Echos Chapter 1, a ghost hunt fanfic

"Hey, 'Dokes," Ayako laughed easily, peering over her coworker's head at her computer screen. "Whatcha up to?"

Madoka laughed, "How many times have I asked you not to call me that?"

Ayako shrugged, noting that Madoka did not sound upset in the least.

"I'm doing my job, Ayako," Madoka rolled her eyes, but her voice remained good-natured. "Maybe you should try doing the same!"

Laughing, Ayako leaned forward onto Madoka's desk and cradled her head in her hands. She could not help but admire how pretty Madoka was, even with her hair tied back messily and bags under her eyes.

Madoka raised her eyebrows at the woman examining her.

"Is something the matter? I didn't get much sleep so…"

"Madoka," Ayako cut her off. "Would you come with me to grab coffee after work?"

Ayako's question took Madoka by surprise. The woman, who usually could never stop talking, was at a loss for words.

"Look," Ayako stood up taller, bravely meeting Madoka's surprised gaze. "I know you like me."

Madoka laughed again, trying hard to hide her nerves, "I'd love to." Then amended, "As long as you'll let me go home and change first. I really hate being in scrubs outside of work."

Ayako and Madoka were nurses at Shibuya hospital. Both women were working on their doctorates through a medical work program. Ayako's goal was to work in radiology, while Madoka was studying to be able to perform neurosurgery.

"Okay, you want me to pick you up at yours after work then?"

Madoka smiled brightly and Ayako thought her heart might just melt.

"It's a date."

X~X~X

Ayako drummed her fingers nervously against her car's steering wheel. Cars and brake lights as far as she could see. Of course she was stuck in traffic! On her way to pick a cute girl up for coffee and she's stuck in traffic.

The air conditioner was on full blast, blowing cold air in Ayako's face, drying the patches of sweaty skin beneath her hairline and on her upper lip. The summer sun was beating down on the cars, sitting completely still on the highway.

Defeated and tired of listening to horns honking and shouting, she turned the car radio to the local news station, hoping to catch a traffic update. What she heard was not quite what she had expected.

"...This is not a joke. The fights breaking out around the city seem to be between people who have lost all common sense. As far as sources can tell, the city is being attacked by zombies. You heard that right. I repeat: This is not a joke. Stay inside, lock your doors, and await further instruction."

Ayako shook her head, laughing incredulously. As a nurse, she knew that traditional zombies were a medical impossibility. If people truly were 'undead' they could not last longer than a few days before decaying beyond the ability to move.

A loud chime sound came from the car speakers and the live news-caster voice was replaced with a carefully recorded message.

"BREAKING NEWS ALERT! The city is being overrun by abnormal individuals, being described as zombies. So far, more than a hundred lives have been claimed by this unknown force. Please, stay inside, lock your doors and await further instruction."

Ayako struggled to comprehend what she was hearing. This had to be a joke, like, when War of the Worlds aired and caused mass hysteria! This has to be something like that. She changed the station on the radio in search of some shitty pop music.

The message was looped again and Ayako's resolve faded. According to her GPS, she was at the highway exit for Madoka's house. She was trying her best not to panic. Though, she was not sure if she was more alarmed by radio message or the fact that she was two minutes away from a hot girl's house.

Ayako was, in that moment, a hopelessly jittery lesbian in the midst of a supposed zombie invasion.

Blessing all surrounding cars with her middle finger, she maneuvered her car into the exit only lane and managed to fall in line with the traffic trying to get off of the highway. Once she made it onto the access road, she noticed a surprising lack of traffic near the residential areas. It seemed as though everyone was trying to get out of town.

Following her GPS, Ayako turned into Madoka's neighborhood and, finally, to her street. There were a few cars still in driveways and parked in the street, but Ayako saw no one outside or driving. She considered for a moment whether Madoka had already begun evacuating.

Was Madoka the type to ditch a date for the end of the world?

"Oh fuck!" Ayako slammed her brakes, narrowly avoiding hitting a young woman with her car.

