Just a few notes before the story begins:
First of all, this is based off of the official English translation of the game. It's the only version of the game I've played, so characters will refer to each other by their first names in this like they did in the game, since that is what I'm used to. Furthermore, this means that characters like Aoi and Yasuhiro will occasionally be called "Hina" and "Hiro" respectively. Lastly, Genocider Sho is known as Genocide Jack/Jill in the English version of the game, so I'm sticking with that. If this bothers you guys, then I apologize, but that's just how I'm doing this.
Secondly. I've had this story written for quite a few months now, and I'm about nine chapters into it. I usually HATE uploading stories that I don't have fully completed online, but since it's nearing Halloween, I really wanted to do some sort of horror or zombie themed story to upload, so I decided to upload this even though I'm not quite done with it yet.
Third, I'm rating this as Teen, because I don't believe that it's too violent, but please note that there may occasionally be a few disturbing scenes that aren't explained in graphic detail. However, if you feel this should be rated M, then let me know.
Lastly, this story doesn't take the second game into account, since I wrote this before that game was even officially released.
That's all, please enjoy.
Chapter One
Dead City
Makoto wasn't sure what to expect as the gigantic vault door slowly slid open, but he hadn't necessarily expected such bright light to temporarily blind him. He lifted his arms, and smiled as he felt the warmth – was that sunlight? He slowly lowered his arms as his eyes adjusted to the natural light, and he let out a loud laugh as he witnessed the view. The sky was still blue, the buildings were still standing, there was grass surrounding the school – nothing looked out of place! This didn't seem so bad after all! He could hear his companion's excitement as well, and he took the first few steps outside.
That was when his excitement quickly started to die down. There was an absolutely putrid smell, and he couldn't help but gag. He'd been around corpses long enough to know this smell, and yet it never ceased to make him gag. He didn't know if he'd ever get used to this smell, or at least, he really hoped he never would. Forcing himself to stop gagging, he walked slowly towards the gates to the academy that were held close with a chain, and then he noticed two large chain-guns on either side of the gate. They may have been active at one point, but now they looked powered down, since the barrels of each gun were pointed down to the ground.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Open the gate." Byakuya's piercing voice cut through the thick tension, and Makoto forced himself to focus once more as he undid the chain linked around the gate, and pushed them open. There was a loud screeching noise as they opened, making Makoto grit his teeth, but he pressed onward.
"Oh… My god…" Aoi's voice was quiet, but it was filled so much horror that Makoto knew what to expect before he even looked up.
Corpses… Everywhere. How many people did these guns take out? How many of these people had tried to come save them as they were being broadcast on television? He felt sick to his stomach, and he couldn't help but place his hand on the wall beside the gate and get rid of the contents of his stomach.
"Wha – What the hell?!" Yasuhiro cried, "S – So many bodies…"
"I'm not looking, not looking…" Toko muttered like a mantra under her breath as she held her eyes shut tightly. A lingering hand gripped Byakuya's jacket, much to the boy's annoyance. He jerked his clothing out of her hand, and continued to look around with a grimace plastered on his face.
"Junko did say that people tried to save us," Kyoko mumbled, a stoic expression preventing any of her emotions from showing through, "But I hadn't realized just how many…"
"It's no use letting the dead get to you." Byakuya replied curtly, "We were being broadcast on television, surely there's someone nearby? Not everyone is foolish enough to wander into the firing range of these turrets." He eyes glanced up and down the street, though there still wasn't a single person in sight. "Curious…"
"Indeed." Kyoko replied, "I wasn't sure what to expect upon coming out here, but this isn't necessarily what I had in mind. Shall we explore?"
"M – Might as well," Aoi muttered, "There has to be someone out there…"
"But isn't it weird how there's not a single sound?" Makoto asked, "I remember hearing cars and people when I came here two years ago, but now… It's just nothing." He took a deep breath, and tried his damn best not to focus on the corpses laying all over the street.
"Now that you mention it, yeah, that's weird." Yasuhiro muttered, "I don't hear much of anything."
"I hear your incessant chatter." Byakuya replied sharply, "Now come on, we don't have all day." He stalked off into the street, walking down it with Toko following quickly behind. Glancing at each other, Makoto and Kyoko nodded, and following right after him, with both Aoi and Yasuhiro right behind them.
Like Makoto said, the city was utterly silent. They walked into an intersection, and they could see cars stopped in the middle of the road, and some were even crashed into nearby buildings or sign posts. What made it even creepier was the fact that the ground was absolutely littered with paper and all sorts of trash, which was being blown across the street by some stray gusts of wind.
"W – W – Where is everyone?" Toko asked, glancing around nervously, "S – Shouldn't there be a sign of life somewhere?" She got closer to Byakuya, who didn't seem to notice, since his eyes were too busy scanning the area to care about what she was doing.
"There!" Aoi cried out, "See? There's a man walking over there!" The five of them looked towards where she was pointing, and sure enough, there was a man walking across the street… or more accurately, stumbling across the street.
"Wait, don't-!" Kyoko reached out to try to grab Aoi's hand before the girl could run off, but she was too late. The Ultimate Swimming Pro ran quickly to the man with the rest hot on her heels, and she stopped behind him.
"Excuse me, sir?" She tapped his shoulder, and he slowly turned towards her, causing Aoi to let out a loud blood curling scream, "What are you?!" she cried, taking a quick step back. By the time Makoto and the rest reached her, they could see what made her scream so loud. Half of the man's face was completely torn off, and they could see flesh simply dangling from his arm. He lunged towards Aoi, but she fortunately reacted much quicker due to all of her training, and kicked him away, "Stay away from me!" She screamed, not wanting it anywhere close to her.
The man crumpled on the ground, and let out a low and throaty moan, and slowly started to get up. "Look…" Byakuya muttered, "His leg, it's broken!" Sure enough, the man's leg was broken, but that didn't seem to do anything to deter him as he stood on the leg, creating a sickeningly loud crack as he stood on it.
Toko took one look at the sight before her, and her eyes promptly rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed, being caught by Yasuhiro just at the last second. "What's going on?" He asked, looking up in horror at the monstrosity standing in front of them.
