Disclaimer: I do not own HOTD or any of its characters that honor is Mr. Diasuke Sato!.
z-day minus 1
My mission was a simple one; all I had to do was a little reconnaissance on a potential candidate and report back with my findings. Little did I know that this was going to be no easy assignment, and not because I wasn't a good soldier but simply because the entire world was about to go Fucking ballistic
Phone rings "hello" I say calmly as I put the phone to my ears. A man's voice comes through the other side, a tired voice full of age and wisdom.
"anything to report Ghost?"
"affirmative" I replied " candidate has repeatedly shown incredible amounts of strength, stamina and speed."
"Is that all" the voice said with absolutely no trace of emotion
"No sir," I took a breath "through careful observation I have come to the conclusion that not only does the candidate possess the necessary skills, but more importantly she possesses something that cannot be taught through formal training, but she has an uncanny ability to feel other people movements and the only true weakness is her simple lack of battlefield experience."
"Hmm that's very interesting, am I to trust that because of your history with our candidate that these are based upon facts and not just feelings?"
"Yes sir, you know that's true. She Was your first pick after all" I responded, I don't know why but that statement thoroughly pissed me off "what is your next order?"
"We need to see for ourselves what miss busujima is capable of, make yourself noticed I want a full battle report, and given your history with her, I expect it to be full of valuable data" the other voice snickered I on the other hand really wished I could punch though the phone and knock his teeth out
"Sometimes I think you're enjoying this a little too much old man" I replied heavily annoyed "and if you haven't forgotten I've already been noticed"
"well then it should be easy, I expect a full report tomorrow night at 20:00 hours."
"Roger that general, over and out" I said as I hung up the phone took one breath and
threw it on the coffee table in front of me fuck me I thought to myself as I stood up walked to the fridge of my bare one bedroom apartment full of absolutely nothing but the essentials a fridge full of beer, a bed, sofa, tv coffee table stove and microwave. I grabbed a cold one from the fridge cracked it open and took a drink of the cold liquid, I'm only 18 years old but I am what they call in the states a seasoned drinker and I'm quite proud to say I can hold my liquor. I wipe a little bit of beer off my lips and walk over to my bed and pull out from under it two large gun safes. I take the key that's around my neck and open the first one to reveal two black Wilson combat 45 calibers 1911's each with 6 ten round magazines, a snub nose Smith and Wesson 45 an next to that an LWRC m6a3 with full RIS rail and Eyotech red dot complete with 10 30 round magazines, with optional 3x magnification. then Out of habit I perform the same routine that I have done for the last 12 years of my life I pick up each firearm field strip and check to make sure they are clean and well maintained, then I make sure all magazines are fully loaded and gently place them back in their respective places, save for one of the 1911's which I grab two extra 10 round magazines and set them in my shoulder rig where I then lock the handgun in place. I close the lid and slide the safe back under my bed and I move to the other safe where I use the same key to unlock the lid. I take a deep breath as I release the two latches and with a click I open the lid. I gaze at the contents which are wrapped in a blue velvet cloth I gently reach in an retrieve two razor sharp tomahawks, they were light in my hands but I knew from countless hours of training that these were extremely lethal capable of cutting through several limbs if in the hands of the right user, and that user being me. I smile as I reminisce of the countless lives that I have taken with these tools of war, I twirl them around before gently setting them aside, for I had even a more destructive and deadly weapon in my arsenal. A weapon that I both respect and fear accordingly, and only use when I'm in a serious pinch, my hands slowly reach into the safe and I pull the cloth that covered the weapon off only to reveal a perfect balance of power, durability and beauty, a katana built to my specifications from the finest tamahagune steel by the finest swords smith that Sensei Busujima knew. The hilt was solid black and around it was an accent of red made from the finest silk, the blade polished to the point where no imperfection could be accounted for. I removed the sword from its stand and held it with two hands horizontally before finally taking it by the handle and assuming an attack stance. My mind was flooded with memories of learning how to use this very deadly weapon, my sparring matches with Saeko, my Masters daughter, the unbelievable hard and torturous training regimen that her Father had laid out for me since the first time he saw my potential. The feeling of finally being able after only a year of training to be able to stand toe to toe with Saeko without getting absolutely slaughtered. Then the sweet memory of receiving this katana as a gift for becoming a true warrior in her father's eyes, but I would never forget the look that Saeko gave me when I received the weapon, it was not a look of jealously or anger that I had been able to progress so fast, but a look of content and happiness, that I even swear today that I saw her shed a tear. I remember exactly what she was wearing that day it was a pure white kimono, with a dragon etched from the front of the garment to the back, she looked absolutely flawless, I had never seen such beauty before even after I left to go to Authority Arms Inc. I have traveled the world and seen a lot of beautiful women but still nothing compared to Miss Saeko Busujima.
I only wished that things between us were better. After I "graduated" from her father's class I was recruited into the finest fighting force in the world. Authority Arms Private military, it was a unit so specialized and so well trained that frequently even quality soldiers such as Navy Seals, SAS and Delta Force, routinely drop out of the program. I was honored and I was ready to fight so I left right then and there, I wanted to say goodbye but part of the "development stage" was to be able to just leave everything you care about behind and move on. Well I never told anybody about this but I probably should've failed right then and there cause I wasn't able to do that, before I left japan I took with me a small photograph of Saeko and me on My "graduation" day and kept it on me at all times. To this day I don't know how I managed to keep it hidden but I was determined to not let anything happen to that photograph. None the less it helped me through the tough training that AA required and whenever I would think that I was at my limit I would look at the photo and remember why I was doing what I was doing.
I sighed as I put the photo of Saeko back into my wallet, my mind drifted to my past and all the events that have taken place to shape what my life is and has become. I'm 18 years old, and I have already been I hundreds of engagements, and have killed more people than a whole battalion of marines. I remembered my past back when I was little my father bathing me in the life of a soldier who he himself was a delta force operator. I always wanted to be like him, actually I wanted to be better than him, never once did he have to ask me to train. I longed to train, every minute of every day I would train and study the various categories of war, I pushed myself to the absolute limit and then when I felt as though I couldn't go on I pushed harder always striving to be both mentally and physically stronger. My father, who raised me on his own due to my mother dying when I was barely a year old, gave me the guidance to always find a way past my limitations. He was not just my father but my best friend and greatest ally. When that day came when his body was brought back in a wooden box, and American flag draped over then sides, my entire world collapsed and sought nothing but vengeance. I was barely 10 years old and with both of my parents dead I was forced to move from California to japan where my uncle lived. Needless to say I was an outcast and frequently picked on in school because I was simply different. It was never physical, but emotional they would call me an outcast and make fun of the fact that my parents were dead. I did my best to ignore them relying on my training to block them out and keep my head cool. But one day that would all change, after a particularly hard day at school I was walking home my normal route when I was surrounded by some older kids who seemed to find most pleasure in making my life hell. I thought they were just going to do the usual, call me names and make fun of my parents, but that all changed when someone decided to throw a rock at me that hit me square in the forehead. The blow itself didn't really hurt since I had already learned to ignore pain but it triggered something inside me, I remember picking up the rock and while the other kids were laughing I slung the rock as hard as I could and smacked the bastard that hit me right in the nose breaking the fragile cartilage and snapping his head back leaving him unconscious with a severe concussion. Well apparently the other boys didn't particularly like having one of them beat up by a younger outsider so they all charged. By now I was seeing red and I don't remember much between the time the first punch was thrown to when Saeko decided to intervene but from what I do remember was a lot of screams of pain and they weren't coming from me. Saeko was able to drag me off this one boy by grabbing my neck and pulling me back, well I was having none of it so I used all my strength and pulled my body weight forward and threw her over my shoulder. I watched as she expertly used the force of the throw to flip end over end and land perfectly on her feet. she turned toward me and simply said "I think you won" I stood up and surveyed the area only to reveal the broken and mangled bodies of 8 kids all were either unconscious or wishing they were so they didn't have to feel the pain that had just been inflicted on them. At the sight I immediately started laughing
"You here to pick on me too?" I asked anger was burning in my heart I had have enough of being kicked around it was now my turn to return the favor whether this person was a girl or not I was out for blood.