The girl appeared normal at first, but Ayako noticed that she did not react at all to almost being hit by a car. She was walking in the middle of the road with no consideration for passing traffic.

It was lucky that Ayako had not been going very fast or she would have hit the girl head-on.

Just as she was about to honk at the girl in frustration, Ayako noticed something strange about the girl's face as she passed. The girl's cheeks were ashen and pale, and even at a distance, Ayako could see blue and purple veins just beneath the surface of her skin.

As Ayako continued down the street as the GPS directed her, she suddenly felt guilty for just passing by the strange girl. What if she had been sick? She looked like she belonged in a hospital bed and not on the streets.

Ayako steeled as she realized. Could that girl have been…?

The destination is on your right.

"Ah!" Ayako pressed hard on the brake, stopping in front of Madoka's house. It was an unassuming building, with an external appearance resembling a cottage. Charming and quaint, it was a relief in comparison to the many cookie cutter houses that filled the subdivisions surrounding the area.

She was shaking like a leaf as she gathered her purse and prepared to get out of the car. On the off chance that this zombie thing was not some elaborate hoax, she was not certain she could safely make it to the door.

"Shit," she cursed, as her shaking hands dropped her keys onto the floor of her car.

She reached down to retrieve them, and when she sat back up she jumped, startled by a face looking at her through the passenger side window.

"Ayako!" Madoka knocked on the glass, her voice was muffled. "You need to come inside!"

Ayako stuffed her keys into her purse and opened the door.

"What is going on?" She nearly ran to Madoka's side once out of the car. "It's like everyone has gone crazy!"

"Didn't you hear the emergency broadcast?"

"Yeah but…" Ayako shook her head in disbelief. "That can't be true, can it? Zombies?"

Madoka began pulling Ayako by the arm toward her front door.

"It seems to be true!"

"But zombies," Ayako pulled her arm away from Madoka's tight grasp before she could get a bruise. "Are a medical impossibility."

Shaking her head, Madoka opened the door to her home and gently pushed Ayako inside. She shut the door behind her and locked the deadbolt.

"In the traditional sense they are," She crossed her arms and leaned back against the door. Ayako blushed, noticing that she was wearing a cute sweater and short pencil skirt. She had dressed for their date after all. "But it could be a drug or virus causing zombie-like behavior…"

"So," Ayako huffed. "Suppose this isn't a hoax, what are we supposed to do?"

Madoka smirked raised an eyebrow, saying nothing as she looked Ayako up and down.

It only took Ayako a moment to get what was being left unsaid.

"Oh!" Ayako blushed profusely at the apparent insinuation. "I don't know I…"

Madoka laughed, "I'm joking, calm down." She pushed past Ayako and into the sitting room. "At the very least, I think we'll have to have our first date in."

Ayako discreetly tried to pat the red from her cheeks as she followed Madoka to the couch. Madoka laughed again, as she sat down and motioned for Ayako to join her. She wordlessly turned on the TV. While Madoka fiddled with the remote Ayako took the opportunity to examine the interior of the house. It was cute how Madoka matched her house, although not an unusual phenomena, Ayako could appreciate that she was now surrounded by things that suited her crush to a tee.

"That's weird…" Madoka scrunched her eyebrows in confusion at the TV. "It must be out."

"Maybe the zombies did it!"

Madoka did not laugh.

"I don't think that's funny."

"Oh, sorry… I just" Ayako shook her head. "There's no way! Right?"

"I don't know why we shouldn't believe it at this point. And even if it's not true… The mass hysteria will be a disaster in itself."

Ayako thought about the highway traffic and seemingly abandoned homes she had seen on the way over. Her mind settled on the sick girl she'd seen in the street.

"Oh my god."

Madoka looked startled by Ayako's suddenly fallen face.

"What is it?"

"On my way over," Ayako felt like she was going to be sick. "I think I might have seen one."

"A zombie?"

Ayako nodded slowly. That would explain why the girl had not reacted to almost being hit by a car, why she had looked sickly.

"It was a girl," Ayako explained. "She had to be about sixteen… No more than eighteen."

