HOTD: New World: Shanghai
Faced with a mighty peril, the group must learn to fight with their hearts.
[Author's Note: This story follows the story HOTD: New World: Tangshan. It is eighteen years after the Outbreak. The people involved are Nozomi Hirano (daughter of Saya Takagi and Kohta Hirano), Rise Komuro (son of Takashi Komuro and Saeko Busujima, adopted and raised by Rei Miyamato and Benaro Tatagi), Hotaru Tatagi (daughter of Rei Miyamato and Benaro Tatagi), Kazuki Marikawa (son of Shizuka Marikawa) and Kemi Tioba (daughter of Reika Arimake and Naoki Tioba). The coda of this story links to the story Departures, the final story in the collection HOTD: New World.]
" … Kaz is the pretty one, I'm the smart one, Hotaru is the tough one, Rise is the funny one, and Nozomi is the boss," Kemi was saying.
"I want to be the funny one," said Hotaru.
"When you say funny, do you mean humourous or peculiar?" said Rise.
"Peculiar," said Kemi.
"Why do I have to be the pretty one?" said Kazuki.
"Well, duh," said Rise.
"Shut up and crawl," said Nozomi.
They were crawling to the top of a hill, staying below the horizon line. They reached the top and carefully peeped over. Nozomi put the binoculars to her eyes.
"Holy shit," said Rise.
"You should see it close up," said Nozomi. She passed the binoculars around.
"What was the name of this city again, Kemi?" said Kazuki.
"Shanghai," said Kemi. "Big, even by Chinese standards. Former population 23 million."
"I would say that they are now all zombies, and we are looking at them," said Rise.
"According to this map, this is just one of the outlying areas," said Nozomi. The binoculars had come back to her, and she was scanning the parts of the city further away. "Maybe they're not all zombies," she said. "Look over there, on the other side of the river, near that bridge. That wall. That's a survivor settlement, I think. A fairly large one."
"No way we can make it through the city from this side to get to them," said Hotaru.
"Perhaps we don't have to," said Nozomi. "We should be able to take the Archangel right up the river. You see that landing, just before that trestle bridge? And there's a path that goes up to the settlement. Kemi, what do you know about that river?"
Kemi studied her book for a while. Then she said: "That's the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtse, which is the big river we came up, from the coast. About four metres deep in the middle, according to this. Plenty deep enough for our boat."
Kazuki was studying the scene through the binoculars. "That's the last bridge standing," he said. "And it doesn't go all the way across. There a gap on this side. But it didn't just fall, it looks like it was blown up. There's a heap of zombies doing something there. Can't see what."
"So the zombies have the north side and the survivors are over there, on the south side," said Rise. "Sounds like an interesting story."
"But a story with an awful lot of zombies," said Kemi. "I've never seen so many."
Nozomi was silent for a while. Then she said: "Let's go and see if Kemi's Chinese is enough to talk with whoever is in that settlement."
They were on the Archangel, heading along the Huangpu River. The settlement was a kilometre away.
Nozomi was scanning the zombie side of the river with the binoculars. There was the sound of occasional shooting.
"There!" she said. "Survivors!"
A group of four burst from the built-up area, running for the river. There was a huge troop of zombies, perhaps a hundred, after them. And gaining.
Rise, at the wheel, was already turning the boat towards the shore, towards the point where the survivors would reach the water.
"They haven't seen us," said Nozomi. "Hotaru, put up a flare. Kazuki, the 50-cal. Kemi, get on the side and see if you can tell when it's getting shallow."
Hotaru pulled the flare gun out of her boot and fired. The survivors saw it, and changed course towards them.
"I don't think they're going to make it," said Nozomi. "Kaz, are they in range of your big gun yet?"
"Not quite," said Kazuki, his eye on the sight.
"They're in mine," said Hotaru. She lifted the sniper rifle, aimed, and fired. The zombie leading the pack went down. Then the second did.
"Getting shallow and rocky!" called Kemi. "We're not going to be able to get right to the edge! If we get stuck we're screwed!"
Rise brought the Archangel to a stop, the engine idling. "Come on!" he shouted to the survivors, running to the edge of the deck. "Come on!"