"Easy chief" Saeko replied with a grin on her face " I'm actually impressed I mean I knew you could hold your own, but not this well" she paused, how would you like to actually learn how to use your skills to your utmost potential?" she asked me cocking her head to the right
I hesitated, before speaking "what do you mean my full potential" I asked intrigued, I thought I was doing pretty good considering bodies laid sprawled out around me.
"Your good, but your emotions cloud your actions, your anger makes you vulnerable, I know someone that can teach you to bottle your rage and unleash it as focused energy to make your tactics more effective, to make them perfect"
This pissed me off it was almost like she was telling me everything my father had taught me was shit, "what you saying I don't know how to fight" I responded I could feel my chest fill with rage as my hands started shaking
Saeko must have seen read my body language cause she immediately started laughing. "No dummy, what I'm saying is that If you learned how to control your emotions then you would be unstoppable, and I want you help you get there" she said turning her head down and away from my gaze. I noticed a faint redness flow to her cheeks, she was blushing. This immediately caused me to calm down as suddenly my chest became tight and my breath quickened. It was a sensation that I have never felt before, my rage disappeared to only be replaced by something I couldn't explain. Suddenly I felt as though I couldn't take my eyes off her as I studied her, eyeing her up and down. She was unbelievably cute, I couldn't believe I didn't notice before.
"So what do you say?" Saeko responded finally breaking me out of my trance
"uh, b-b-but of course, yeah I want to learn to use my talents with perfect precision" I stammered, then felt my cheeks go hot as I got embarrassed for my stutter.
Saeko smiled at me then advanced toward me and grabbed my hand, "well lets go! Oh and by the way I'm Saeko Busujima"
"I'm Gabriel Kael"
"Ok Gabriel, lets go!"
"but wait" I paused "What about these guys" I said as I motioned to the people who were laying around me. All were conscious now but their moans of pain were very, very noticeable
"Don't worry about them, my father has a little pull around here, he will have them treated and taken care of"
"What about me, wont I get in trouble?" i said my voice trailing at the end
"No I saw everything, just chalk it to self-defense, and you have a witness" she replied with a grin. "now lets go its getting late" she said as we sped off into the night. From that day on I became a student of her father, training every day to the point of exhaustion. It was not uncommon of me to pass out at random times during the day because I couldn't stay awake. And more than a few times I was hospitalized because of my harsh training due to either injuries or just plain being tired. But the funny thing was Saeko was right there with me training just as hard as I was, funny though she must be tougher than me because she was always there nursing me back to health despite her own personal injuries.
I rubbed my fingers along the outline of the photograph, let out a long sigh and slipped it back into my wallet how I wished things were back to the way it used to be, now it just seems like every time I try to get close her she shoves me aside or just plain ignores me, I mean sure I left without saying goodbye but hell its already been three years has she really held a grudge against me this entire time? Didn't she know why I left, her father must have told her something? The questions floating in my head were driving me insane. For fuck sake I'm the one that requested we try to recruit her again! And not just cause I missed her but because she is the only other person who I would consider my rival and not to mention one hell of a good fighter. Authority Arms Manufacturing would be blessed and honored to have someone with her skill and pure ability to fight.
I felt my anger start to rise as I took a long drink from my beer finishing the beverage and throwing the empty can across the room out of frustration. Goddamnit Saeko would you just let me get close to you for two fucking seconds I screamed in my head as my body began to move on its own my hands gripping the katana in my hand, I sheathed the weapon before I started cutting everything in sight and out of sheer willpower I tried my best to calm down and slowly but surely I felt myself relax as I put my weapons away checking the chamber of the 1911 in my shoulder holster then lying on my bed tomorrow Saeko, for better or worse, tomorrow I'm going to finally get you to listen to me either diplomatically or by force I said as I closed my eyes and did my best to fall asleep.
Next day zday
The day started off normal, nothing was out of the ordinary as stashed my handgun back in the safe and grabbed my pocketknife and slid it into my back pocket. It was illegal as all hell to have at school but I'll be damned if I get caught without a weapon, even though against normal civilians I would never need it. But I have accumulated enough enemies who would love to take me out so I thought it always best to just be on the safe side.
School was only about a twenty minute walk so it didn't take me long before the gates were in my sight. However I was stuck with an odd sense of nervousness as I stopped and took a breath before walking into the courtyard and into the halls already crowded with students. I figured I'd wait until second period when I knew that Saeko would be in the kendo club gym hall then id confront her there, on her own turf so she knew that I was business, and that I genuinely had something I needed to say. Nervousness exploded throughout my body once more. I wasn't scared I knew that, even though technically she was the only person in the world who I was absolutely positive could stand toe to toe with me, I kind of welcomed that challenge if it came to it, so what was I nervous for? Deep down I felt I knew the answer but I just couldn't bring it to the surface. I stood there pondering for what seemed like hours when I was alerted to a commotion to my left.
"move you ugly Otaku!" a boy about 6ft tall and around 170 lbs yelled as he pushed another boy into the side wall of the hallway. I recognized the guy who got pushed, we had spoken a few time before in passing but had never really had a decent conversation even though I thought he was a good enough person. His name if I remember right was Khota Hirano and it looked like he was getting into some heavy shit. I watched as he became surrounded by two more guys.
"Hey man, just back off I didn't do anything to you guys" he yelled in retaliation. By now I was making my way over to Hirano at a pretty quick pace, if things turned ugly I would defiantly step in, fuck if I'm going let someone be picked on my douche bags like these clowns. Especially someone I actually like.
"What the fuck did you just say?" one of the guy surrounding Hirano yelled back as he cocked his arm back getting ready to unleash a punch.