Madoka seemed to be overcome by the sudden reality of the situation and lunged forward to pull Ayako into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry," she squeezed Ayako's arm gently. "That's terrible."

"This can't be real," Ayako whimpered, pressing her face into Madoka's shoulder. "I can't believe this."

"It's alright." Madoka took the opportunity to place a gentle kiss on Ayako's temple. "We can stay here until help comes. I just bought groceries yesterday!"

Ayako pulled away and examined Madoka. She was not entirely convinced of this plan.

"And," Madoka attempted to joke, "I still don't think this is the worst first date I've been on."

"Oh my god, 'Dokes," Ayako let out a gasping breath. "You're terrible."

Madoka shrugged. The overhead light in the living room gave her hair a soft glow, almost like a crown.

"And since the world may or may not be ending soon, I really want to kiss you."

Madoka shrugged again.

Seeing no protest, Ayako leaned in closer. Madoka quickly responded, closing the remaining distance between them. Ayako's stomach bubbled with excitement of kissing her long-time crush. The kiss made her want to ignore everything that seemed to be going on in the world. If she could just kiss Madoka forever…

"Do you really think we can stay here until help comes?" Ayako asked, gently pulling away and suddenly feeling worry wash away the joy of kissing Madoka for the first time.

"I have enough food to last a month or more if we ration. And I have some boards in the shed we could reinforce the doors."

"This is crazy."

"You are more than welcome to go somewhere else if you think you'll have a better chance."

Ayako shook her head, considering.

"The traffic is terrible, and if this virus — or whatever it is — is contagious it's probably best not to be around large crowds, right?"

"Right."

"So just the two of us, then?"

"I think we'll make a good team, Ayako." Madoka smiled, making Ayako's poor heart do a flip.

"Let's get the doors secured, then!" Ayako stood up. "We can do this." Though, that last statement was more a reassurance to herself than anything else.

Together, the two women set to work getting the wood planks from Madoka's garden shed and taking them inside. They gathered nails and hammers and, as an afterthought they decided to bring in all of Madoka's gardening tools as well. This was just in case they needed to defend themselves.

Ayako supposed she could take someone down with a shovel or a spade if she had to.

As they brought the last of the things in, Madoka paused, staring down at her flower beds. They were filled with perfect clusters of multi-colored flowers. Ayako could tell how well the plants were cared for at a glance.

"I'll hate to watch them die."

Ayako rested a hand on Madoka's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"Maybe they won't, maybe it will rain."

"Maybe."

X~X~X

Days passed and time slowed to a frustratingly creeping pace. The two women filled some of their time talking and laughing, pretending they were young and in love and full of hope for a future. Some of that was true. They very much wanted that reality.

They had pushed Madoka's bed to the living room so that they could better keep watch at night and they slept often in shifts.

Though they did not see any of the sick people for long periods of time, and Ayako was guilty of watching Madoka sleep more often than she was keeping watch, there were enough sightings to scare them. They also were afraid of missing out on potential rescuers by not paying attention.

Ayako refused to call the infected people zombies. Instead, she called them 'sick' or 'infected'. She reasoned that sickness could be cured, zombies were already dead.

All the time spent with Madoka made her want desperately for the world to be cured.

On the third week of being locked in Madoka's house, their electricity finally went out.

"Honestly," Ayako said. "I'm surprised it lasted that long."

She hated to think of the people who had been running the electrical plant. Had they been sacrificing themselves to keep the power on? Had they been overrun in the end?

Ayako shuddered, and decided not to think on it any longer.

Madoka stood in the dark kitchen, surveying the contents of the open fridge. It had been early morning when the electricity went out, and Madoka was still dressed in her pink pajama bottoms and lacy white bra. Ayako knew that she should focus on the electricity crisis at hand, but she could not keep herself from admiring how pretty Madoka's smooth shoulders were.

"We'll have to eat all of this in the next day or so," Madoka placed her hands on her hips as she studied the remaining perishable foods. "But it's not much, anyways."