The survivor at the back of the group turned, lifted his gun, and fired. Several zombies went down but then a dozen more were on him. The rest continued to pursue the other survivors.
"Rock it," said Kazuki.
Boomboomboomboom.
The heavy bullets cut into the zombie pack, chewing a half-dozen of them to pieces. But the rest kept coming.
The two survivors in the lead waded into the water and then struck out for the boat. The one in the rear, a young woman, reached the shallows but was pulled down by a zombie. Then the zombie fell back, dead, a bullet from Hotaru's rifle in its skull. But two more were almost on the woman.
And then Rise reared up from the water, swinging his sword. The first went down, decapitated, then the second.
Another wave of zombies was coming towards them, down the bank, but Kazuki's fire drove them back.
Rise pulled the woman to her feet and they began to swim for the boat. They made it, and Nozomi and the others helped them aboard.
Hotaru was scanning the bank, and the troop of zombies, with the telescopic sight of her rifle. She saw, some distance away, a zombie standing. It had once been a woman, and it was wearing a bright blue shirt. It had not taken part in the attack. It was watching. Watching them.
Hotaru adjusted her sight. The zombie was a little too far away for an effective shot. She fired anyway. The bullet hit the ground three metres from the zombie. The zombie looked at the place where it had struck. Then at Hotaru.
Almost as if she knew she was just out of range, thought Hotaru.
As Hotaru watched, a trio of zombies dragged something towards the one in the blue shirt. It was the survivor that they had taken down first. He was still alive.
The zombie was still staring at Hotaru. Then, slowly, she leaned forward and bit the man. Tore his throat out. Then she looked again at Hotaru. She wiped blood and flesh from her mouth. She appeared to give a grimacing smile.
"Fuck you too," said Hotaru softly.
People from the settlement were waiting for them at the landing, and they gave a ragged cheer as the group and the three they had rescued stepped off the Archangel.
"Guess they don't get too many victories around here," said Nozomi to the others. "Even small ones."
A man came forward and clapped her on the shoulder. He was perhaps only thirty but there were grey streaks in his hair. He started to speak in Chinese but Nozomi held up her hand. She called Kemi to them to translate, and then gestured for the man to start again.
"Basically, thanks and welcome, I think," said Kemi.
"Tell him no worries," said Nozomi.
"Hey!" said Rise, who was still dripping wet.
"Almost no worries," said Nozomi.
Kemi translated, and the man replied. "He's Cheng, and he's the leader here, if you didn't guess that," she said.
The man laughed and led them up the path to the settlement.
The woman that Rise had rescued pulled Kemi aside, and over to Rise. She spoke to her in Chinese for translation.
"She says thank you," said Kemi. "As far as I can tell. Her name is Lian."
Kemi spoke to Lian. Lian laughed, and walked away.
"What did you say?" said Rise.
"That your name is Rise and you're an asshole," said Kemi.
"Oh, thank you very much for that," said Rise.
They came to the main gate of the settlement. Kemi, who had been reading her books, said: "If I have this right, this is a section of Shanghai called the Old Town. The original part of the city. The wall was built in 1554 – at that time it encircled the whole city. To protect the place from Japanese pirates sailing up the river, apparently."
"A certain irony in that," said Hotaru.
The wall was not, in fact, particularly secure. In places, it was broken and falling apart, and the gate did not look as if it would do much to keep out a determined zombie attack.
Nozomi looked back. The south end of the bridge was a hundred metres from the gate, with open ground between them. At the north end of the bridge, as Kazuki had seen, there was a gap – about twenty metres. But all the wreckage had been cleared away. The bridge itself was about fifteen metres wide.
Further back in the city, on the side controlled by the zombies, Nozomi could see zombies going backwards and forwards, with a remarkable – for zombies – sense of purpose.
"Busy little bees," she muttered to herself.
They were sitting at an elaborate dinner table, with Cheng and several of his senior officers. There was also Lian and another of the people they had rescued, Bao. Kemi had been speaking to him for a while, trying to translate. Very often, she had to check her dictionary to find a word or phrase, but Nozomi and the others thought that, all things considered, she was doing pretty well in her role as intermediary.
