A/N: Marshal Zhukov here to present a new tale of our Favorite High School of the DEAD characters. This fiction was done using just the canon cast, no OCs were harmed or killed in the making of this story. The State wishes to thank Draco38 and jm1681 for their tireless help in editing and suggestions. One final note, the State and MarshalZhukov make no claims of ownership to the characters or settings within. All that belongs to The Sato Brothers who well deserve our praise and our money.
"Neh, Takashi onii-chan," Alice whispered. "I'm thirsty."
"Soon, kiddo," Takashi lied. "Soon."
Kohta eyed Takashi as he resumed his post at the front door. Saeko had taken the rear door while Rei stood watch over Shizuka-sensei, Saya, and Alice in the kitchen. Zeke wandered about, aimlessly growling, drawing the attentions of Them to the makeshift compound the group currently occupied. The plumbing had failed a week ago and forced the group to carry water rations on them, burdening them even further. Shizuka-sensei and Saya had carefully rationed all the drinks left in the house, but that was running dangerously low. Soon, the only thing to drink would be hard alcohol, and though it would numb their pain, it would dehydrate them further.
"How are we looking?" Takashi whispered to his companions as he made his rounds.
Saeko smiled demurely, but she knew it wouldn't be long before one of Them forced open the gate. The wrought iron fencing that made up the gates was pretty to look at, but everyone agreed it would not hold against a sustained push. Despite reinforcing in the form of several planks, it was only a matter of time.
Saeko stood to one side and shook her head sadly at Takashi. Nearly a month had gone by and everything and everyone they knew was gone forever. Rei finally broke one night after witnessing her father's corpse shambling down the street. It was Saeko who had to dispatch him. The only thing saving the remainder of Rei's tenuous grasp on reality was her mother, Kiriko, rescued three weeks earlier during the last spring rain. She had volunteered to stand watch near the front gate where her yari would work to the greatest effect.
The weather, curiously, remained cool. Saya explained that, possibly, the nuke detonated at the start of the End may have had something to do with it. Looking back, she reminded the group of the after effects of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Either way, it had not rained for several weeks, and the group worried about their water supplies.
"If it doesn't rain soon…"Kohta needlessly reminded Takashi in a whisper.
Takashi responded with a comforting clasp to the shoulder. Emboldened, Kohta resumed his watch through the entrance window.
Night fell, and the group retreated to the upstairs. The stairs themselves had been torn up the second day the group occupied the house; its planking used to fortify any weak points in the fence that surrounded the yard. A ladder had taken their place and was pulled up to deny Them access to the second floor, offering a modicum of safety. All supplies were kept in a single bedroom.
Shizuka-sensei checked the dangerously low master bathtub. The group had filled it and every basin in the house when they arrived just before the water stopped running. The kitchen sink was first to empty, followed by the wet bar and then the downstairs guest sink. Now the upstairs sinks were empty, leaving the master bath and children's bath. That first night following the water stoppage, it was agreed that once the master bath had been drained, leaving the children's, it was time to move on.
The only question was, where?
The group could only assume that the rest of the country was as bad off if not worse. The rest of the world ceased to exist as far as anyone was concerned. There had been talk of getting to the countryside, settling in at some remote mountain shrine. Trouble was, no one knew exactly where something like that was. Kohta was the only one even remotely trained to deal with outdoor survival, and even that was limited to one or two nights in a tent with bivvy sacks. The rest of the group were about as urbanized as anyone could be.
"Either way," Saya made no pains to remind everyone. "Our food is running low and we are almost out of water. We have to get something and soon, else…"
The thought died in the air. Alice alone looked positive as everyone else let their faces fall slightly.
"Are there any convenience stores?" Shizuka-sensei asked hopefully.
"If there are, they would have been ransacked long ago," Saya replied sadly. "But, it wouldn't hurt to give it a look see."
The idea floated about for some time before Saya once again took command of the discussion. ""Alright, then. First light, we head out."
Seeing no one disagree, per se, Saya declared the motion carried.
That night, as Takashi lay awake, he thought back to the cycle of events that led the group to this particular house.
Things had been progressing as well as could be expected, given the Zombie Apocalypse going on around them. The rag tag band of high school students and their nurse had come together as a cohesive whole; each member brought a much needed strength to support the others.
Rei had been the first, albeit unwilling, member. Though she was temperamental and unwilling to accept that the world she knew was gone, her skills with the spear and unfailing optimism kept the group going from house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood. Takashi knew she thought of Hisashi once in a while, but he chose to let it go.
Saeko proved to be invaluable with her swordsmanship and cool pragmatism. If she had chosen not to come along... Takashi shuddered to think how many times death had been thwarted at the taste of her steel. That she had rescued and accompanied Shizuka-sensei through the initial Outbreak attested to her character as well.
