peered around the corner and tightened his grip on the bat. He narrowed his eyes and was about to charge when he saw a silhouette. He got up quick and raised his bat to the level as if the head was right underneath.
"Careful as ever huh?" said Saeko. She put more weight on her left leg and crooked her arm to her right side as she stared up at the bat raised above her head. She was calm about the fact that if she didn't say a word her head would have been splattered all around the aisle.
"Ahhh, you could have died! What were you doing sneaking around like that?" asked Takashi lowering the bat. Saeko smiled a bit and clasped her hands together.
"I was coming to find some snacks for the group, especially Alice, and well, I guess I was too loud."
"Too loud? That was way too loud. Come on let's get back to the others so they don't worry."
Saeko walked in front as they left. Takashi wondered why Saeko was so calm all the time. Especially since her life could have halted if he hadn't noticed it was her as she spoke.
"Where did Saeko go?" asked Rei coming back with Shizuka with a bag full of ammunition and some medical appliances.
"She went the same way that Takashi went just a few minutes ago." Admitted Hirano.
Takagi bumped Hirano a bit and made a horrible glare at him.
"What?" asked Hirano stumped, "She asked where he was."
Hirano looking in front of him saw a red faced Rei. She started to sweat and looked irritable.
"Baka. Baka, baka, baka!" said Takagi under her breath. Hirano didn't know why but Takagi's usual phrase scared him. Staring at her and then Rei eased away to the left.
Rei breathed in and out and started to calm down. She left with Shizuka yet again despite the others protests for them to stay. Time passed and the destined time for them to all meet up again soon arrived. Everyone was a counted for all except for two people. Shizuka had come back soon after and said that Rei had run off into one of the nearby stores they had inspected earlier and had assumed as safe.
"Relax Shizuka, we inspected it for a reason." Explained Takagi.
"What's the reason? I thought we inspected it to get some more weapons."
"We're using it as a hideout since by the time we get done it'll be dark."
"But with the power out and everything It would be risky…and the fact that most of Hirano's guns that you could use in the dark don't work anymore... how will we get a good night's sleep?"
"Takashi already thought of that right?" asked Takagi looking at Takashi.
"In other words you weren't sure if I did have a plan were you Takagi?" saying that he started to have negative feelings that Saya doubted his place of staying.
"Not a chance."
"*sighs* I do have a plan. And I thought that by making a sound trap around the area we would hear it, get up, and kill them. I also thought of putting some in the staircases leading to where we will be sleeping. So that they don't somehow get passed the ones outside and attack us on the inside. "
"Good call." Said Shizuka.
"But what if there are more outside. When or if one does trip the trap then the others will hear it and come. So when and if it does happen then we'll be sitting ducks." Said Saeko tapping her pointer finger on a nearby wall of a pastry shop.
"I haven't thought that far, so I don't know. All I know is if that does happen then we have to fight our way through. It's nothing new."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, it's what we have to do now that'll be new to us…we'll just have to fight our way through then."
"Hey, you guys I'm worried about Rei. I'm going to go see if she's alright, she seemed upset."
"Be careful 'kay?" with a worried look Alice gave Shizuka a gun and a knife. "Promise?"
"Yeah." Shizuka started off towards the hideout. Although Shizuka was well…you know….not the greatest and reliable on self-defense she was a part of the group. And as part of the group she deserved to defend herself and pull her own weight. So handing Shizuka a gun wasn't the end of the world.
"Hold it Shizuka. I'm coming to."
"Oh well come on then Saeko."
Shizuka and Saeko left the group. Takashi ordering the others to search the area in pairs with what was left of the group was disbanded. The sun was setting and they went for a last round at gathering supplies. Of course they had to meet again at the destined spot at night or well, the usual kick the walking dead's' but, would happen.
"You think those two will be alright?" Hirano asked Takashi.
"Shizuka isn't the fighting type, but she's with Saeko. With her around those two will be more than okay."
"You think so."
Takashi loved his buddy Hirano but he had to admit, Hirano's negativity at times such as these was just to unbearable. He had to lay low and keep his mouth shut. Having a fight now inside the group would only cause trouble that's unwanted. But the group always seemed to fall into trouble so a dispute in the group shouldn't arouse them so much is what Takashi had always thought.
"Hirano, make sure you get an extra bar of soap, were low on it."
"Got it."