Suddenly, they could see others just like the man appear from behind corners or inside nearby buildings, awakening as if they were just powered on. Makoto let out a startled gasp, and took a step back, before he turned around and noticed that they were massing behind them as well. "G – Guys!" He cried, bringing their attention to their backside.
"Whatever these things are, we must move!" Kyoko cried, "We don't want to be surrounded by them!"
"Don't we?" A new voice cried, and jumping up from Hiro's arms was Toko – or rather, her alternate personality, Genocide Jill, "Ohhhh! Look! Zombies!"
"Zombies?" Byakuya repeated, "Don't be ludicrous! Those are just beings of pure fantasy!"
"Are they?" Makoto asked, "Then what in the world are these things?!"
"Whatever they are, they're dangerous!" Kyoko exclaimed, "Come on!" She ran behind them, avoiding behind grabbed by any of the monsters, and everyone else was just one step behind, not wanting to be zombie food any more than she did. They had to weave their way through, though Genocide Jill seem to take great pleasure in using her scissors to stab them, burying the blade deep within their eye sockets, killing them instantly.
"Where are you taking us?" Byakuya asked Kyoko as he ran alongside her. He hated running, but in a case like this, he would make an exception.
"Back to the school!" She exclaimed, "We can barricade ourselves inside for a little bit as we gather supplies!"
"What?!" Aoi cried, "But we worked our butts off to get out! Now we're going back inside?!"
"If you have a better plan, then I suggest you say it now!" Kyoko replied curtly. When no retort came she nodded, "Anyway, it'll only be for a little while, the school has a lot of supplies and food in it. We can pack it up and get some weapons to protect us while we're at it."
"Weapons?" Makoto whispered, his face paling. He was about to retort when he felt a sudden grip on his arm. "What the?!" He turned to see one of the monsters had grabbed his sweater and gripped it hard, pulling him towards it. The monster must have been a normal business man once upon a time, but now he was simply a rotting husk of a man. "Stay away!" He cried.
"Oh don't be a baby!" Genocide Jill shouted, slamming one of her many scissors into the man's eye socket, which did the trick. The monster's grip on Makoto loosened enough for him to get out of it, and he looked at her in shock. "What's wrong?" She asked, "Do I have something in my hair?"
"Um a lot of blood," Makoto muttered, "But… Thank you."
She shrugged, "I killed these things a lot, so it's not that big of a deal! I'm a bit out of practice though, but eh, who cares?"
"You've done this before?" Byakuya asked, "You mean to say that this happened before we were imprisoned in the school? I thought the tragedy was referring to something else, not – not this!"
"Questions later!" Kyoko shouted, "We need to get to the school first!" Byakuya shot a glare towards her, but he knew she was right, so he held in his insults, and just followed her back towards the gate of the school.
Once the group was back inside, Makoto, Aoi, and Yasuhiro all quickly closed the gate, and all three of them grabbed the chain and wrapped it around the gate, trying to lock it like it was before. They got it right in time too, since the first of the many monsters slammed its body into it, moaning and reaching its arms through, trying to grab them.
Makoto fell down, his arms behind him keeping him upright as he breathed heavily, looking at the rotting horrors in front of him. His whole body shook – this wasn't supposed to be what was out here! What in the world was going on?! He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Kyoko standing beside him, "Calm down. We have work to do." She told him.
Seeing her so unfazed was what allowed him to steel his own resolve, so he quickly nodded, "Y – Yeah… Ok. We have work to do." He got to his feet, though they were still shaking from fear and adrenaline.
"What's going on?!" Yasuhiro cried, rubbing his hands through his huge mass of hair, "Junko didn't say anything about – about those things!" He pointed a shaking finger to the gate, where more and more of the monsters were pressing up and beginning to pound on it, "What in the world is going on?"
"Calm down." Kyoko told him, "Panicking now will not benefit us at all. We need to keep a level head and think about this." She waited patiently for everyone to gather around, and once the five of them were with her, she began to speak again, "Now Toko, you said something about encountering these things before, right?"
"Sure did!" She exclaimed, and for some bizarre reason she just started to laugh hysterically, "Back before Toko decided to lock herself up in the school, we would encounter them occasionally, and I would KILL THEM!" Her eyes narrowed dangerously and she gripped her scissors, "But I don't remember it being as bad as it is now! There's absolutely no one in the streets anymore!"
"So you're saying that these monsters have been here for over a year now?" Byakuya asked, "How is that possible?"
"Yes master, they've been here since then!" She exclaimed, a large blush covering her face as she looked at him with something akin to awe and lust, "But I don't know all of the details. All I know is that it's related to the Tragedy, you'd have to ask the other me for more about it!"
"And like the rest of us, Toko got her memories erased…" Aoi muttered, looking crest-fallen, "So… Now what?"
"What was the standard procedure regarding these monsters before?" Kyoko asked, "Do you remember that?"
Genocide Jill nodded enthusiastically, "Kill on sight! If you get bit by them, you're doomed to become one!" She laughed at the shocked look on all of their faces, "And to kill them you gotta destroy the brain!" She pointed at her head, "Nothing else will get em! I heard they're already dead, and from the smell, I can definitely agree with that!"
"No way…" Makoto muttered, "So we're really dealing with – with zombies?!"
"For now that is what we have to assume," Kyoko muttered, then her eyes turned up quickly upon hearing the groaning of the gates, "And from the looks of it, we don't have much time before they come in here. Listen to me, all of you go inside and gather whatever weapon you can find. We need to be able to defend ourselves!"
Unlike before, Makoto wasn't going to object, "O – Ok…" He mumbled. He was glad that at least both Aoi and Yasuhiro both looked as troubled as he felt.
He wished he could take his time, but another loud creak from the gate made him rush, and he along with the other five were inside of the school immediately, looking for some kind of weapon. He didn't even care where the others went, he already had an idea of what he wanted. He rushed to the school store, where he had been several times, and he saw a sword behind a glass case there.