"Bao is a military engineer," she said to the others. "A specialist in explosives. He was part of an army unit that joined up with the people who lived here immediately after the Outbreak. Bao was the guy who blew the hole in the bridge out there. That was five years ago."
"He should have blown the whole thing," said Hotaru.
"That's what I told him," said Kemi. "He says that that was all the explosives they had."
"How many people are here?" said Nozomi.
Kemi went back and forwards with Cheng. "About four hundred," she said. "Two hundred and seventy fighters."
At that moment, several attendants brought in a massive plate of rice, vegetables and chicken.
"Wow, that smells great!" said Rise, picking up his chopsticks. "They must have plenty of food, anyway."
Lian, next to him, said something.
"Actually, they've been on half rations for over two years," said Kemi. "This is just because we're guests."
The five of them looked at each other. Rise put down his chopsticks.
"We will eat what they eat," said Nozomi. "Same thing, same amount."
Kemi translated. Cheng looked at them in surprise. He started to speak.
Nozomi held up her hand. "Tell him I do not understand Chinese, so there is no point in further discussing it," she said. Kemi did.
Cheng's face broke into a smile. He gestured for the attendants to take the plate away. A few minutes later, they returned with a small bowl of rice for each of them.
As they ate, Cheng asked them about what they had found on their travels. Kemi spread one of her maps over the table, and Nozomi traced their journey along the coast, explaining about the survivors in the towns, villages, and homesteads they had found between Tangshan and Shanghai. It was about five hundred people in total.
Nozomi asked him about the settlement he led.
Kemi translated: "There were many battles in the first few years. Most people in Shanghai were killed or turned, and those who were left retreated here. It was a good defensive position, with the river and the wall and only one bridge, and after a few years the zombies seemed to stop trying. The survivors were even able to go to the north side to get supplies. Then, about six years ago, the people saw one zombie who seemed to be a leader. She had a blue shirt. In fact, they call her Blue. They see her and a couple of others on the roof of a particular building sometimes. Standing and staring. Like she's watching them."
"Ah," said Hotaru. "Her."
"Well, it sounds as if she changed everything. The zombies started attacking again, tougher and more organised. They came pretty close to getting into the settlement a couple of times. That's when Bao and his engineers blew the bridge. What they could, anyway. It stopped the zombie attacks. But the survivors can't get into the north side, either. They have some little boats and can sneak across a few at a time but that's all."
"What were Lian and Bao and the others doing outside the wall?" said Rise.
Kemi spoke to Bao for a while, then said: "They were on a scouting mission, trying to find out what the zombies are doing over there. But they were seen and had to make a run for it. That's where we came in."
Nozomi nodded. "The zombies are certainly keeping themselves busy," she said.
"Whatever it is, they've been doing it for four years, apparently," said Kemi.
"Four years!" said Rise. "Hell, you almost have to admire them. They always play a long game."
"They have nothing but time," said Hotaru.
"A question," said Kazuki. "Why haven't Cheng and his people just retreated to the south? Leave Shanghai to the zombies. It might be safer."
Kemi asked. The Chinese around the table looked at each other. Cheng answered.
"This is their home," said Kemi. "They won't be chased out of it."
"Yeah, I can get that," said Kazuki.
After dinner, Cheng showed them around the camp. The story of the rescue of Bao and the others had gone, and everyone they saw greeted them with a smile, shaking their hands or slapping them on the back.
It was not a bad place to live, Nozomi thought, but there was an atmosphere of hanging-on. No electricity, no vehicles, no horses, a minimum of food. A sense of being under pressure.
They reached the shed that the survivors were using as an armoury. There wasn't much there: mainly old rifles and a few pistols. But there were some boxes of ammunition. Hotaru pulled out her Makarovs and asked Cheng if there were any bullets suitable for them. Cheng shook his head.
"But there is this," said Kazuki, looking at a pile of boxes. "Bullets for a 50-cal, like we have on the boat. They don't have a gun of that size, I guess, so they just haven't been used."
Lian had disappeared, but now returned, carrying something wrapped in a cloth. She took Rise by the arm and guided him away from the others. She took him up to a battlement on the wall, and they sat down on a little bench. She gestured that she wanted to see his sword, and he handed it to her. She took it from the sheath and looked at it.