Dusk came sooner than expected and the group met up. Meeting up was the easy part, walking the distance to the hide out was the tricky part. Without street lights they had to be extra cautious of bumping into things or tripping. Alice held onto Takashi and made careful steps. Takagi on the other hand was a bit to self-assured of herself.
"Ouch!"
"Shhh!"
"Well excuse me Takashi, but my feet don't have eyes on them!" whispered Takagi tapping her foot on the ground to get the numbness to ware off.
"That's why we all are trying to be careful and quite, and less self-assured, unlike you Takagi. Now, please be more careful."
"Whatever, I wasn't even that loud."
The arguing had subsided and they were now in the staircase leading up to the room they will all be bunking in.
"Hey, there's Rei." Said Hirano putting his gun in a corner. Alice took off her shoes and plopped onto the floor with a heavy sigh. Seeing how relaxed she was everyone else followed suit. With a moment to rest, to them it felt like bliss.
"I still can't believe all this happened. It feels like a dream…no… more like a nightmare."
"You got that right. "Replied Takagi.
"Hey, guys where are Takashi and Rei?" asked Alice.
It was dark in the hallway. The only light was that of a candle which was in Takashi's hand. Rei had a sour look on her face as she glared at the floor.
"You shouldn't have gone off by yourself. You know what situation we're in."
"Of course I do, I just needed some space. Is that too hard to ask for?"
"Well…yeah it is. We have to be close together like this, what do you expect?"
Rei shifted her head and met eyes with Takashi. She sneered and looked back at the floor, putting her two fingers in the crease of her brow. It was clear that she was frustrated. Takashi was getting frustrated as well. He hadn't a clue what she was angry at.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"When you left you ended up meeting Saeko right?"
"Yeah, she nearly scared me to death. If she didn't say anything I would have bashed her head open."
"So you didn't know that she followed you."
"No, why?"
"Oh, no reason." Rei had cheered up in an instant. Glad that Saeko didn't have any one on one time with Takashi, she was relieved. All those hours of sulking and what ifs was now a thing in the past. Although she was still weary of the fact that Saeko had followed him on her own accord and not out of safety. She decided to push that notion of thought to the back of her mind.
Crash
The sound of glass hitting the floor bolted the two into action. Takashi sprinted for the door and met the group fighting "them." It turned out that some of "them" were behind a hidden door. They were probably hiding there before when they were alive until one of the family members with them turned into one of "them." Searching the place earlier the group was quit and cautious, but now thinking that it was safe, they let their guard down. One thing they shouldn't have done.
Takashi went for the silent approach and grabbed his bat. He ran for the one trying to get a bite out of Shizuka. He crouched forward onto the ground and tripped it from beneath. Takashi towered over the motionless body, unsure if it hit something to splatter it's head nearly open. The body twitched and Takashi felt it's grasp on his leg. Takashi lowered the bat with force and met its head. The head popped open and Takashi felt the blood spurt onto his face.
They were fighting in the dark. And the sound was enough to draw a crowd of "them." It was a group that relied on sound and touch against a group that relied on sight and touch. It was more of a battle of stealth. But that would never happen. Try to use stealth in the middle of the battle when your opponent is hungry for your flesh only means that you are on the opposite end. And the opposite end is the losing end in most cases.
"Rei!" screamed Alice.
Alice had gotten Reis' spear from the corner and threw it her way. Rei grew tired of fighting with an old worn out shop broom.
"Okay, now we can get to it. Ah!" Rei jumped from off the bed and onto another one of "them". The spear landed into its eye socket, missing the eyeball. The spear was lodged only a hair away from it. Remarkably despite the fact that it went through its brain it still moved. Apparently the force wasn't enough. It moaned and moved it's nearly gauged eye towards Rei. The area where the bed and Rei were had a small window and some light was in the room. And that meant that Rei could see everything, she gasped and stood back as the nearly gauged out eye wavered from here to there. But something from behind pushed her back onto the body.
Saeko came from behind and put her hands on the spear behind Rei. Saeko jerked the spear to the left and the spear ended up on the other side of its head. The arms it held out hit the floor with a thump. Rei got up and put the heel of her shoe on the end of her spear. Apparently the eye gauged out and stuck to the spear.
"Sorry about the mess." Apologized Saeko sticking her sword into the back of the head of one of them. Releasing it they ducked from the spray of blood.