The display case looked really sturdy, so he looked around the small room for something to smash the glass with, until he figured something out. Rushing out of the school store, he ran down the hall and up the stairs towards the locker rooms. He gasped for breath as he jogged, and he practically slammed into the locker room door, surprised briefly by the fact that the door was unlocked, but he had little time to think on that.
Grabbing the first weight he could find, he exited the room as fast as his little body could move, running down the stairs at least two steps at a time, before he finally was back in the main hallway, dashing towards the school store yet again. Sliding to a halt at the door, he swung it open, and went to the glass, where he lifted the weight and with all of his might, and he slammed it down, shattering the glass everywhere.
"Yes!" He cried, and he reached into the display case to pull out the sword. He grimaced at the weight, and he had to reach in with both hands to pull it out. "Um… Hm…" he lifted the sheath off of the sword, and swung it a few times, "It's a bit heavier than I thought it would be…" He muttered to himself, but he shook the thought aside for now, "Whatever, I have to get used to it!" Fumbling a bit to put the sword back in the sheath, he did so, and then threw the strap over his shoulder so he could carry it with little difficulties.
"Ok, I need to get back to the entrance!" He exclaimed to himself, trying to pump himself up and not shake with fear. It worked… a little. His feet still shook as he ran back to the entrance, but he was glad to see that almost everyone else was back.
Aoi stood there with a bow strapped to her back, and the titanium arrows from the dojo upstairs were strapped on her back as well. She gave a short wave as Makoto approached, and explained, "I shot a few arrows before I picked it up, so I'm not terrible at it, but, eh…" She shrugged sheepishly, "I guess I'll get my practice soon enough…" She looked out the entrance way towards the gates, where it seemed at least two dozen of the monsters stood.
Genocide Jill meantime looked impatient, continually looking back towards the hall, no doubt waiting for Byakuya to come back. He couldn't recall Jill even going back into the school, and that made sense, he decided, since she seemed rather… skilled, when it came to the scissors she kept with her. She didn't even seem annoyed that coagulated blood coated the blades, though Makoto wasn't going to bother asking her to clean them, he valued his life far too much to do something stupid like that.
"Hey, Hiro," Makoto instead waved at him as he walked over to Aoi and him, "Are those the knives from the kitchen?" He asked, noticing that Yasuhiro had several blades in his pockets, though he had a huge survival knife currently held in his hand.
"Yeah," He confirmed, "Though I got this one from Mukuro's corpse," As he said that, he lifted it up for them to see, "N – never thought I'd be using it though…" He stuttered, hearing the unsettling noise of the gate again groaning under the weight it was under.
"I see you're all here already, good." Byakuya appeared, holding a bag with some clearly round shaped objects in it. His eyes looked over the crowd, and he adamantly ignored Genocide Jill as she ran over and started to gush about him, "Where's Kyoko?"
"Right here." The girl replied, walking towards the group as her pink eyes stared straight ahead at the horde of monsters on the other side of the gate. "Did you all get your weapons?"
"Yeah,"
"Yep."
"Of course!"
She nodded, "Good. Then I'll be needing -"
"Wait a minute." Byakuya interrupted her, "Where's your weapon?" He asked her pointedly, "You told all of us to gather weaponry, yet you don't have any yourself?" He looked less than pleased with her, and crossed his arms, despite the large bag he held.
She turned to look at him, and she reached a hand in her pocket, and pulled out a gun. Makoto couldn't help but gasp at the mere sight of it, and even Aoi and Yasuhiro recoiled a bit at the sight. Byakuya's eyes however simply narrowed, while Genocide Jill didn't seem to care at all. "I got it from the headmaster's office." She said, knowing that everyone was wondering where she got it, "I got it a few days ago, actually, but I hid it, since I didn't want it to be involved in any future murders."
"How did you-" Whatever Byakuya was about to say was interrupted by a very loud groaning noise as the chain holding the gates shut suddenly snapped, and the gates leading to the school began to open inwards. "Shit," Byakuya let out, turning his full attention to the threat ahead, "How many bullets do you have?"
"There's six in the gun, and twelve more in my pocket," She replied, "That's unimportant for now. We need to get supplies from here." She pointed to Aoi and Yasuhiro, "You two, come with me. Grab two backpacks each and put in as much bottled water and food as you can possible stuff in them. You three," Her eyes locked with Makoto as she said this, "We need you to hold the entrance long enough for us to gather our supplies."
"Oh!" Genocide Jill exclaimed, "This will be fun!" She turned towards the horde, her scissors in hand, and a giggle erupted from her lips from the pure anticipation she felt.
"Very well," Byakuya agreed hesitantly, "Makoto, Jill, you two kill as many of them as you can. I'll support you if you need it."
"K – Kill?" Makoto muttered, feeling his insides go absolutely cold. Even during the game, he never even entertained the thought of murdering any of his fellow students, so the thought of killing someone else, even if it was a monster appalled him.
"It's either them, or us." Byakuya reminded him, "Don't tell me your feeble little mind can't understand that?"
"R – Right." Makoto muttered, shaking his head, steeling his resolve. If he died here – if he died now – everything he did today would be for naught. He had to prove Junko wrong, he had to prove that hope would prevail over despair! "Let's do this!"
"Good luck, Makoto," Aoi shouted to him as she, Kyoko, and Yasuhiro made their way back into the school to get supplies.
"What are the supplies for, anyway?" Makoto asked, unsheathing his sword and holding it in front of him like he could recall from the samurai movies. His feet were shaking so badly, so a little conversation, he figured, would ease his nerves.
"If it weren't for what I've seen you're capable of, I'd assume that you were brain dead." Byakuya let out a sigh, "Kyoko understands that whatever is going on, this infection is dangerous, and it must have hit cities particularly hard. As you know, we're in a city – a rather large one at that – so I assume we're getting supplies so we can get out of the city as soon as possible and run away."
"But there might be survivors here!" Makoto exclaimed, "We can't just leave without looking!"
"If you want to stay and die, then be my guest!" Byakuya replied evenly, "but me, along with Kyoko and presumably everyone else, are going to try to escape. In order to do that, we unfortunately have to work together." The mere idea seemed to appall him, "Do you not understand how severe of a situation we're in now?"