"Samurai," she said. Rise nodded.
She handed it back to him and began to unwrap what she had been carrying. It was a Chinese sword, broad and heavy. She handed it to him. He felt the weight and the balance, very different to the Anishi blade but, he felt, likely to be an extremely effective weapon.
"Dao," she said, pointing at her sword. She took it from him and showed him a series of practice moves. Clearly, she knew what she was doing with it. He smiled appreciatively at her.
She smiled back. For the first time, he realised that she had put her hair back with a red comb.
She sheathed the dao sword and sat down again. They looked up at the stars. After a while, he put his hand on hers. She looked at him, and smiled.
Part II
Nozomi was awoken by someone shaking her gently. It was, she realised, one of Cheng's assistants. The woman was gesturing for her to come.
"A moment," said Nozomi. She got out of bed – they were in the room that they had been allocated by Cheng – and shook Kemi awake.
"You're needed," said Nozomi.
"But my brain is still hurting from last night!" protested Kemi. "I had nightmares in two languages!" Nevertheless, she started to get out of bed.
Nozomi was waking Hotaru and Kazuki.
"Where's … uh … what's-his-name?" said Kemi.
"Haven't seen him since Lian dragged him away," said Hotaru.
"Oh," said Kemi.
The assistant led them to the battlement above the gate. The sun had just risen. Cheng and Bao were there, with several other Chinese. So were Rise and Lian. Cheng had an old-fashioned extendable telescope. He pointed across the river.
Nozomi put her binoculars to her eyes.
"What the fuck is that?" she said.
On the other side of the river, the zombies were slowly hauling something towards the gap in the bridge. It was a large platform, made of planks, girders, and metal sheets, lashed together with cables and wires. It was being dragged forward an inch at a time.
Suddenly, Nozomi realised what it was for.
"They're going to put it over the gap," she said. "And then there'll be no stopping them."
Bao said something.
Kemi translated: "Seven hours. More or less."
Nozomi nodded.
Cheng pointed again, to the roof of a building, about seven stories, on the zombie side. Nozomi looked as he indicated. Then she handed the binoculars to Hotaru.
"Blue," said Hotaru.
Cheng led them to his office.
"We have to destroy that bridge," said Nozomi.
"No explosives," said Rise.
Bao spoke. Kemi said: "He says that he saw something on a scouting trip a few months ago that might help. They found a Chinese navy ship beached on a sandbar, a few kilometres south of the delta. Abandoned but equipped, apparently. There were … uh, I think he means cannon shells. He thinks that if we can retrieve some and attach them to the trestles of the bridge and find a way to set them off it should be enough to bring it down. They didn't have a way to transport them before."
"The Archangel," said Nozomi. "We can use that to get as many shells as possible."
"Or," said Rise, "we can simply get onto the boat and keep on going to the coast."
"Turn left and straight on until we hit the Korean Peninsula," said Hotaru.
"A day's sailing to cross the Sea of Japan, back home in time to see the cherry blossoms," said Kazuki.
"Easy peasy Japanesey," said Kemi.
They all looked at each other.
"Rise, you and Kazuki and Hotaru should stay here and help with the defence however you can," said Nozomi.
"I have an idea about that," said Kazuki.
"I have an idea too," said Hotaru. "Blue."
"Uh, you know that she is in the middle of a city infested with zombies, right?" said Kemi.
"I do," said Hotaru.
"Okay, just checking," said Kemi.
"Kemi, you and I will take the Archangel to the coast, with Bao and a couple of strong Chinese guys," said Nozomi. "I'll need you to translate things, most likely."
Kemi nodded.
"Okay, the clock is ticking so let's move," said Nozomi. "Kemi, translate this for Cheng and Bao."
Kazuki was already leaving, taking several Chinese men with him.
While Kemi was doing her best to make their intentions clear to Cheng, Rise came up to Nozomi. "It's three hours to the coast, at least another hour to get to the ship and transfer the shells, three hours back," he said. "Bao said seven hours for the zombies to get their platform in place. I don't think they take coffee breaks. Going to be close."
"Then all the more reason," said Nozomi, "to get going right away."
Cheng, Bao and Kemi came up to them.
"What does Cheng think?" said Nozomi.