I quickened my step as I surveyed the situation. Hirano had his back against one of the walls as the three guys stood roughly 2 to 3 ft away from him in a semi-circle formation which left about 5 feet from the outside man to the other side of the hallway for me to maneuver around, and the guy who had his hand cocked back was the closest one to me so all in all these fuckers were about to be royally screwed. As soon as the first guy threw his hand I put my hand out right in the flight path and stopped it cold, my hand completely covering the other guys fist "nice try fuck head" I said as the guy looked at me with a look of bewilderment at his punch being caught mid flight. I smiled as I twisted the wrist backward and used my other hand to grab the back of the guys head and slam it into the wall, not enough to completely knock him out but just hard enough for him to get his bell rung. As his body slumped into the floor I looked at Hirano and smiled "I know you could've handled this yourself but I really don't like these guys"
The other two guys that were picking on Hirano just looked at me stunned, unsure of what to do it took a couple of seconds before the second one closest to me decided to get brave "you little shit!" he yelled as he tried to throw a right cross toward my head, I slipped the oncoming punch to the outside of his guard and threw a right body shot feeling the ribcage crack as the blow landed. He was instantly knocked out of breath and fell to the floor along with his other friend "ouch" I said to him as he gasped for air "looks like breathing is going to be a little difficult for you, guess your not going to be able to shit talk for a while" I followed with as I bent over his broken body. A huge rush of ecstasy flowed through me, it was a feeling that I can never get enough from, the feeling of destroying my opponent, of winning, in fact the only thing better would be if I actually got to kill these guys and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it In that very moment. I ended the thought before I got too carried away and turned my attention to the now absolutely scared shitless third perpetrator, AKA. The one who started this mess " so you like to pick on people who have less power than you?" I asked sadistically. "give me one reason why I shouldn't make you join your friends here?"
"I..I..AHHH!" he stammerd before turning his back to run away, he got about a half a step before I reached out and grabbed his collar pulling him back while simultaneously spinning the man around "sorry dick, but your just too damned slow" I said before landing a quick jab to the jaw rocking his brain and sending him straight to sleep.
I let his unconscious body hit the floor with a thud before turning back to Hirano "you ok homie" I asked, speaking in half Japanese and ending with the word homie in English
"H-Homie?" he replied weakly, his face was painted with and expression of shock from the easy beat down that he had just witnessed.
This caused me to let out a laugh "yeah it's another name for Friend or Brother, we use it a lot in California" I smiled.
"Oh- ye… Yeah I'm ok, thanks for helping me" he said averting his gaze from my eyes "I'm just a weakling you know you didn't have to do that it's not going to make them stop"
"you're not a weakling, you just haven't had the right training, maybe I'll have to show you some stuff so you can deliver the beating next time" I replied as I gave him a thumbs up.
DING! The school bell reverberated through the halls "well I guess we are late, I'll catch you later… Homie " for whatever reason this cause Hirano to smile widely as he enthusiastically yelled back to me as I turned and walked away heading toward my homeroom "Yeah I see you later! Thanks again"
I don't know why but for some reason him telling me that in turn made me smile widely I guess it really does feel good when you help out a friend.
First period went by as a crawl it took ages for that first bell to ring or so it seemed, it was during this time that I was stricken once again by an intense bout of nervousness. What the hell is going on with me I thought to myself as I twirled my pencil gracefully around my fingers, it was a habit I had developed when I was deep in thought. I couldn't understand why I felt as though I knew the answer yet I couldn't come to a conclusion, almost as if it was taunting me. I did my best to shake it from my head but it was always lingering, when finally I thought as though I would drive myself mad with thought, I heard the bell ring signaling the end of first period and the start of second. Well this is it I whispered under my breath as I grabbed my things and began walking out of the classroom and toward the kendo club room. As I made my way through the crowded halls I allowed myself some time to procrastinate and took a detour and made my way to the roof. I gazed out and over the city, a beautiful sight; cherry blossoms were in full bloom, accented by a perfect backdrop of bright blue sky, painted with scattered clouds, the vocals of birds chirping away. I could see the ocean from where I stood which only made the view more spectacular. Japan really was a beautiful country; hopefully it would stay this way. I heard the bell ring once again as second period started and took one last look at the city before turning and making my way down the stairs and through the halls now devoid of students. The halls were quiet as my footsteps echoed off the concrete and glass. My nervousness was replaced by something different, my heartbeat quickened and my feet felt lighter as I realized I was being taken over by anticipation, anticipation of finally getting to confront Saeko. I knew that too much excitement and I would become sloppy so I used some breathing techniques to calm me down and continued toward the Dojo.
I didn't get halfway there before I heard the intercom blare over the school grounds. I was in the middle of the school in one of the main hallways 20 feet from a double door that lead outside to a ramp that would take me to the ground level where I would be able to make a beeline for the Dojo. But apparently lady luck was not on my side, for over the intercom I heard the pleading screams of a man who sounded as though he was being slaughtered. I couldn't believe what I was hearing what the fuck was that I thought as I immediately snapped back into focus and did a quick rundown what would happen next. Panic, panic would happen and kids would come bursting through the doors. I took a half a second before I felt my training take over and just as I began to move my feet the sounds of screaming, panicked people reverberated throughout the halls damn if I get caught in this I thought to myself as I bolted through the doors only to be stopped dead in my tracks by this girl, whose skin was the wrong shade of purple and black, she was wearing a school uniform that was in tatters and covered in blood. Her intestines were hanging from her stomach and even from the 20 feet away I could smell the putrid odor of already decaying flesh.
"Hey!" I yelled at her as I stared in disbelief unable to comprehend what was happening. The screams of pain and panic rapidly drawing closer, I turned to see a mob of people less than thirty feet from me, so I quickly surveyed the area and decided I had two choices, choice A. engage whatever thing was in front of me, B. try to make my way back though the wall of students or I could jump on top of the railing, or C. scale to wall and make my way to the roof where I could get a better vantage point. It didn't take me long to realize that going up against and unknown… unknown or whatever this thing was in my path or running into a stampede without proper intel went against all my training, so I jumped the railing, scaled the wall and made my way to the roof. Once I got over the railing on top of the school I peered over and took a look at whatever it was I came into contact with. I couldn't belive what I was seeing. She or it was actually EATING someone! I peered out and scanned the school grounds to see that it wasn't just this one thing, but they were everywhere!
"What the fuck!" I screamed "how is there so many!, everything was fine 10 minutes ago!" everywhere I looked students and teachers alike were being consumed but these abominations. Organs and limbs littered the ground, blood soaked the floor painting it a crimson red. The screams of the injured and dying began filling the air only to be mixed with the moans and groans of these, these things. I was in awe of the complete and utter chaos and as I looked out over the hell that was materializing in front of me all I could think about was I hope Saeko is ok.
That's when I heard the awful sound of someone shuffling their feet awkwardly toward me, then I heard the moan it was roughly 10 feet behind me and closing. I allowed myself to take a deep breath and felt the very familiar feeling of excitement take over. "Time to go to work" I whispered as I drew my knife quickly turned and found myself surrounded by 15 or more of the walking ghouls. "ok motherfuckers let see what you got!" I yelled as I charged the one closest to me. I drew my arm back and drove the blade straight into the heart of the first creature, I smiled as the force of the blow knocked it back dislodging the knife while simultaneously knocking over 4 other creatures. "oh well this is no fun" I said as a felt my excitement slowly slip away "is that all you guys can take" I watched as they awkwardly tried to find their feet, they moved as if they were blind and Lame. I laughed as I allowed the other creatures to close in on me, thinking that this was going be the easiest fight in the world.