Takashi had to smirk at the thought of Shizuka-sensei. How a woman like her survived to adulthood amused him to no end. Though she seemed clueless and absent-minded, her skills with medicine and behind the wheel were beyond reproach in Takashi's mind. Had she not been there, the group would most likely have perished at the school that first afternoon. She had become the mother figure, the caretaker. It was to Shizuka-sensei that everyone turned to tend their cuts and scrapes.
Eventually, Takashi's mind drifted to his childhood friend Saya. True she could be bossy and overbearing, especially when it came to reminding everyone she was a genius; a fact she made certain everyone understood at least once a day. At the same time, her intellect had saved them countless times and allowed the group to make do with what was available. Her talent at improvisation was a thing of wonder to behold.
Speaking of improvisation, that Kohta was able to MacGyver a nail gun into a mini carbine and keep Saya safe brought comfort to Takashi's troubled mind. The marksman, the go-to-guy for anything related to firearms, the man Saya was secretly in love with. The man who would die to see her and Alice safe.
And Alice, the last ray of sunshine in an increasingly darker and exponentially more dangerous world. She was the one who kept Takashi human. Had he not chosen to risk his life to save her when her father had been killed, Takashi most certainly would have become a monster himself, little better than the mindless eating machines that surrounded them even now.
It had been a routine sweep and clear, as Kohta liked to call it, rather to Saya's consternation. Food was running low and everyone was tired. That the group had run into stiff resistance from Them every step of the way for the previous three days meant everyone was exhausted. Kiriko Miyamoto suggested they hole up for few days to recuperate; a suggestion no one objected to. The house itself was a modest and unremarkable post-war two storey with a high block wall surrounding it. The only drawbacks were the two wrought iron gates that would need serious reinforcing.
The yard was empty, none of Them and no other survivors. One less obstacle to clear. The house itself, by the grace of the Heavens, also turned out to be empty. To be safe, Takashi and Rei had gone in to check while Saeko, Kiriko and Kohta stood watch in the yard. The house was declared clear and everyone moved inside as the sun set to the west.
The stairs leading to the second floor were blocked with the living room sofa and still no one slept well that night.
The next morning, everyone's worst fears had come to pass. They had followed the group. The compound surrounded, everyone acted quickly. The pry bar taken from the school all those weeks - a lifetime - ago was pressed into service tearing up the stairs to provide the planks needed to reinforce the gates. Saya located a ladder in the side yard and moved it inside to replace the stairs.
All the activity and noise brought more of Them into the neighborhood. Kiriko and Rei stood to each gate and kept Them at bay with their respective weapons while the boys set to their work.
Inside the house, the women set to work filling every available receptacle with water. Saya had reasoned that with the power failure it was perfectly logical to assume the water pressure would fail at some point.
And well for it to. No sooner had the last sink been filled that the water slowed to a trickle and finally nothing.
A week of nothing.
Surrounded on all sides, and everyone on edge, waiting for the inevitable. They would either die of thirst or at Their hands. Saya's suggestion of a breakout into the open was jumped at without hesitation. At the very least, the group would have some room to maneuver, instead of waiting to die trapped like rats.
Takashi fell into a fitful sleep while Rei and Saeko lay to either side, their dreams also troubled.
Morning dawned cool and overcast. Everyone secretly prayed this would mean rain. Peeking through the windows, Takashi noticed the horde outside had thinned noticeably during the night. Something had caused Them to move on. Good news.
"Okay everyone," Takashi began the morning briefing in the master bedroom. "They seem to have moved on for the most part. There are a few stragglers, but we can get around them easily enough."
"Are we leaving then?" Rei asked hopefully.
Takashi nodded. "Fill every water bottle we can carry and take whatever food is left."
"I want to check everyone's weapon before we go," Kohta volunteered. "The last thing we need is a jam during combat."
Saya, most uncharacteristically, smiled at the gun otaku. She produced her Luger, dropped the magazine and cleared the breech, just as Kohta had shown her. The weapon safe, she handed it over to Kohta.
"Be careful with it," she said softly. "That was a gift from my mother. I would hate for anything to happen to it."
"Y-Yes ma'am," Kohta stuttered at the rare showing of affection. He reverently placed the weapon before him and carefully disassembled it.
Takashi and Saeko smiled at the display before them. Rei and her mother had since disappeared down the ladder to gather the rest of the food stocks. Alice helped Shizuka-sensei collect whatever useful first-aid items might still be left in the house.
Gathering on the front lawn, Takashi made a final check through the gate. The last of Alice's fire crackers were timed to go off at the back gate, hopefully causing the rest of Them to investigate.
The sequence of loud pops had their desired effect. Counting ten, Takashi carefully pried the planking from the front gate and led the group back onto the street.