"I believe his views translate to, well, we are fucking crazy," said Kemi.
"Yes, I think that sums it up," said Rise.
"He also says," said Kemi, "that he will be proud to fight alongside us."
Cheng looked at them. He nodded.
The five of them were standing on the landing where the Archangel was moored. The plan was to stop at a little jetty on the northern side, a kilometre downriver from the city. Hotaru would get off and make her way into the city on foot.
"Somehow, wishing you good luck just doesn't seem to be enough," said Kazuki to her.
"Better than nothing," said Hotaru.
"Then good luck," said Kazuki.
Nozomi and Kemi got onto the boat; Bao and the other Chinese were already on board. Hotaru stepped onto the deck. Then she stopped. She turned and came back to Kazuki. She put her arms around him and kissed him. And he kissed back.
Then she turned again and boarded.
The Archangel pulled away.
Hotaru was making her way carefully through the shattered city. She had not seen many zombies; presumably, they were all near the bridge, preparing for the attack.
She checked the map that Cheng had given her, which had the building that Blue used as her observation post – or headquarters, or whatever it was she used it for – marked. It would take her at least another couple of hours.
Maybe I should have told the others that I have only three bullets for my rifle and half a clip for each of the pistols, she thought. No, it would only have worried them.
"There it is!" said Nozomi.
It was a destroyer, with the insignia of the Chinese navy still visible through the streaks of rust. The tide was in; they would be able to get close. She looked at her watch. A bit more than three hours gone.
Rise and Lian were standing at the battlement over the gate, watching the zombies slowly move the platform into position. In fact, the ledge that ran along the top of the wall was lined with people watching.
"Best show in town," said Rise. "Only show in town, I guess."
Lian might not have understood the words but she got the idea. She laughed.
They turned to look at what Kazuki was doing.
"Huh," said Rise. "Guy's not just a pretty face."
Bao and his men had brought six shells onto the Archangel; that was all he could find on the ship. He had also located some equipment which, Nozomi and Kemi assumed, would be able to set them off. There had been several drums of diesel fuel on board, and Nozomi and Kemi had topped up the Archangel's tanks.
Finally, as his men clambered on board, Bao gave them a thumbs-up sign. Nozomi turned the Archangel towards the mouth of the Yangtse. She checked her watch.
"Damn," she said.
The platform was sliding across the gap now, with agonising slowness. A metre to go. Half a metre.
It was there. There was a long moment of ghastly silence.
And then the zombies came. They poured across the bridge like water. Howling. Screaming. Roaring.
The first of them were half-way across when the gates swung open.
"You want to something to howl about?" said Kazuki. "Try this."
Boomboomboomboomboomboom ….
The 50-cal from the Archangel, now attached to a wooden mount in the middle of the gateway, swivelled and fired. Spent cartridges fell spinning to the ground. And the soldiers on either side of the big gun, armed with rifles, fired and fired. As they ran out of bullets, they knelt and reloaded, and the rank behind them fired.
The first rank of zombies simply disintegrated. And the second. And the third. And still they came.
Hotaru lit the small lantern she had brought with her. She started up the dark staircase.
She thought she could hear the rhythmic echo of shots, muffled.
It's begun, she thought. She looked up. Seven floors.
"Last belt!" shouted Kazuki.
The gun was so hot he could hardly keep his hand on the firing mechanism. He wondered how many zombies had gone down. There were piles of bodies, and scores more, perhaps hundred more, had gone over the edge. The zombies on the bridge were hesitating now, reluctant to advance further. But the ones behind were pushing forwards.
Not enough, he thought. Not nearly enough.
The gun stopped firing, empty. He looked down. There were smoking cartridges almost up to his knees. He picked up his rifle.
The zombies realised that the gun had stopped firing and began to surge towards the south end of the bridge.
"Go!" shouted Rise.
The ranks of riflemen parted and Rise, Lian, and the others went through. They were on the seven horses that the group had brought with them.
Rise drew his sword. He saw Lian draw hers.
They charged.
They rounded a bend in the river and could see, a long way off, the bridge. The battle was already going on.
"So much for the idea of tying the shells to the trestles," said Nozomi to Kemi, surveying the scene through the binoculars. "By the time we got through with that, it would all be over."