However that's when I noticed that the creature I had stabbed in the heart was now back on its feet and moving toward me again. "Well that's interesting" I said as I assumed and attack stance and switched my blade from a thrust hold to a sideways hold with the blade laying on the outside of my forearm. The creatures were now about 7 to 8 feet away and I still had no idea how to kill them. So I figured I would just start hitting them as hard as I could until they died because I sure as hell was not going to be on the menu today. So I took aim at the first creature and unleashed a vicious cross to the head snapping the to the side hearing the bones in his vertebre crack and dislodge from their original position i followed with and elbow to the rib cage forcing the creature to bend at the waist. Then I took a small step out and drove a picture perfect left uppercut using all the power in my legs to drive the punch upward connecting with the jaw snapping the head back with such force that the head was removed from the spinal cord. I watched as the dead body fell to the floor in a sickening thud. I had no time to look at the damage before I turned my attention to the rest of the pack as I started to pick apart each creature that dared enter my reach. I felt the excitement run back into my body as my strikes became faster and more powerful with each blow. Every second of training that I had accumulated throughout my entire existence came flooding back to me as muscle memory took over guiding my body into delivering blow after blow, my muscles expanding and contracting with unbelievable force, this Is what I lived for.
It had taken me just over a minute to fight my way through to pack of creatures to emptiness on the other side. I turned around to see the damage that was left in my wake. Every single body was broken and mangled from my punches, kicks, and joint breaks but to my disappointment only about 2/3 of the dead were actually dead, the rest were still attempting to chase me, their jaws wide and their appetites not in check. What do I have to do to kill you guys? I thought to myself. That's when I remembered the first one I had punched, that after I had dislodged his head from his spinal column it didn't get back up. I wonder I thought as I switched my knife back into a thrust hold in my right hand. I walked up to the nearest creature who was the shadow of a young girl maybe 16 years old and probably very pretty, up until she was killed and somehow resurrected by these things. Her school uniform was barely hanging on to her body as one of her breast dangled from her bra. During the confrontation I had broken both of her legs and severely dislocated her right shoulder yet despite the injuries she kept crawling using her mangled form to try to get to me so she could presumably eat me. I stood over her from about 3 feet away just out of her reach and said this prayer " May God bless your soul, and may you have a safe journey to the gates of paradise" I made the sign of the cross before plunging my knife deep into the back of her skull penetrating deep into the brain. Gravity allowed blood to flow freely from the open wound as almost instantly the creature creased to move. I withdrew my blade and wiped it clean on her clothes. "I guess the only way to kill you guys is just like the movies, a headshot" I smiled as I went to work on the remaining creatures ending their existence. Painted across my face was a huge smile. When I was finished with the remaining creatures I ran back to the railing and peered over trying to find anything that would tell me what I should do. Everywhere I looked I saw nothing but carnage and them. I watched as a group of students was surrounded and devoured. Their screams and pleading falling onto helps deaf ears. I averted my gaze knowing there was nothing I could do to help them. I felt my rage build as I stood there unable to decide my next move. Do I simply find my way out of here, no I couldn't do that I still had to find Saeko, I couldn't leave without knowing she was safe. I stepped up my efforts trying to find a clear path or a glimpse of something that I could go on when suddenly I notice a figure through the glass of the school wing running parallel to my position, moving quickly through the halls. It was a girl with full breasts, perfect figure, graceful movements and dark purple hair. She had a training sword in here hand and was simply pushing aside or delivering quick strikes to infected heads that crossed here path. "Saeko" I whispered as I turned and took off for the doors that lead downward. In those few seconds I had made up my mind. My body felt light as I ran as fast I could down the stairs only to be confronted by yet another horde. Sorry guys but I got a date I said to myself as I charged, using my knife to deliver quick and efficient kill shots littering the halls with the dead. The desire to kill returned as the fight dragged on. My adrenaline was spiking as I felt my body react and act almost on its own, I never lost a step as each blow was followed by another, each and every single one was either a kill shot or a setup for a kill shot and Soon the hall grew quiet again as I sped off down the corridor toward Saeko.
As I rushed down the halls I made use of my senses trying to capture and analyze everything that I had seen or experienced. So I knew they didn't feel pain, and I would have to assume they never get tired. Also they are really, really slow, individually they were easy to take on but a swarm of them and things would begin to get dangerous. I turned left at the end of the hall which you now take me perpendicular to where I had seen Saeko when I almost ran right smack dab into one of them. I was about 5 feet in front of a disfigured body of a boy who looked to be about 12 or 13. His entire right side was chewed off and blood fell from the wound. His skin devoid of any color and his eyes were nothing but expressionless orbs. I could see his ribcage and entrails falling from their places as he turned toward me and stumbled awkwardly in my direction when all of a sudden some one that was hiding in one of the classrooms slammed one of the classroom doors open. The sound seemed to bounce off the halls as I wiry girl no more than 80 lbs. stumbled from the room in an obvious panic my guess is that she had stayed in the room and hid while everyone else was trying to get out of dodge. I was just about to stirike the dead guy in front of me and put him down when I suddenly he did something unexpected, instead of going after me he turned and began pursuing the girl. Now why would he go after her when I was right in front of him? I watched as the girl stared at the beast that was now making its way toward her. She let out a blood curling scream before yelling out "Please help me!". I was about to respond when suddenly a shadow appeared behind her engulfing her in its shadow
"Move!" I yelled but it was too late. The abomination had already grabbed her by the neck as bit down on her shoulder removing a huge chuck of flesh. Her scream echoed through the building and I felt my rage skyrocket. I noticed that the one who was closest to me had changed direction immediately after I yelled out to the girl then changed once again when she began screaming. Sound, it must be I thought to myself right before I stabbed the first abomination in between the eyes ending its existence. I pulled back immediately and in 5 strides I covered the length of the hall and punched the other creature that was still biting into the girls shoulder. This caused the creature to let go and the girls body dropped to the floor in a heap. She did her best with what was left of her arm to help and scurry away to the opposite side of the hallway. I watched as the one I punched climbed to its feet and turn toward me. A staircase was located directly behind the creature and I could hear the moans of more dead making their way up the staircase. I wasted no time in dispatching the creature with a hard roundhouse kick that when connected I could feel the spinal column snap and the body was thrown down the staircase.
I quickly ran over to the girl picked her up and took her into the open classroom. She was already in shock and the color was quickly draining from her body. She was crying softly and shaking. I laid her down gently on the teacher's desk and locked the door thereafter making sure as to close it as quietly as I could I then jogged back over to where the girl was, took off my jacket and laid it over her it was a desperate move, a move I know wasn't going work. She had been bitten and we both knew what would come next. I positioned myself so that I was now sitting on the desk with her tiny head in my lap. She felt weightless; she was so small I thought to myself, so weak and so fragile. She had dark brown hair a light skin tone and deep black eyes. She would've been very pretty had she been allowed to live out her life. But instead here she was away from her family and friends and dying, slowly turning into the dead that aren't dead. "What's your name sweetheart" I finally said as I cupped her head making her stare directly into my eyes
"Yuki…Yuki Nakamono" she replied feebly followed by a cough that left blood stained on her hand, the transformation was already happening. "What's yours?"