At that moment the monsters crossed the threshold to enter the school, and Genocide Jill got to work, rushing into the horde and beginning to stab her scissors into the eyes of all of them within her reach, destroying their brains with a sort of insane yet graceful dance of death. "Hahahaha!" She laughed manically, jumping, kicking, and stabbing every single one she could.
"Go!" Byakuya ordered Makoto, and he wasted no time at all. Forcing his feet to stop shaking, Makoto rushed towards the zombies, and swung his sword with all his might, letting out a startled gasp as the blade seem to go halfway through a zombie's head before getting stuck in its skull. It was dead, but his sword was unmoving, and he was forced to pull it out, wasting valuable time.
"This is harder than I thought it would be," He muttered, steadying himself, and lunging at the nearest enemy. This time, instead of slashing at its head, he jabbed the sword towards the zombie as it lunged towards him, and the blade went cleanly into its head this time. He let out a cry of surprise at how easily his sword went in that time, throwing off his balance, but he recovered much quicker this time, going for a third one.
Byakuya observed the fighting from his position silently, and he realized that while both were – and he begrudgingly admitted this – doing a fine job of holding them off, they were both beginning to get tired, and that could lead to their potential deaths. "Makoto, Toko, back away from the entrance for a bit!" He yelled, opening his bag and pulling out a familiar looking object.
"What's that?!" Makoto asked in shock, "Is that a bomb?!"
"Yes. I got it from the hatch under the data room." He replied, a smug smile crossing his face, "Why fight like a barbarian when I could do this?" He pressed a button on the bomb, which activated it, and then he threw it towards the horde. There was a loud beeping noise as it neared the horde of monsters, and the beeping got faster and faster, and within seconds, it suddenly exploded. A fine layer of dust flew into the air, and Makoto had to cover his eyes for a bit.
When he looked up, he let out a loud laugh of relief to see that the bomb killed quite a few of them, though his laugh died in the back of his throat when he saw even more of them coming. "How many are there?"
"How many people do you suppose were living in the city?" Byakuya asked, a pleased smile crossing his face when he saw Makoto's eyes widening, "There's your answer, now get back to fighting. I don't want to have to use another one of these bombs if I have to. There are only six more left."
"Your wish is my command master!" Genocide Jill exclaimed, again rushing the horde, and proceeding to do her dance.
Though Makoto was a bit unnerved by the amount of zombies still remaining, he was glad that at least they were thinning out a little bit. They were still walking in through the gate, but not in as quite as large clumps as they were earlier. He went forth and swung his sword again, killing yet another.
This went on for another twenty minutes at least, and in that time Byakuya had to use another two of his bombs to give Makoto and Jill a little bit of time to rest. Finally the other three showed up, and Makoto could see the surprised looks on all of their faces, even Kyoko's stoic mask fell for a bit as she looked at the carnage in front of them. He wished he could laugh or point out how funny they looked, but he was too busy gasping for breath, and leaning against the wall. Genocide Jill was similarly exhausted, though she was closer to Byakuya.
"Holy shit," Yasuhiro exclaimed, "I can't believe you guys held it for this long!"
"Thank god you guys came now," Makoto gasped, "I – I don't know how much longer I could keep this up." He must have killed at least thirty of the monsters, though he wouldn't be surprised if it was closer to forty. Along with Byakuya's bombs, and Genocide Jill's murderous tendencies, there were dozens of dead zombies all around the room.
"We got as many supplies as we could possible carry in these bags," Kyoko replied, her neutral expression going firmly back into place, "Everyone grab one, and strap it on, after that, we're going to make a break for it." She looked at Makoto and Jill, "We'll rest for a few more minutes, but we need to move soon. Byakuya, once we're ready to go, use another one of your bombs to clear a passage way. How many will you have left after that?"
"If I use one to clear us a way, that'll leave three more for me to use." He replied, "I'd prefer not to waste them."
"We're not wasting them," Kyoko assured him, "Unless if you wish to die."
He glared at her, but didn't say a word, and simply crossed his arms, watching the horde outside of the entrance slowly make their way towards then. Earlier they frightened him, but now, seeing how easy they went down, especially when they were forced into a choke point, Byakuya didn't fear them anymore. If this is what really made the outside world collapse, then he would be very disappointed.
"Here, drink this." Aoi handed Makoto a water bottle, and he gratefully accepted it, taking a large gulp of water. "How was… Killing them?" She asked, looking fearfully at the horde.
"I know it's bad to say, but…" He grimaced, "Don't think of them as people. It's how I do it. I know it sounds horrible, believe me…" He forced himself to his feet, despite their loud protests, "They don't react to pain at all, and all they do is moan, so at least they make it pretty easy."
She still look uneasy, but she nodded, handing over one of the two backpacks she was holding over to Makoto, "Are you ready to go?" She asked, a concerned look crossing her face.
"Do we have a choice?" He replied, echoing the words he remembered from the interview DVD he viewed earlier, "If we stay here, we'll eventually die. They just don't stop coming." He heaved the backpack she handed to him around his shoulder, and got to his feet.
"Yeah… you're right." She sighed, and then she slammed her fist into her open palm, "Alright! Let's do this!" Makoto grinned, glad to see her getting pumped up. It was either that or give into despair, and after what happened earlier, he knew all of them would refuse to do that. They were his friends, after all.
Yasuhiro held a knife in a shaky hand, and swung it down on the closet zombie as they began to enter the threshold of the school building again. Like Makoto earlier, it got stuck, but he fortunately was able to pull it out just as well. "Don't do that," Makoto exclaimed, rushing to his side and holding his sword out in front of him, "You need to stab them in the eyes, that way the blade doesn't get stuck in their skulls!"
"You sound like a professional already!" Yasuhiro replied, though he did just as Makoto instructed on the next one, and it did come out a lot easier, "Hey! You're right!"
"Back away!" Byakuya called out, holding out a bomb, ready to activate it and throw it into the horde. Makoto, Genocide Jill, and Yasuhiro all complied, and mere seconds later, another dozen or two of zombies were dead. From the smoke they all rushed out, Genocide Jill leading the pack as she killed any of the zombies that were in their path.