Out in the open, everyone assumed their respective positions. Rei and Kiriko took point, as their weapons had the greatest reach. Takashi and Saeko surrounded Saya, Shizuka-sensei, and Alice, while Kohta took the van.
They managed to reach a convenience store a few blocks west. As everyone had feared, the place had been looted long ago. Anything edible left had long passed its expiration date. A few candy bars and jars of baby food were added to the group's already meager supplies.
"Let's go," Takashi suggested sadly. "We should be near the outskirts of town by now."
The group surveyed the comparatively open area between them and the hills beyond. Parks and small farms dotted the landscape. Only one last obstacle lay between them and open country.
"There is still one large residential neighborhood between us and the countryside," Saya pointed out. "It will be just as dangerous as the one we left."
"Can we go around it?" Saeko suggested.
"We could, but that would take more time," Shizuka wisely pointed out.
"And fighting our way through all of Them would take less?" Saya responded half sarcastically.
Chastened, Shizuka turned her attentions to Alice. Takashi gently nudged Saya and shook his head.
"Either way, we shouldn't be out in the streets much longer," Saeko cautioned. "Our chances of attack grow with each passing second."
Kohta peered over the sights of his rifle, "Busujima-sempai is right."
The group turned to look in the direction Kohta called out. Sure enough, the horde of Them thought to be left behind were making their inexorable way toward the group. To add insult to injury, it seemed to grow as They approached.
The group quickly descended the hill they stood upon. This bit of neighborhood could be cleared in minutes if their luck held. From there, they would decide whether to bypass the last residential area and turn south, or press their luck and continue west, raiding houses as they went.
Zeke barked up a storm, but it was too late. The group was quickly surrounded as the Dead swarmed from every angle. Saya concluded that this must be where the last living survivors had gathered before finally succumbing. Saeko swooped into the horde like an Angel of Death, her steel singing. Kiriko and Rei stood back to back and lunged, stabbed, and swept at everything before them.
A shriek of horror went up. Kohta spared a glance to see the only woman he ever loved attacked and mauled. He waded into the twisting pile of bodies, his fighting knife slashing without regard. He managed to clear away those who had dared harm his love. She looked up to his face, eyes filled with a mixture of pain, love and sadness. It tore at Kohta to hear her last words.
"Please, *cough* Kohta-kun. Don't let me -"
He cut her short as he plunged his knife deep into her chest, stopping her heart before she could turn. His last act of humanity spent, he screamed to the uncaring sky. Standing, he turned to the mob that had reformed and charged into them. His life had no more meaning with Saya gone.
Takashi watched in horror as Shizuka-sensei found herself backed into a corner, surrounded on all sides. He couldn't get to her fast enough as They tore her limb from limb. By the time They finished, there was not enough left to rise again.
"Alice!" Kohta and Saeko roared together. Takashi pounded at the corpses that had surrounded her. Kohta blasted away while everyone wailed the cries of the damned. Alice had been taken. No one saw the corpse as it blind-sided the group around a high wall. Takashi killed Alice quickly with his last shotgun shell, taking off the head of her erstwhile attacker.
Kiriko and Rei fought valiantly until, one-by-one, each felt the touch of death tearing through their flesh. Rei bade a tearful farewell to her mother. They hugged for eternal seconds before Rei broke away, sat on the pavement and swallowed the barrel of her M1A.
Kohta dispatched as many as he could before his strength left him. He fell to his knees and clutched Saya's now cold body to him, crying unreservedly and ignoring the gaping wound in his flank. He looked up to see Saeko, ever calm and collected, standing above him. She held her Murata to the ready.
"Brave Second Year," she quavered. "T-Tell me your name."
"Hi-Hirano Kohta, Sempai," he sobbed.
"Do you wish to die human, Hirano-san?" she choked back her tears.
"To be with Saya-chan in the next life, I do."
"Are you prepared?"
"I-I am."
Kohta closed his eyes and a look of peace crossed his face. A slight breeze wafted against his face as Saeko's steel whistled through the air. The last stroke brought Saeko's attention to the wound she heretofore ignored.
Blood running from the bite on her shoulder, she turned to Takashi and said her last words, "I love you." He screamed in protest as she thrust the sword up through her brain, a serene smile on her lips.
Takashi turned to Kiriko, the only one left. She staggered a little as she came to him, the bite on her leg spewing blood.
The undead began to close the circle around them.
Taking her into his arms, he lay his head on her chest and cried, "Mama? Make it stop, mama. Please God, make it stop."
He never felt the cold steel barrel of the pistol on his temple.
A/N: to those who have Favorited or left reviews, I apologize. I was alerted to some glaring mistakes the Collective had somehow managed to overlook. Appropriate punishments have been dealt out.