Ayako could tell that Madoka was worried about running out of food. Almost a month had passed without any sign of help.

"Do you really think anyone will come?"

Madoka's jaw quivered as she attempted a care-free grin.

"Of course."

"And what if they don't?"

Madoka shut the fridge door, with more force than strictly necessary.

Ayako watched as Madoka left the kitchen and went to sit in front of the front window. She had closed the blinds so that no one could see in, but left them just open enough to allow her to see outside. Silently, the woman watched the street before her, hoping for some sign of life.

"Madoka," Ayako frowned. "I'm just being realistic."

Tears spilled onto Madoka's cheeks, but she made no effort to wipe them.

"I know."

X~X~X

Despite her skepticism, Ayako did her best to help their situation. She had the idea to put a sign in the front window, so that if people came by, they would know to look for living people.

The sign read:

HELP

WE ARE ALIVE

She almost put something about how they were low on rations, but thought better of it. It was likely that a group in this situation would decide to pass them by if they knew they were useless.

Before hanging the sign, she added:

WE ARE DOCTORS

This made her feel as though she was filling out some sort of strange application. An appeal for some person, group, or force to grant her a chance at survival.

Ayako traced the letters with a finger as she thought about the chances of someone seeing her pathetic sign.

She thought: Maybe a group of kind people will find them.

ARE

She thought: Maybe Madoka is right.

ALIVE

She thought: At least I am alive.

X~X~X

One month and eight days after what Madoka and Ayako now referred to as 'The Worst First Date of All Time', they ran out of food.

They also stopped sleeping in shifts.

Ayako reasoned that they were going to die of starvation anyways, so they might as well spend their last days with someone to sleep next to.

The women tried very hard to ignore the fact that they were sleeping on the living room floor surrounded by gardening tools and empty bottles of water.

This was where they awoke, just before dawn, to the sound of someone banging on the door.

At first, they thought that it had to be one of the infected, but then they heard a voice.

"Hey!" A man called. "Are you still alive in there? I can break down the door if I have to!"

Panic and excitement flooded through Ayako as she jumped up from the floor.

"Yes!" She almost felt like jumping up and down for joy, and her voice was the loudest it had probably ever been as she called back. "We're here!"

Despite everything, she heard the man laugh.

"Then open up!" He said, laughter bubbling from his throat.

Ayako and Madoka quickly dressed and set to work pulling nails from the boarded up door.

"We have the door nailed shut, but we can get it open!"

Ayako heard the man say something to someone else before calling back.

"Okay, no rush!"

Madoka nearly squealed, "He's with a group!"

As they prepared to pull the last plank off of the door, Madoka paused and pressed a kiss to Ayako's cheek.

"What was that for?"

"I told you so."

When they finally opened the door, Ayako and Madoka were greeted by a small group of strangers.

A tall man, who they presumed was the voice they had heard at the door, stepped forward to introduce himself.

"I'm Captain Houshou Takigawa," he said, smiling. "But you can call me Monk."

"Captain?" Ayako raised an eyebrow. "You're a seaman?"

"Firefighter."

"Ah."

Monk wore a charming lopsided grin on his face, despite the fact that his green flannel was stained with blood. He had a rifle slung over his shoulder, and for some reason he was wearing a turquoise bolo tie.

"Good luck," he said.

Ayako frowned.

"Excuse me?"

"The bolo tie, I wear it for luck."

"Oh."

From the group, a slightly shorter and more slender man stepped forward, interrupting Monk before he could continue speaking about his bolo tie.

"I'm Oliver Davis," he said. "And I would love to continue the introduction circle from a safer location." Without another word, he turned away and the rest of the group followed.

hi wow I've been gone from the face of the earth for 200 years

I've debated for a long time over whether or not to post this but, like, i gotta at this point.

mind if i share some life updates, though? because? I got a new grown up job in a new city and I'm a whole adult! also, my brother was finally adopted the other day, so I have three whole brothers now! he is precious and I love him.

anYways, please review this fic please I worked vv hard on thanKs

Bee