"It's okay…" Rei felt very guilty for thinking less of Saeko before. She was grateful she had come along and helped her.
Hirano had problems with using things that didn't have automatic written on it or things that can't allow you to shoot. He was stuck in the corner avoiding battle and staying quite. Just then Takashi had kicked one of them to the ground it reeled over and bumped it's head onto Hirano's leg. Feeling bone and flesh it opened its mouth and was ready to take a bite. Before it could, Hirano used his other leg to kick it in the face. With its nose gushing it fell to the floor and met Takashi' bat.
"Thanks man."
"And what were you doing Hirano?"
"Ummm…lying low…hehe…"
"Hehe." mimicked Takashi lowering his brows.
"Guys come on!" shouted Takagi holding a door open.
"We don't have much time, come on. The others are bound to be crowding the stairways." Warned Shizuka gathering the supplies she could carry. The group ran to the door and Alice was stuck carrying other supplies and was slowing the group down.
"Alice hurry it up!"
"I'm going as fast as I can! *huff, huff, huff* "
"Hirano, get your gun out and get ready. And carry some load off of Alice!"
"But Takagi…"
"Hirano!"
"Okay, taking the load off as we speak!"
The stairways were tress passable. There were some of them, but to many for them to take out, it would only slow them down however they were skilled enough to make it out. They were on a roll to put it simply.
Crawling and walking up the stairway the undead seemed to pile up more and more. It was obvious to the group that they were too loud during battle. But how could they not have been? How many people would stay quite if they were fighting the undead that loved your flesh for a place to hide out? It was just something unavoidable.
Takagi opened the door to a closet and rummaged through it. She then grabbed the hands of Shizuka and Alice and pulled their body towards her own. "Come on. Put these on."
wore a curious face, "Where'd you get these things?"
"I picked them up earlier and stored them in the closet, now put them on. All of you, hurry!"
The group put the strap on helmets. Takagi quickly demonstrated what to do with them, she pressed on a little switch. And within a moments warning, the group was blinded with light. The others followed suit and soon they each had light of their own.
"Great thinking!"
"Hirano, there's no need for admiration right now we need to get out of here."
"I have an idea." Spoke Rei.
Everyone looked Reis' way and followed her finger as she pointed down the stairwell. The horde of "them" was now approaching the group again.
"Uh, Rei that's the side of the stairwell why are you pointing to the part with no stairs?" Alice asked.
"Look closely. That part has none of those things. They're too focused right now so they're cramming themselves onto one another to try and get us. Plain and simple we're going to jump down and run out. But we have to act fast, there should be more coming."
It was a crazy idea but no one defied her plan. Not even Hirano or Takagi. Alice picked up Zeke and cropped herself into Takagi's arms. The others gathered their stuff and prepared to jump. They each landed safely with pain shooting up their legs. It was a long jump but they had to keep quit so they couldn't even expel some breathes of "ah" or "ouch."
They hit the outside air and smelled gasoline. Takashi looked to the side and saw that more of "them" were getting through the window by climbing a parked truck carrying the gasoline. One of "them" clawed her way up and was tearing through the trucks frame thinking of it as a human since it was still warm. More of "them" were doing the same. In a few minutes the place would be filled with the gasoline.
"Come on we have to get rid of them once and for all. Setting fire to the place will at least diminish "their" population." Hirano was right. The group scattered the perimeter as Hirano ran into the store next to the hide out for matches.
Once he got back they lit the matches and threw it onto the truck. Running towards the fire station near the police station they felt it odd that "they" were still attracted to the hide out. "They" should have at least heard Hirano come out of the store, and the matches being lit.
"Something's wrong…the truck and the buildings should have been on fire as soon as we turned the corner. I think someone or maybe one of "them" dowsed it with water…"
"Hirano that's stupid…but…"
"Exactly, it had to be a living person or…"
"Should we go back then Hirano?"
"Why ask Hirano?" Takagi was as usual very doubtful of Hirano. Especially for the fact that if everyone would turn to Hirano for help or advice would lead to their deaths. To Takagi Hirano was a big mistake that occasionally came through in times of crisis.
"Hey!" squealed Hirano," I think we should go…or at least have someone else go and check it out."
"You're such a wuss. If you think that someone should go then maybe that someone should be you."
"Takagi!"
"Hirano, she is right. You did put the idea out there."