She considered. She gestured for Bao to join them.
"New plan," she said.
The door that led to the roof was open. Hotaru went through it, blinking in the sunlight after the darkness of the stairs.
The zombies were on the far side of the roof, twenty metres away. Ten of them, with Blue in the centre. They were all looking in the opposite direction, towards the battle on the bridge.
Silently, Hotaru unslung her rifle. She knelt, and put the rifle to her shoulder. She released the safety catch.
Click.
One of the zombies turned. He saw Hotaru, and shrieked. All the zombies turned towards her.
Hotaru fired at Blue, and then again. But Blue had pulled another zombie in front of her as a shield. The first bullet smashed into the head of the zombie and lodged there. The second hit it in the shoulder, and passed through, whacking into Blue's chest. She grunted, and tossed the other zombie aside.
The rest of the zombies were charging on Hotaru now. She lifted the rifle and shot the zombie in the lead in the head; it fell backwards, dead. The other zombies hesitated.
Hotaru threw the empty rifle down. She drew the Makarovs, one in each hand. She looked around the semi-circle of zombies confronting her.
"Let's go," she said.
The horses had smashed into the zombies, pushing dozens of them off the bridge. The riders, with guns and swords, and taken down scores of them.
Now the riders wheeled the horses back, and dismounted, to allow the riflemen a clear shot. They fired volley after volley. But more and more of the rifles fell silent, out of ammunition.
The zombies continued to advance across the bridge.
Bao and his men had lashed all of the shells to the bow of the Archangel, now speeding towards the bridge. He had wired the shells to a central device, to explode simultaneously, with a lump of something that looked like clay. But now he was trying to explain something to Nozomi. Kemi was doing her best to translate. She desperately leafed through her dictionary.
"A trigger!" she cried out. "He is saying that it needs a trigger! Something … something … like a little explosion to start it!"
"A fuse," said Nozomi. "Something hot."
"Petrol?" said Kemi. "From the tank?"
Nozomi looked at the bridge, rapidly approaching. She could see the humans gradually being pushed back.
"No time," she said. "I have another idea."
All the zombies expect Blue were dead. The Makarovs were empty. Hotaru tossed them aside and drew her knife. Suddenly, she realised that the shirt that Blue was wearing was the uniform of a chain of kiosks that had sold donuts.
"Huh," she said. "How about that."
Rise and Lian were standing back-to-back now, their swords singing a deadly song.
Rise looked across the bridge, towards the northern side. There was a column of zombies – hundreds, thousands, more, still pushing forward.
He took a moment to exchange glances with Lian.
"A real pity we're going to die here," he said. "Because I think we could have had something pretty damn good."
Lian smiled. She gave him a hurried kiss. Then she was swinging the dao sword again.
"How about this?" said Nozomi. She pulled the last bottle of Russian vodka from the pack.
Bao laughed. Then he nodded.
Kemi took the wheel. Nozomi tore a sleeve from her shirt and doused it with vodka, and then stuffed most of it into the bottle.
She turned to Bao. "You and your men, go overboard and start swimming," she said. "We'll take it from here."
Bao got the idea without Kemi having to translate. He and his men to ran the edge of the boat. He gave them a salute. Then they went into the water.
"You too," said Nozomi to Kemi.
"You don't really expect me to do that, do you?" said Kemi.
Nozomi smiled. "Perhaps not," she said.
"We'll probably be killed," said Kemi, with a sigh. "You ready to die?"
"I was born ready," said Nozomi. "Literally."
Kemi looked at her. Nozomi shrugged. "Long story," she said.
"By the way," said Kemi, "you're going to need these." She handed her a packet of matches.
"Guess you really are the smart one," said Nozomi.
Hotaru had stabbed Blue twice and it hadn't even slowed her down. The zombie was fast, savagely punching Hotaru at every opportunity.
Hotaru feinted, swivelled, and rammed the knife into Blue's side. It stuck there. The zombie howled, and wrapped her arm around Hotaru's. Hotaru tried to pull away but her enemy was too strong.
Blue continued to bend Hotaru's arm. Something broke. Hotaru shouted in pain.