"Gabriel Kael" I responded "I like you name Yuki, it's cute just like you"
This caused her to smile which quickly turned into a frown and tears began to form at the corner of her eyes "Why did this happen oneesama" she said through her watery eyes "why are people eating one another!"
"shhh" I said as I motioned for her to be quiet "I don't know Yuki, I wish I did" I felt a strange feeling pounding in my chest as I stared into the eyes of this child, at first I didn't recognize the feeling since it had been so long but once I realized what it was I remembered all too well as I had been in countless other situations with my friends who have died alongside me in war.
"I don't want to be one of them, I saw what happens. First you get bitten, then you die, then you come back to life only to want to eat other people" she was full on crying now "I don't want to be one of them"
I was taken aback at what I had heard and realized what I must do. "Yuki sweetheart," I said as I quietly flipped open my knife "your not going to turn, that I can promise you" I said smiling at her, it was and empty smile easily to see through. She immediately knew what I meant as she closed her eyes and smiled "Thank y—" she wasn't able to finish the sentence but I knew what she had meant. I had placed my knife at the back of her skull and lined it with the central cortex of the brain. The strike resulted in an instantaneous disruption within her central nervous system cutting all signals to her body and brain. She was dead in an instant. I felt the warmth of the blood start to pool around my hand that held the knife still lodged in the back of her skull. I gently removed the blade and wiped the blood off my hands and my knife on my jacket before removing it and placing it over the body before reciting this prayer.
In the name of the father,
And of the son,
And of the holy ghost
May god bless your soul and grant you safe passage to the kingdom of heaven.
I used my training to silence my feelings and walked back out the door. I still had an objective I wanted to accomplish. The hallway would curve around the staircase and continue on for about 50 feet before making a left which would put me in the same wing and on the same level as where I saw Saeko. I spotted a doorway directly in front of me that would lead outside to anther staircase on the outside of the building that I could use to reach the ground floors my plan was to check the wing where I saw her then if when wasn't there double back and use those stairs to get down to the courtyard where I would then search for there but I knew my time was limited. She had to be thinking of finding a way out, if she hadn't already done so. I was able to steal a couple looks out the windows that lined the hallway only to be repaid with images of them walking around eating everyone who wasn't within their ranks. Also I had spotted smoke and ash now filling the sky's this left me with the sickening realization that this school wasn't the only place that hell decided to visit today. I silently cursed to myself as I continued down the hallway and made to left that would lead me to Saeko last know position. As I turned the corner I was stopped by the sight of over thirty of the creatures roaming. Their Moans assaulting my eardrums, I retrieved my blade. I had to get through them sorry guys but I'm late for something I said as I charged in bashing my way through. I killed the first one with a powerful thrust of my blade, then sidestepped while removing the blade and engaged the second dead with a hard plant kick to the sternum knocking it back 10 feet and taking out the legs of 5 others which looked to me like they were some of my classmates three female and two male. I then took half a step, planted my feet jumped to the side of the wall and pushed off hard sending me sideways where I used a backhand thrust to pierce the next walking dead's head. This allowed me to put some distance between me and the rest of the pack to where I could plan my next attack. Seeing that the commotion had alerted more of the infected I decided to stop fucking around. I planted my foot and got ready to charge when out the corner of my eye, I caught a glimmer of purple. I turned my head to the right and looked out the window and down where I saw Saeko and a group of 6 others running through a pack of them bashing and bruising their way to what looked like a small bus. Shit I muttered as I quickly turned back to the infected before me sorry guys gotta go I said to myself as I delivered a roundhouse kick to the one closest to me snapping its neck and turning the now dead body into a bowling ball where's the other infected were the pins. I remember the door leading to the outside and ran toward it. I opened the door in time to watch as Saeko and the others were boarding the bus, but now they were being accompanied by another group of students separate from the original people that she was with. I was about to yell out to Saeko when I heard the moans of the dead behind me… way too close behind me.
Saeko POV
"Hurry up!" I yelled as the rest of the students following Mr. Shido boarded the bus. I found my seat a few rows from the back and looked out the window toward the school. Where the fuck is he I found myself thinking wait why do I care, here I am alone, just like me left me my anger began to rise but I found it difficult to not keep scanning the school grounds. He somewhere I thought to myself. I was about to look away when out of the corner of my eye I spotted something on the second story of the school. I focused my attention only to find that the second story fire escape door had been violently swung open and standing on the balcony of the spiral staircase was a man that I would recognize anywhere. Brown hair, deep black eyes, fair skin and built like a tank. "Gabriel" I said under my breath unable to speak fully, partly because of surprise, and partly because I wanted to know what happened next. I watched as he looked down at me, our eyes met for a brief moment before one of them appeared behind him. I gasped I knew I would be unable to warn him, but my fears were set aside when he quickly ducked and used what looked to be a pocket knife to jam one of them under the jaw and allowing the brain to be penetrated . The now dispatched infected fell to the floor to be replaced by another, to which Gabriel used a hard plant kick to drive the infected back. After he finished the strike he disappeared into the door what the fuck is he doing I thought to myself as I felt myself begin to get nervous. That's when he appeared again this time in a full sprint, I watched as he gracefully jumped on top of the rod iron railing and vaulted into the air from 2 stories up. His form was perfect as he jumped up instead of out allowing his speed to carry him instead of his trajectory. This allowed him to get the most distance from the vault. Just as his feet hit the ground he moved into a roll dispersing the energy from the fall so it would be absorbed throughout his entire body and not just his legs, finally coming to rest in a three point stance with one hand on the ground. The infected quickly closed in from the front only to be knocked down as Gabriel did a back handstand while kicking the infected in the jaw snapping its neck. Once he landed three more had already taken its place to which he used his blade to quickly penetrate their skulls. His movements were flawless, with absolutely no wasted actions he moved as if it was choreographed never missing a step. I noticed something different in his fighting style than I remember, it was almost as if he had no style, but had a style, like a blend of different types of strikes and kicks but with somehow different than traditional martial arts movements. I felt my body get Hot at the sight of him and I had to verbally talk myself out of allowing my hormones to take over. Embarrassed for the sudden burst desire I felt my face go hot.
"Ok hit it!" takashi yelled out as he closed the door behind Mr. Shido
"Got it!" Ms. Shizuka responded as I felt the bus begin to accelerate
"Wait, stop the bus!" I instinctively yelled, surprising myself from the sudden outburst
"Are you kidding me? We can't stop the bus, we will be overrun we have to keep momentum or this thing is going to flip over!" Saya yelled back.