"Byakuya, Aoi, don't use your weapons!" Kyoko called out, "We need to save as many bombs as possible, and we won't be coming back here to collect any arrows you shoot!" She narrowly avoided the crushing grip on a zombie, and was surprised when suddenly an arrow was thrust into its eye socket, killing it immediately. She turned towards Aoi who rather than shooting her arrows, held it in her hand to use as a makeshift dagger. A small smile crossed Kyoko's lips, "I stand corrected."
The six students made it back to the gates, and when they burst out to the streets, Makoto couldn't help but allow a shout of alarm to leave his lips. There must have been hundreds – no, thousands – of zombies lining the streets going towards their school, or more specifically, towards them. His mouth dropped in terror, but he suddenly felt a hand grip his arm and pull, knocking him back to his senses. He looked to see Yasuhiro give him a short wave, and he nodded back in appreciation, glad that Yasuhiro prevented him from pausing for too long.
"Toko! Kill ALL of them in our path!" Byakuya shouted, avoiding being grabbed by a nearby zombie, and he retaliated by smashing his fist into the creature's jaw, being sure to avoid getting any of his skin scratched by the monster's decayed teeth.
"Yes master!" Genocide Jill cried, glad to have an order from her master. She attacked with a renewed vigor, stabbing everything as if it was second nature to her. The group became a bit more organized as they mowed through the horde, and fortunately they weren't in the heart of the swarm, since the amount of them surrounding them was thinner than it was at the school gates, but just by a little bit.
Leading the pack was still Genocide Jill, while right behind her was Yasuhiro, who was getting quite good at jabbing his multiple knives into any zombies that Jill missed with her attacks. Then behind him was both Byakuya and Kyoko, whose weapons were considered too valuable to use, so they relied on both Aoi and Makoto to defend them for the most part, who were behind both of them, picking off any zombies that lunged at the group. The formation was made on the fly with little input from any of them, but it worked, and that was all that mattered to them.
"I'm going to lead now," Kyoko called out a few minutes later, "Toko, let me lead!" The serial killer glared at her, but one sharp look from Byakuya made her concede and give the girl point. This road wasn't as full of the zombies, though there were still crashed cars and collapsed signs they had to go around, or in some cases, climb over.
"Where are you taking us?" Byakuya asked as he jumped down from atop the car he just climbed over, catching a quick breath as Makoto and Aoi climbed over right behind him.
"It's getting late," She replied, motioning her head towards the quickly darkening sky, "We have maybe an hour of daylight left. There's no way we're going to be able to escape here if it's dark, we won't be able to see or avoid the dangers in our path, so I'm trying to determine a place we can rest for the night and not be disturbed."
Byakuya nodded, "I see." He noticed several zombies crawling out from under the car and he stood back, giving one of them a swift kick with his foot, "damn things are like cockroaches!"
"There!" Kyoko pointed to a building just a block down the road, "I have a plan on how to rid the horde from our tail and rest for tonight."
"Good…" Makoto gasped, feeling his legs shaking from all the running and fighting he had to do. "Cause I don't think I can go on much longer…" He blinked a few times, realizing that his vision was beginning to blur, "I need a rest."
"Just a little longer," Aoi told him encouragingly, standing next to him. She was in far better shape than he was, but even she was getting tired. It had been a while since she felt this worn out though, so she didn't even want to know how the rest felt, since none of them really did much exercising while in the school.
"Ok… I can do it." He took a deep breath and stood straight up, giving Aoi a slight smile.
"Watch out!" Yasuhiro called out, pointing to a large group coming at them from the car they just climbed over, "This isn't going to hold them for long!" He was right too, since they were beginning to simply crawl under the cars or take the long way around to get to them.
"Come on!" Kyoko yelled, getting the group to run the last distance to the building. It was a large building that was at least seven stories tall, and it appeared to be an apartment building. Several windows were destroyed, and there even appeared to be a corpse hanging from one, but honestly, none of them felt particularly picky in their exhaustion. They ran up the stoop of the building, and burst into the lounge.
The lounge may have been nice at one point, but all of the furniture was torn or tossed over, and there even appeared to be some corpses on the ground. Makoto was so worn out that the sight didn't make him react a bit, and feeling safer than he had for a long time that day, he fell to his knees and began to empty his guts.
"Shit, what's wrong?" Yasuhiro cried, looking at Makoto, "He wasn't bit, was he?"
"No," Kyoko shook her head, "He's just exhausted." She turned away, ignoring him for now, "Hina, Hiro, Get some of the furniture to barricade the door with, Genocide Jill, you…"
"She's out of commission," Byakuya replied, pointing to the girl who passed out on a nearby couch, "It appears that even an insane woman like her can get exhausted."
Kyoko nodded, "I suppose it makes sense, the two of them have been fighting since we left the school." She let out a sigh, "Then Byakuya, can you go investigate the room to make sure none of those monsters are in here?" She was very thankful that he left without a single word, so she knelt down next to Makoto, "Makoto, are you going to be all right?"
"I feel sick…" He replied, "I – I…" He couldn't hold it in anymore, and he again threw up the remaining contents of his stomach. He coughed a few times, "I'm sorry…" He mumbled, "This must be… pretty uncool, huh?" he forced out a chuckle, and allowed Kyoko to lead him towards a chair that wasn't too badly damaged in the lounge.
"You did well," Kyoko assured him, "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gotten as far as we have. You can rest now." She told him, "Just take it easy, ok? I'm going to go look around to make sure we can escape the horde."
"Thank god for the cars out front," Yasuhiro muttered as he and Aoi finally pushed several ruined pieces of furniture in front of the door, "They ought to fumble around out there for a little while…" He let out a loud sigh, "We can rest for now."
Aoi walked over to Makoto and knelt down beside him, "Is he going to be alright?" She asked Kyoko, though her concerned eyes were solely focused on him.
"He'll be fine, he just needs some rest." Kyoko replied, "He's just physically exhausted." She stood up, "Can you watch over him and Toko for now? I need to look around for a little bit, and Yasuhiro can help me."