With her free hand, Hotaru punched Blue on the side of her head, again and again. Finally, Blue let go of Hotaru's arm. Hotaru staggered backwards.
Blue pulled the knife from her side. She swung, slashing Hotaru across the stomach.
Hotaru sank to her knees.
Blue threw the knife aside. She leaned forward to bite Hotaru. She opened her mouth, showing a line of rotten teeth.
Hotaru pulled the flare pistol from her boot. She rammed the barrel into Blue's open mouth. "Surprise," she said. Blue's eyes suddenly flashed with all-too-human terror.
Hotaru pulled the trigger.
Rise saw the Archangel speeding towards the bridge, Nozomi at the bow and Kemi at the wheel. He realised what they were going to do.
"Everyone off the bridge!" he shouted. "Back! Now!"
He and Lian began to run. The Chinese soldiers followed suit.
Nozomi put the match to the vodka-soaked fabric. It caught immediately. She pushed the bottle into the middle of the nest of shells.
"Go!" she shouted to Kemi.
They went over the side together.
And then the Archangel hit the bridge.
The rowboat slowly pulled up to the jetty where Hotaru was standing. Her arm was in a sling improvised from her rifle strap, and there was a make-do bandage on a wound across her middle.
Kazuki jumped onto the jetty and embraced her.
"Ow," she said.
"Sorry," he said, stepping back.
"Hey, it's going to get better," she said. She looked at him. There was a gash on the side of his face, from his cheekbone to his jaw. "That's going to leave a mark," she said.
"Knowing Kaz, it will probably make him look even better," said Rise, stepping out of the boat. "On the rugged side."
"Huh," said Kazuki.
Hotaru smiled. "Think I care?" she said.
"I certainly hope not," said Kazuki.
Hotaru turned to Rise. "Did everyone else make it?" she said.
"Well, Nozomi caught a cold from being in the water. Kemi says that she lost her dictionary but I think she's hiding it. Aside from that, yeah, we made it." He looked around. "Where are all the zombies?" he said.
"As far as I can tell, they're just wandering around now. Guess they needed someone to tell them what to do."
Rise nodded. "You know, I thought you were going to send up a flare to tell us where you were, so we could come and pick you up," he said, as Kazuki helped Hotaru into the boat.
"Someone ate my gun," said Hotaru.
Coda
It was Maresato Farm Mid-Summer Market Day. Saya Takagi and Kohta Hirano were sitting at one of the stores, sampling some fried squid from one of the coast settlements. They were sharing a table with Reika Arimake and Naoki Tioba, and Rei Miyamato and Benaro Tatagi.
There was a band playing, and people were dancing.
Naoki said to Reika: "How about we give that a try?"
She looked dubious. "Don't you think I'm getting a bit old for that sort of thing?" she said.
Hirano laughed. "Tell you what, Reika," he said. "If I give it a try, will you too? Saya, will you let me step on your toes a few times?"
But Saya had stood up. She was looking at the farm gate. She could see a line of people on horses coming through it.
And then they were all running.
The riders dismounted. Nozomi embraced her mother and father, and Rise lifted Rei up and swung her around. There was a flood of hugs and kisses.
"And this," said Rise to everyone, "is Lian."
"H … hello," said Lian in Japanese.
Benaro spoke to her in Chinese.
"What, you speak Chinese?" said Rise.
"Some," said Benaro. "What, don't you?"
"Well, I speak some now," said Rise.
"Goddamn," said Kemi. "So we could have had lessons before we left."
Her mother laughed.
Shizuka came up to them. "Hi," she said to Kazuki.
"Mum, I've brought your rifle back," said Kazuki. He handed it to her. She took it and looked at it. Then she threw it aside and hugged her son. She stepped back and looked at him.
"Nice scar," she said.
He laughed, and then took Hotaru's hand.
"Uh-huh," said Shizuka. She glanced at Rei.
"I guess I can deal," said Rei. "And it looks as if I've gained a daughter-in-law, so I guess that means coming out ahead."
Saya linked arms with Nozomi, and started to lead the group back towards the farmhouse.
"I want to hear about all your adventures," said Saya to her daughter.
"Adventures?" said Nozomi. "Well, yes, I suppose there were a couple of adventures … "
END AND AMEN