Was I the only one that saw him! I thought wait why do I care, why would I want to risk the lives of everyone here for him! He left and now I'm leaving, payback is a bitch right…! But then why wont my heart stop beating so damn fast, I'm a warrior how can I be letting myself become worked up… and screw it I'll think about this later. My head was being flooded with thoughts as I turned and helplessly watched as more and more infected began to surround Gabriel. "Don't die, I'm the only one allowed to kill you remember" I whispered to myself.
Gabriel POV
"Damnit don't you guys take a hit!" I yelled as I pummeled and infected behind me with an elbow to the chin sending it reeling backward. I was able to get a glance at the bus that Saeko was on and I saw her staring at me for a brief moment until suddenly the bus lurched forward and began to accelerate away. I tried to pursue immediately but was cut off as the horde began surrounding me. I had to figure out something fast or else I would soon succumb to the dead's ranks.
I knew there was only one way that I would be able to catch that bus before it left me behind, and at the rate that it was traveling away I knew I only had mere seconds to make a decision. I grabbed one of the infected and spun it around then landed a kick to its back this in turn allowed me a little bit on breathing room, but it was all I needed. I dropped my hand to my side, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Soon I began to feel my body tingling all over as I subconsciously allowed my brain to fully open my adrenal glands. It was a technique I had learned by sheer accident during a mission in which I fully thought I was going to die. It allows me for a short period of time to use 100% of my muscle capacity giving me full use of my muscle and body. I let a half second tick by which was just long enough for me to allow myself to be completely surrounded by them and when I opened my eyes I felt as if my body was lighter than air as I drew both my hands back twisting at my waist I knew I would have one shot and one shot only so I targeted the nearest infected that was in the direction of where the bus was going ad release a double palm strike to the sternum which immediately cracked and broke and sent the body flying clearing a path in front of me. The strength of the blow was tremendous and I knew that I would need to rest those muscles soon or I would risk injury. I watched as the bus sped through the front gate and made a left just as I broke into my sprint, my body still full of adrenaline. Shit I thought as I realized that there was only one way I was going to make it to that bus. I took an angle that would lead me into the path of a 10 foot rod iron fence that outlined the school. When I was within range I sprang from my feet and one hopped onto the top of the fence which was only lined by a row of brick pillars 6 inches wide by 6 inches tall. By now the bus was directly to my right and was picking up speed. I would have to move quickly to match that speed or my jump would miss badly. I gritted my teeth as I turned parallel to the bus and began running using the bricks as footing, now or never! I thought to myself as I grabbed my knife and used all the power in my legs to drive off the fence and onto the top of the bus where landed hard while driving the edge of my knife into the sheet metal that made up the roof. I braced for impact as my inertia wanted to carry me off the other side. I tightened my biceps and gripped the handle of the knife as I felt my body slide off the edge my body slamming into the side of the bus, my knife cutting a foot long gash in the roof as it tried to slow my mass down. I felt my right shoulder dislocate as pain shot through my arm and traveled upwards to my neck. I did everything I could to not let go of the knife knowing that it was the only thing keeping me attached to this bus I grunted at the pain but was relieved when I felt the bus begin to slow down. As I did my best to use my dislocated shoulder to steady my body as I climbed the side of the bus to the roof where I dislodged my knife folded it and stuffed it in my packet with my good hand. Then I used my left to brace my right arm and hopped down from the roof when the bus had finally came to a halt and walked around to the door where it was already opened. I saw Ms. Shizuka and her huge attributes as well as Takashi and Rei standing in the doorway their hand open inviting me in "that was one hell of a jump" Takashi said to me with a smile
"I don't really want to did it again "I said with a chuckle as I boarded the bus and found Saeko staring directly at me a look of worry painted her face. "what you didn't think I was going to die did you?" it was a feeble attempt but I watched her turn her head from my gaze but just before she fully turned away I noticed something, I'm not sure what it was but I'd bet my left testicle that she smiled at me.
Author POV
Gabriel was in a great deal of pain. His dislocated arm hung from its socket and each step only brought on more pain. He did his best to fight thru the pain but somehow or another he was going to have to pop this thing into place. He only hoped that not too much damage had been done to the ligaments or tendons. Saeko barely moved at all as he walked by her and took a seat two seats back and across from her. Takashi was the first to break the silence, as the rest of the group just stared at Gabriel unsure of what to do or how to help. "Hey Gabriel, your arm don't look too good"
"Yeah you should have Ms. Shizuka take a look at it" a girl with pink hair that was tied in pigtails responded. As she turned in her seat to face Gabriel her breasts were hanging over the back of the seat giving him an all too good view of her busts.
Gabriel surveyed the group that was apparent on the bus. He came to the conclusion that he knew the people that were sitting in front of the bus. It seemed as though there was a rift between the two groups of people that occupied the cabin. Hirano Khota was a chubby but kind kid who Gabriel had saved earlier in the day he clutched in his hands what looked to be a rigged Nail gun interesting Gabriel thought he seems very resourceful. Next to him was a busty pink hair girl that was wearing glasses she was the one who suggested that Gabriel have the doctor look at his shoulder, he knew her name even though they had never been formally introduced. Saya Takagi, She was by far the definition of a genius,
Knowledgeable in pretty much every subject and even though she sometimes was arrogant she would defiantly become an asset to the group. The next two were Takashi Kumoro and Rei Miyamoto who sat just in front of Saya and Khota, on opposite sides of the isle. Takashi was a delinquent but also very charismatic a trait that would come in handy when dealing with other people and Rei was an all-around package she was in the spear club and she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. Gabriel just hoped that she wouldn't break under pressure. Ms. Shizuka was the driver but more importantly she was the doctor. Obviously she was very valuable because of her knowledge of medicine. That and the fact that she had massive tits didn't hurt either.
Then he turned to Saeko who was now looking at him with her peripherals, she seemed distant but curious at the same time. "It's ok she can look at it later" he responded as he was now staring at Saeko.
"What do you mean later?" Rei responded confused. Gabriel Never took his eyes off of Saeko as she slowly turned her body to face him her eyes were wide as she was trying to figure out where he was going with this.
Gabriel facial expression changed as it went from a serious look to a more sadistic smile. He felt the eyes of everyone on him but the only ones he was interested in were Saeko's dark purple eyes.
Gabriel POV
Finally I got her attention I thought as I stood from my seat and used my left hand to guide my right arm to the edge of the seat where I gripped the side tightly. I now stood in the isle with my hand on the furthest edge of seat in front of me. I wanted her to see this, I don't know why but I wanted to prove something and even if I didn't know what it was I still wanted to do it. Her eyes were locked onto mine and mine onto hers. It was a battle of who would look away first she knew what I was going to do yet she did nor said nothing as if taunting me to do it. So as I smiled a wide sarcastic grin I thrusted my right shoulder forward, dislodging the bone from the side of my shoulder blade where it rested out of place and popped it back into the socket. It made a very audible pop and I felt a shooting pain escape from the joint and reverberate throughout my chest. It was painful, very painful but I'll be damned if I'm the first one to look away. So I kept smiling as I heard the rest of the population in the bus shriek in horror from me putting my shoulder back into place. Slowly the pain resided as I rotated my arm in the socket just to make sure it was all the way in never once looking away from Saeko.