"Yeah, I'll watch them. No danger will come to them while I'm here!" She stated, getting pumped up yet again, balling his fists tightly.
"Good, then I'll entrust them to you. Yasuhiro, come with me." Kyoko called.
"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted, and ran over to her side, "So what are we doing?"
"Investigating. We just need to find the stairs, since I doubt the elevator is working, but we're probably going to need a key to get onto the roof." She looked around the lounge in full now. Makoto, Toko, and Aoi were all sitting down for now, but to the left upon entering was a receptionist's desk where she'd assume the keys would be, and perhaps any other things she needed to know about the building.
She started there, while she assumed Yasuhiro went to try and find the stairs. It shouldn't be too difficult of a task, since surely the stairs would be labeled. "Now to get to work…" she mumbled, feeling much better now, since she was getting into her element. Scattered all across the desk were papers and other things, and she figured that she could perhaps figure out exactly what happened based on the newspapers lying around here.
"It's getting kind of dark," Aoi muttered, looking towards the ceiling at the lights. She knew it was a pointless endeavor, but she got up and flipped the light switch on the wall, and nothing happened. She hadn't really expected much, but still, soon they were going to be in darkness, and she didn't look forward to that, not when the world was how it was.
"No use?" Makoto asked, sitting up straighter, even as his stomach protested the movement.
"No, no power at all." She replied, "You know…" She looked up to make sure no one else was listening, "If I knew the outside world was like this… I think I wouldn't mind staying inside that place for the rest of my life…" She hated to admit it, since they were trying so hard to escape, but now… it was her honest feelings, and she felt he had a right to know.
He sighed, "Yeah, I know. I feel the same way now." He frowned, looking down at the ground, unable to look her in the face, "If Junko didn't somehow erase our memories… We'd be in there still with all of our friends, still alive…"
"Stop moping," Kyoko came out and smacked him lightly on the head with some papers, "You're supposed to be our hope, right? You can't give up now, not now, since we've finally escaped."
He looked up at her, blinking in surprise, but a smile worked its way onto his face, "Heh, yeah… Yeah! You're right! We wanted to get out, to experience the world for ourselves, so that's what we're doing! It might seem hopeless right now, and we might want to give into despair, but we can do this! We'll just have to rebuild!"
Seeing Makoto's spirits regained, Aoi felt herself feeling better as well, and she noticed that Kyoko also looked relieved, despite the fact that she desperately tried to hide all of her emotions behind her stoic mask. "Yeah, I'm sorry for bring the mood down," Aoi chuckled, feeling a bit foolish for giving into despair so quickly.
"Honestly, I don't blame you," Makoto replied, his eyes trailing towards the door, where he witnessed the first of many zombies finally reaching it, and they began to pounding it, their loud and horrible moan chilling them all to the bone. "With what we're dealing with, I think giving into despair is something that most people would do."
"The floor is secure, as far as I can tell," Byakuya spoke upon entering the room. He noticed the three close to each other, and he raised his eyes, "I suppose it's good that I was gone, I don't want to involuntarily participate in whatever it is that you imbeciles do to cheer yourselves up." He lifted a paper, "Anyway, I was gone for a bit because I found this."
"The dead rise?" Makoto read the newspaper Byakuya held up, "So… They really are zombies?"
"As ridiculous as it sounds, yes. Yes they are." He replied, "Though honestly, given the ease at which we've been going through them, I'm extremely disappointed in my society for falling as it did." Byakuya's eyes then turned to the door, "I assume we're going to move soon? That barricade won't last very long."
"We'll be fine for another five minutes!" Aoi exclaimed, "Let Toko and Makoto rest for a little bit more!"
"I found the stairs!" Yasuhiro ran into the room excitedly, "though uh, I think there's a bit of a problem." He muttered, "There's a lot of zombies there… I almost got bit!" He exclaimed.
"There's blood on your arm!" Byakuya exclaimed, "According to this paper, if you're bitten, you turn within hours! Show me your arm now, or were you really bitten?"
"N – No!" Yasuhiro cried, "L – Look! See? This blood is just from one of the zombies I killed!" He lifted his sleeve up, and indeed his skin wasn't punctured with any bites.
"He's telling the truth," Kyoko replied before Byakuya could continue his argument, "Trust me. I can tell when someone is lying, and like you said, we have to leave. Wasting our time with this is something we can't afford."
"Fine." Byakuya replied, "Then might I suggest you tell us what it is you wanted us to do here? As far as I can see, you've trapped us all in this building to die. That door is going to hold for maybe a half hour, if we're lucky."
"We're not trapped," Kyoko denied, "Yasuhiro found the stairs, and we're going to go the roof, then we'll jump across and leave through that building. So far these monsters have shown minimal intelligence. They don't climb over or open doors and obstacles to get us, they just keep pressing their bodies into them until their accumulated weight breaks them down. If we jump the roof, there's no way they'll be able to follow us."
"I see," Byakuya rubbed his chin, nodding his head, "Yes, I too have noticed that lack of basic brain functionality. They'll definitely have difficulties even climbing the stairs to get up to us, so we'll be safe."
"Exactly." Kyoko replied, "But we must leave soon. I don't wish to delay, since the sunlight will be gone within a half hour or so." As she said that, she looked towards the barricaded windows, and saw the orange rays of the setting sun peering through, though even those slowly disappeared as the sun set behind the buildings.
"Are you ready to leave?" Aoi asked Makoto, patting him on the back gently, "You heard them, we need to go soon."
He nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine." He grabbed his sword he dropped next to his chair, and got to his feet. His stomach still protested, but he felt a lot better now having rested for a little bit. "Is Toko going to be ok?"
"It's unfortunate that the apocalypse occurred, otherwise I would suggest leaving her." Byakuya grumbled, "But for now, she's far too useful of a tool to dispose of."
"Don't let her hear you say that, man." Yasuhiro shuddered, "I think my ear drums would pop from her scream of happiness."