"You guys are cruel…"
"They" were scattered all over the entrance of the hideout and another building just across from it. Hirano had made it past the corner to notice that both buildings were occupied by "them".
"Why would 'they' be crowding both buildings…there's nothing to connect the buildings to. Maybe…"
A shadow approached the door and the horde of "them" started to pour in. Just then Hirano bolted up at the sudden sound of gunshots.
"Take this you bastards! Yahoo!"
"Ren stop it and get serious there still comin'!" a man around his mid-thirties ran towards the young girl who was shouting with glee as she propelled herself through the air only to land on one of "them".
"And keep your mouth shut. They respond to loud noises!"
"You should take that advice for yourself since you're the loudest. Hahaha!"
Hirano watched as the two dubious pair slaughtered the horde of "them". Although the girl looked as if she needed a break from the strict guy it looked as though they were a pair made in heaven itself.
"Gahhhh…she's pretty…" Hirano was stricken with looks of the women.
The guy noticed a shadow in the corner nearby and slipped into the shadow. Hirano crouched a little lower and felt a cold feeling in his spine and something metal on the left hemisphere of his head. Sweating he looked behind him to find his own gun pointed at him. Hirano was full of fear and regret. Especially for leaving his gun behind him while trying to get a better look at the pair. That wasn't the best idea. Not to mention if you don't know if the people are enemy or foe.
The man eyed Hirano suspiciously. The man should have been jumping for glee once he noticed Hirano was actually alive. Eyeing Hirano wasn't necessary since he was indeed the one who was suspicious.
"You, are you with a group?"
"Uh-yeah. W-who are you guys?" Hirano stopped shaking realizing this guy was not his enemy.
"You wanna see something?"
"Hey, do you think sending Hirano was a good idea?"
"Reis' right. I mean I know I agreed to send him because it was his idea to investigate…but Hirano isn't the most reliable with things such as these."
"I agree with Saeko." Takashi furrowed his brows even more. He was worried about the fact that Hirano hadn't returned.
It wasn't long before the group decided to head over and save Hirano. Reaching to where Hirano was suppost to be all they found was Hiranos' footsteps.
"They end around here…you think he's hiding?"
"Right now I wanna know why the matches were taken out and dowsed with water…and why 'they're' dead…Hirano couldn't have done this. Could he?" as usual Saeko was right on top of things with pure suspicion.
"Yeah you're right? But it's hard to believe there are still people here that aren't staking this out or of course crazy."
"Yeah. Come on we should get going."
The group left in search for Hirano.
It took a while for Hirano and the strange duo to make it back. Hirano was showed the storage room for farm animals, and found out by Ren whose parents were farmers that the infection can be carried from animals that were bitten or otherwise contaminated. With this information he can tell the others of it and protect the group a little bit more, and of the good news of new recruits. Making it back was the highlight of Hiranos' day, but not being able to find his group was the utter back fire.
"They, they, they…couldn't have left me? They wouldn't have left me? Would they?" Hirano was shaking and collapsed onto his knees shortly after realizing his comrades weren't around with him anymore.
"Hey, don't worry about anything I mean, they wouldn't leave you, from what you told us, they wouldn't do that. Cheer up 'kay?" spoke Ren patting Hirano on the shoulder. After seeing no change in his mood she got up from her crouched position and wandered over near the man who was introduced as Carl.
"Really, then if they wouldn't why aren't they here? Why didn't they leave two behind and tell me they wen t off searching and would be back or something? Why am I here alone?"
"Relax, we'll find a nearby place to stay and search for your friends later." Replied Carl combing the front portion of his slicked back hair for some relief from the heat.
"Sure."
Hirano still sulking moved on and sat down on a nearby bench next to the pastry shop he had met with his group shortly before. Ren and Carl stayed back and started to stretch. After a while Ren plopped herself on the ground and sat in a pretzel position. Rocking back and forth while holding herself together by grabbing her ankles she clicked her tongue and sighed.
"Carl."
"Yeah…" replied Carl.
"How are we gonna you know…deal with this one?"
"Hmmm…he is a whiner. But we should get a lot for him…we might even get to have a 4 course meal, and our inventory will expand."
"Yeah if the inventory expands then we can get a lot more in the trades don't you think?"
"I guess so, well let's get moving and remember your manners Ren we have a guest with us."
"Yes sir!" said Ren reenacting a standard soldier.