"Reckless as always I see" she finally said to me
I expected nothing less then sarcasm as I shot right back "learned from the best princess "
Saeko movements were fast, and agile as she drew her practice sword and brought it on a downward strike aiming for my neck and shoulders. I brought my right arm up and intercepted the blow inches from my head. I felt the massive amount of energy impact my forearm as the blade and my forearm ended in a locked stalemate with her still pressing down hard. Any normal person and it would've snapped the bones in two, but I was not normal and even though it hurt I was not a stranger to taking pain. "you've gotten faster" I said, she was still trying to break my guard by adding more force to the blade pushing downwards.
"So have you" she said through squinted eyes. I could feel the venom in her words "and don't ever call me princess" a few seconds ticked by, nobody dared say a word.
"Saeko… I'm not her to fight with you, I'm here to fight beside you" I lowered my voice and tried to make it as soothing as possible I wanted her to know I really was here to help.
"Why, so you can wait till I'm vulnerable again then just disappear like you did last time!" I stared into her eyes I needed to pick my words carefully if I was to de-escalate this situation.
"I am standing right in front of you, I came back… I've always came back" I responded.
"five years!" she shouted as she put even more strength into her sword inching it closer to my face
This wasn't working, it was going in the wrong direction and I had to do something fast but my frustration with the entire situation between us had finally reached a boiling point, I didn't care about the damn monsters anymore all I wanted was for her to know that she was the reason why I was here. The only reason why I was there, "Saeko, I-" I wasn't able to finish as the bus came to a screeching halt
"Hey you guys cut it out we are supposed to be helping each other!" Ms. Shizuka yelled back at us, as she bent over looking at me and her extremely large breasts we dangling in front of her and I couldn't help but stare. A moment went by and I felt the sword being removed from my forearm
"Very well, my apologies Ms. Shizuka" Saeko responded in a calm tone.
"Yes I apologize as well" I said following suit, as I took my seat the pain started in on my arm and began throbbing ill remember that Saeko. Ms. Shizuka turned around back in her chair and kept on driving in complete silence.
About five minutes ticked by where nobody spoke until Hirano got antsy "hey Gabriel where did you learn how to fight like that?, I first you helped me back at school then you fought your way out of it you must be pretty strong huh?"
The question caught me off guard as I looked at Saeko, then back to Hirano "I've been fighting for a very long time, since I was young my Father taught me to fight he was Ex-delta force, but it wasn't until I met someone very dear to me that it all came together" I saw Saeko look at me out of the corner of my eye.
"Oh cool!" he said as a smiled brightly looking like a excited kid.
"You should totally join the group then" a creepy voice said from behind me. I watched as Saya, Takashi, Hirano and Saeko turned to look at Mr. Shido "who is you leader?" he then asked
"We don't have a leader" Saeko responded "we just banded together in order to save our lives that's all"
"Well that's not very good, every group needs a leader" he said bending down to her level. I watched her eyes, I could tell she wanted to lash out at him, but why she didn't only god knows.
"And I suppose you want to job?" Saya asked in a sarcastic tone. At this point getting pretty pissed off, I hated arrogant people, especially people who are arrogant and are on a power trip.
"Well I am the adult" he said slyly
"Yeah I nominate Mr. Shido!" a boy with bleached hair blurted out followed by several other students from the back agreeing with him.
I scanned the cabin of the bus and read the faces. Everyone in the back looked like they had a hard on for Shido while Saeko, Saya, Rei, Hirano, and Takashi didn't look very amused by that idea, even Ms. Shizuka looked extremely uncomfortable. It didn't take me long before I realized which group I was going with. But I sure as hell wasn't going to go unarmed. I began looking outside to see if I could find any landmarks that I recognized, when I found one I saw that I was very close to my house and more importantly my weapons. We were currently heading on a road carved in the side of a mountain, but it was a road I recognized since I would frequently ride my motorcycle here. The different elevation changes and combination of blind corners and sharp s turns made it's a very fun road to ride.
"Ms. Shizuka, stop the bus please" I said in an even tone as I got out of my seat pushing Mr. Shido aside "I wish to get off" I added as I stared into his eyes making my face expressionless
"But Mr. Gabriel, your skills as—" I didn't give him a chance to finish as I whipped out my blade and held it at my side. I then slowly turned my body and stood tall I am 6 ft 200 lbs of solid muscle this prick was maybe 5 ft 10 inches 160 one punch and I would break him into pieces
"Save it," I said still keeping my knife visible but letting it hang at my side "I don't take orders from you, I'm in thier group" I said motioning to everyone in front of the bus.
My sudden desire to exit the bus did not go uncontested as I felt Saeko eyes burn into the side of my head. She is so calm and composed and no one else noticed, but I caught her gripping the end of her practice sword so hard her knuckles were white. Obviously it was a response to me wanting to get off the bus.
"Wait a second Gabriel, you can't go out there, you'll be killed!" Rei said. A tone of obvious fear was found in her voice.
Takashi followed suit "yeah man if your part of the group then why are you leaving" his voice sounded more confused if anything
"I have a plan, don't worry ill meet up with you guys later, Takashi, Hirano it's up to you to keep these ladies safe… for now" I said as I walked down the aisle to the front of the bus.
"I don't know why you would want to go out there but I guess I can't stop you, be careful kay" Ms. Shizuka said as she slowed the bus down and opened the door
"Don't worry I'll see you soon" I said as I looked back and waived "Mr. Shido" I paused before I raised my left hand and extended my middle finger "Fuck you" and I walked out the door.
I was 5 yards step outs the door when I heard the sound of footsteps rushing my way I turned just in time to see Saeko Storming out of the bus and rapidly approaching me at a very fast walk. She spoke just loud enough for me to hear. I guess she was trying to let this be a conversation that only I would be listening to.
"So… just like that huh, you really are a son of a bitch" she hissed
"Instead of attacking me at every opportunity why don't you just ask me what I'm doing it's a lot more polite"
"I know what you're doing, you're leaving me again" her gaze never swayed from my eyes as we locked in on each other, "you're leaving me so you can save your own skin"
This royally pissed me off, now I understand she is mad at me but to say that I'm trying to save myself is just downright fucked up. I felt my body heat rise at that statement but I knew that this wasn't the time or place to argue. "Saeko, if that's really what you think then I'm sorry. But I'm not leaving I have to get ahold of my HQ as well as stock up on some weapons, we can't fight them with this equipment." I trailed off before continuing "I'm coming back, I always have"
"Are you going to wait another 5 years" she snapped back
That was it; I turned my body and walked over to her she had her eyes locked onto mine even when I was inches away from her she never stopped looking at me. I made sure I got as close as I can without touching her, it was hard she was so beautiful so elegant. I could smell her hair and feel her body heat, her eyes were dark and beautiful as I gazed into them I wanted so badly to just reach out and touch her but it would ruin the message. She had her practice sword in her hand but she made no attempt to strike. "Ill find you I promise" I waited for the attack but it never came we stood there for a few seconds until I broke the silence "please trust me and get on the bus, they need you right now"
Saeko didn't move and didn't say anything for what seemed like ages before she took a step back did a quick turn and walked back to the bus. I watched her hair flow back and forth which each step and immediately felt alone a feeling that I had grown accustomed to but for some reason it was different when she left, everything with her felt different.