"Duly noted,"Byakuya replied, reaching over and roughly shaking the girl away, "Toko? Toko, wake up! Now is not the time to be taking a nap!"
"Uh…? What? Who…?" She blinked her eyes, "Master!" She sat up quickly looking around, "Where am I? What's going on?"
"Ah, it's actually Toko, not Genocide Jill." Yasuhiro muttered, "Usually I would be all for Toko being out, but given the circumstances…" He let it hang, and helplessly shrugged, "You know, I never thought the day would come when I actually relied on a serial killer to help us."
"It doesn't matter what her personality is right now," Kyoko replied, getting all of their attention, "I found these keys at the desk, so getting to the roof shouldn't be a problem. We're going to jump over to the next building, and I think that alone should throw the horde off of our tail for now."
"T – The monsters?!" Toko gasped, "You mean, that wasn't a dream?!" She looked close to crying, "B – But… No!"
"Shut up, woman." Byakuya told her sharply, "We don't have time for your whining, it's time to go."
"Y – Yes master!" She exclaimed, "Lead the way."
With both Toko and Makoto up, the group followed Yasuhiro to the stairs, and as he said, there were quite a few zombies dwelling in there. "If I had to guess," Yasuhiro stated as he slammed his knife into the eye socket of the zombie closest to him, "I'd say they came in here try to escape the zombies, and there may have been some of them who were bitten, and… well…" Another swing of his knife killed yet another one, which he carelessly tossed over the railing of the stairs, throwing them down to the bottom of the stairwell. Rather than finish his train of thought, he just led the group up the dark stairwell.
Behind him, Kyoko followed closely, with Byakuya and a terrified Toko right behind them. Finally, at the end of the group was Aoi who was keeping a hold of Makoto, much to the blushing boy's embarrassment.
"Oh come on," Aoi teased, "You don't like being held up by a girl?" She was doing her best to ignore the slaughter that Yasuhiro was doing in the front of the group, and was focusing solely on Makoto.
"It's not that I necessarily mind it – well – I mean…" He shook his head, "I just don't like appearing this weak." He chuckled, "I guess it's kind of stupid, but it's how I feel."
"It is stupid," Aoi replied, rolling her eyes, "Seriously? You've saved all of our lives, so this is the least I can do for you." She saw him about to protest, so she stopped him yet again, "Ah! Don't talk! If you're gonna say something about how you didn't save us, then can it, because it's not true. Being humble is fine and all, but don't be humble if it means you're negating your achievements… or something like that. I think it's a famous quote!"
"Don't be so humble, you're not that great." Byakuya spoke up from in front of them, "It's a quote from Golda Meir. That's the gist of what Aoi is attempting to say, anyway." He shrugged, "And I do happen to agree with her. Don't be an idiot, just accept your accomplishment for what it is."
A few minutes later they reached the top of the stairs, where there was a door leading to the roof. Kyoko went first, unlocking the door, and then opening it to the roof. It was quite dark in the stairwell, so seeing some light was quite a nice breath of fresh air, even if it was quickly fading away. However, the next thing all of them noticed was a bucket of paint on the ground, and their eyes were drawn to a large painted message saying 'HELP'.
"I wonder if anyone ever came to rescue them." Aoi muttered, still holding onto Makoto as she looked across the painted message.
"Hm," Kyoko muttered, glancing down at the papers she had taken from the front desk and still didn't discard, "This would make sense. This city was supposedly an evacuation zone, so these people probably came up here hoping to be rescued." She looked around for any corpses, and thankfully didn't see any.
"Once we get across into the other building, I'd like to see this paper of yours." Byakuya replied evenly. He then walked over to the edge of the building and looked down, and he bit back a curse.
"What's up?" Yasuhiro asked, walking over, and his eyes widened as he suddenly looked down, "No… Holy shit… That was after us?" He backed up away from the edge, and nearly fell down, but he just barely managed to keep his footing, "I can't believe there's so many of them…"
Aoi and Makoto walked over next, and both of them were similarly amazed and immediately fearful of the terror beneath them. "Th – That's even more than we saw outside of the school…" Makoto gasped, "There's thousands of them!" He couldn't see a single spot in the streets that wasn't filled with those monsters, and he felt his heart beating faster, knowing that if he stayed at the school just ten minutes longer, there would have been no way they could have escaped.
"I was thinking of jumping to the building right next to this one, but given the circumstances, I think jump a few buildings is in order." Kyoko muttered, keeping her fear in check. They heard a loud noise as suddenly the door to their building was busted into, and the horde began to pour inside. "Fortunately we're safe up here. Now come on, we can't stay here all day."
Toko was the only one who didn't look down, standing far back, not wanting, to witness the horror so soon after she woke up from being Genocide Jill. "I – I agree, let's get going. We only have a little bit longer of day light." The sun wasn't even visible anymore, there was just a small thin line of orange out on the horizon, and everything was painted a dark blue as darkness began to fall upon them.
Taking Toko's advice, the group jumped across several rooftops, going as far in one direction as they could possibly go. Fortunately, Makoto could make the jumps, and there was little difficulty as they descended into the darkness of the new apartment building they were all. In the stair well, with the remaining light, they could spot a few of the monsters, so they lured them out onto the roof where Aoi and Yasuhiro dealt with them quickly.
"The stairwell is clear," Yasuhiro called, though he kept his volume down, since he didn't want to alert the horde. The group slowly made their way inside, allowing their vision to adjust to the darkness before they moved on. "The stairwell is barricaded, so we can't go further down than this floor," He pointed out, a large couch had been pushed down the stairs taking up the entire stairwell, and they knew that any zombie would have a very difficult time trying to break through that.
They exited the stairs onto the highest floor of the apartment, and in the hallways they didn't spot a single undead monster. Seeing this as a good sign, they entered the first room that they could, and were again fortunate that the door was unlocked. The apartment was surprisingly clean, but despite the lack of evidence of one of the monsters appearing there, Kyoko forced them to look through every room as she locked the door.