When she had gotten to the door of the bus she turn and looked at me before saying "don't die Gabriel" she didn't wait for a response she just turned and walked inside.
I put my head down I know, you're the only one allowed to kill me I thought myself as I watched the bus pick up speed and disappear around the curve of the mountain.
I waited until the bus was out of sight before I decided to start toward my house but not before looking over the ocean. It was beginning to get dark as the sun was setting and the sky was flooded with all different shades of orange, and purple. The ocean breeze gently blowing against my face feeling refreshing and cool, it was a beautiful sight as I savored the image trying my hardest to burn it into my memory. I knew that everything had changed; the city was presumably being overrun by infected. I pulled out m cell phone and dialed the secure number to AA headquarters which was located on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I needed a situation report and possibly some back up. Come on I thought as the phone attempted to make a connection but I was rewarded with a busy tone indicating that the cell sites were all clogged up. It would be near impossible to get a call through cellular I would have to use an outside hardline. I ended the call and took a look around me. No infected were around but I was sure that there would be as soon as I entered the residential area. I decided that until I had a better weapon that it was just too dangerous to go head to head with a sizable pack with just a knife I had gotten through the school alright but I didn't want to press my luck, and disappoint saeko by being taken out by one of those freaks. I would have to use stealth as much as possible. I ran through the city streets as fast as I could without having too much trouble the majority of the way. When I was roughly about a block away I noticed the foul smell of rotting bodies as I ducked behind a large trash can at the mouth of an alley way. I peeked my head from around the trash can and surveyed the area. They were all just kind of roaming, not really even in the same direction even so much as to be bumping into each other and everything around them. There were easily around a hundred way too much to take on as a pack but if I could be quiet I might be able to sneak by them. I was about to make my move when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of someone and they were holding what looked like a 12 gauge shotgun. The Man looked to be about 40 years of age and was wearing clothes that were stained from head to toe with blood. His had a feral look in his eyes "Die you bastards" he screamed as he fired a shot into the hoard. The infected all turned and began to pursue what would soon be their next meal. "This is for my Tomoki" he screamed as he pumped shell after shell into them. I could only assume that Tomoki was a daughter of a wife maybe, but as far as his well-being was concerned it didn't matter. That pump gun only holds 8 rounds maximum until he would have to reload and by that time they would be all over him. I thought briefly about jumping into the fray but my good will only goes so far and although I'm not a stranger to suicide missions, I still had a goal to keep. "FUCK shut up and run you dumb bastard" I whispered silently to myself as I watched the pack of infected swarm the man. His gunshots were soon drowned by his screams as the living dead began to sink their teeth into his flesh, spilling his blood all over the concrete and the walls surrounding him. Fuck I said to myself well sir your death as unfortunate as it is has just made my job a whole lot easier I finished the thought and ducked out from behind my cover and ran to my apartment which was on the second floor of a small apartment complex. I made sure to be as quiet as I could as I walked quickly up the stairs, opened my front door and made sure to latch and dead bolt the lock shut. "ok, now to only take what I could carry" this made me smile a bit as I realized that every piece of armor and armament I had was meant to somehow be carried along with all my other gear. This was accomplished by me having made custom harnesses and holsters made for all my weapons and gear. I would start with the basics which was entitled to stripping down and putting on my lower body, Gore-tex combat boots, thick tight fitting skivvies for underwear that hugged my "assets" to prevent chaffing, Custom made AA form fitting armor that wrapped around my thighs, gluteus and private areas capable of withstanding type III weapons. Over that I would wear my urban camouflage made up of state of the art patterns involving different colors and shades of grey and black combinations. On my upper torso would consist of an under armor rash guard and over that another Custom made AA Form fitting ballistic vest to cover my chest and sides but offered no protection to my arms or shoulder due to my need in mobility. Then my weapons were next. I had made a custom harness that allowed me to hold my two tomahawks tightly at my sides under my armpits; they could be dislodged from a button on the bottom of each sheath. Then I had my dual leg holsters where I would house my two 1911's and the mag pouches would be placed along the belt at my waist and hip for easy access and quick reloads. Each Pouch would hold 2 fully loaded 10 round magazines of 45 caliber hollow points and one in the weapon giving me 7 magazines each handgun. On the middle of my back was another sheath that would hold my Katana. I finally grabbed the smith and Wesson and dumped it into the small of my back. Once all my weapons were in place I grabbed my equipment vest and slid that over my weapon harness. On the harness across the front was 4 magazine pouches each holding 2, 30 round pmags for my M6A3 Assault rifle giving me a total of 9 fully loaded magazines. Over my right shoulder was a sheath for my K-bar combat knife which I securely locked into place. I made sure that every pouch was loaded and every weapon was cocked and locked with the safeties on. I had everything locked into place except for my Katana to which I lightly grabbed out of its box where it laid. Well my good friend it looks like the crimson ghost is back I thought to myself as I whipped it around my head and slid the blade into the sheath. I locked into place with a satisfying click and I was finally done with the weapons aspect. Now for any normal human being carrying this much weapons and ammunition would be completely over kill and way too heavy. But I am not a normal human being and while I did note the weight would undoubtly slow me down considerably, we would need these weapons and there was only one way to really carry them.
Now that I was fully armed I knew I needed to also take as much food and supplies as would allow to I grabbed my ruck as started filling it with MRE's water. I would pack three days' worth which I hoped would be more than enough to last until I met up with the others. I also made sure that I threw in my other simple holsters in the ruck before finally walking out the door.
I got about three steps before I had realized I forget something turn and ran back into the apartment where I grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels took a swig and threw it into the backpack as well. Can't forget the staple I thought to myself allowing a small chuckle as I closed the door and headed towards the city. I needed to find high ground.
Heading toward city on bus
"You ok Saeko?" Takashi asked in a worrisome voice.
"Tisk" she snorted "I'm fine don't worry about me" she finished as she flashed a smile toward him. Takashi gave her an apologetic look. "I'm serious don't worry about me what we need to be worrying about is what our next move is"
"Roger that" he said giving her a thumbs up then turning back to Rei. Saeko surveyed the group, Miss Shizuka was focusing on the road, Takashi and Rei were quietly conversing among themselves and Saya and Hirano were mostly staring off into space. Then there was the bastard Mr. Shido who was talking to the students in the back, something about him cleansing them of their sins or some bullshit. And they were hanging on his every word. Disgusting she thought before suddenly she found her mind filled with images and memories of her and Gabriel. Happy memories, stuff that she could never forget no matter how hard she tried and suddenly she found herself feeling extremely alone, which pissed her off as she gripped her practice sword tighter don't die you sonavabitch she thought to herself I'm not finished with you yet.
Thank you all for reading!, I'm hoping to turn this into a epic story Review and Lemme know what you guys think!and again THANKS!