Makoto opened a particular door, and his eyes suddenly widened, "Wha – Oh my god!" he cried, falling back onto his butt and looking with wide eyes into the bathroom he opened up. Though it was dark, he could see a two figures. The bigger one was holding the smaller figure in his chest – if Makoto had to guess, he'd say it was a father holding his child or something similar. However, what made him scream was the blood all over the wall behind their heads, where a bullet clearly went through. On the floor a few inches away from the father's hand was a pistol, unused since whenever the man decided to end it all with their child.
Aoi was the first to arrive, having heard Makoto's shout, and she couldn't help but gasp and cover her mouth with her hands in terror. Her eyes were wide, and began to fill with tears when she pieced together what happened. Yasuhiro had a very similar reaction to Makoto, except he was able to bite back his scream at least. Toko was smart, knowing by now what kind of reaction they had when they saw a dead body, and she stayed away, not wanting to faint and accidently switch her persona.
Byakuya was completely unaffected, and Kyoko looked only mildly disturbed and she began to shut the door. "Hold on," Byakuya told her, and he walked in and grabbed the pistol, "There's still some ammunition in this. It will provide a use to us, since the original owner is... no longer here." He stalked off, wandering to a separate part of the apartment, leaving the four of them there.
"Why would they do that?" Makoto asked, "He got into the bath with his kid, and he… Killed his kid… Then himself?" He looked repulsed, "What kind of man would do that?"
"It's terrible, but not as bad as you're thinking," Kyoko replied, shutting the door for good, "you probably missed it, but the child had a bite mark on his arm. The father probably fell into despair when he realized that his only child was doomed to become a monster, so he did this as a way to stay with his child forever."
Aoi looked sick, "But… That's…"
"Just how it is now," Kyoko finished for her, "The apartment is clear. The bedroom is surprisingly clean, so I'm going to go check the other apartments in this hall. Makoto, I highly suggest you get some rest, though that extends to all of you." She looked at Aoi and Yasuhiro as she said that, "Today was exhausting, and I have little doubt that tomorrow will be as well."
"How can she act like she didn't even see that?" Yasuhiro asked once Kyoko walked off. He crossed his arms and looked away from the door, even though it was closed and he wouldn't even be able to see the body, "That… That's going to keep me awake all night…"
"It did affect her," Makoto replied, standing up with the help of Aoi, "She's just very good at hiding her emotions, and she told me she has seen stuff like this before she went to Hope's Peak Academy with us."
"Seriously?" Aoi asked in surprise, "When?"
"Oh, I guess she never told you," He mumbled, "She's the ultimate detective. She told me that she has been solving crimes for a while now."
"That…" Yasuhiro muttered, "That explains so much."
"Yeah, no wonder she always knew what to do during the trials!" Aoi exclaimed, "We were really lucky to have her with us!" She forced on a smile, "A – Anyway, we really ought to go to bed. Makoto can sleep on the bed, I'll have the couch, and Hiro can sleep on the floor."
"H – Hey!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, "I don't want to sleep on the floor!"
Makoto chuckled as he walked with his friends into the bedroom, and looked around. The room was actually pretty big for an apartment, and the bed was even bigger than he thought it would be. On the nightstand next to the bed was a picture of a man and who he presumed to be the man's wife – where was she? He felt a pang of sadness inside of him when he realized that she probably never made it home… No wonder he fell into despair once his only child was bitten…
He reached over and put the frame down, being sure to hide the picture as he sat on the bed, "I don't mind if Hiro has one side of the bed, its way bigger than I have any need for."
"What?" Aoi exclaimed, "You'd offer it to him and not to me?" She crossed her arms, and her cheeks puffed up in a cute pout, "How could you?"
"Well…" Makoto blushed, and looked aside, "I mean… Well…"
"Geez Hina, I didn't realize that you and Makoto were like that!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, "You should've just said so!"
"Wait, what?" Her eyes widened as the implications of what she just said came to her, "N – No! We're not like that! I don't like him – no, I mean, I like him, but not in that way and…" Her entire face was red, "Stupid Hiro!" She quickly stomped off, leaving a chuckling Hiro sitting on the bed beside Makoto.
"You shouldn't be so mean to her, you know." Makoto sighed, "Though I guess that solves that issue." He took off his sweat soaked sweatshirt, and grimaced, wishing so badly he could take a shower, but… He couldn't even think of the bathroom. Instead, he just laid down on the bed, and closed his eyes, and after all of the exhaustion from that day, he was out within seconds.
"Yeah, I'll apologize tomorrow," Yasuhiro replied, "But you know, I think she likes you! Lucky you! Do you want me to tell you your fortune?" He waited for a reply, and then looked back at Makoto, "Aw man, sleeping already?" He sighed, "Oh well, might as well go to sleep as well…"
Aoi ended up sleeping on the couch as she initially planned, while Kyoko, Byakuya, and Toko all scouted out another room and stayed in there, with Kyoko and Toko on the bed, with Byakuya occupying the couch.
Late at night, in the candlelight, Byakuya was reading the newspaper that Kyoko got her hands on. It talked about specific evacuation points, and where to go, and he grimaced at all the cities listed, knowing that all of them were probably in the same state as the one they were currently in. He had to find a path for them to follow, somewhere not so densely populated.
He hated to admit it, but he was beginning to get a little attached to these fools he was with, and he did want to try and get them all out… As much as they annoyed the hell out of him. Really, it was so they could potentially work for him, that's all. Kyoko's abilities were amazing, and Makoto was following in her footsteps quite well. Toko was annoying, but at least she was loyal and did as he asked. Aoi and Yasuhiro could provide manual labor, if nothing else.
He suddenly spotted an area they could go towards, a little costal town, but it was quite a distance away. Without the train or any cars to escort them there, they would be walking for at least two weeks minimum, but it was their best chance. He knew that the cities were a lost cause, so really, he had no choice.
"We'll set out early tomorrow morning," He mumbled, rubbing his eyes. With that done, he went to the couch, and laid down on it, closing his eyes from the exhausting day he had. It was best if he didn't think of what the next day would be like, he decided, since he knew it was probably going to be just as bad, or perhaps worse than the day he already experienced.
This was their new life, and he supposed he ought to get used to it as soon as possible.