HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD: SHADOWS

Chapter two: the hunters home

The sound of an automatic weapon rang out through the street followed by the sound of several bodies hitting the ground. The teenage vigilante calling himself Shadow ejected the empty clip from his M4, quickly slid in another clip, took aim, and blew the heads off of another group of zombie in a burst of automatic fire.

"Lets move!" he said breaking into a sprint with the others following close behind

"You do realize the gunfire will attract more of them don't you?" Saya asked for the umpteenth time

Shadow glanced back at her with an annoyed expression then turned back to look where he was going just in time to kick down a zombie. She was really starting to piss him off. They had been running for several hours now because the shortcut to the factory had been blocked off by zombies and she kept on nagging him about many different things from where to go and what weapons to use and he was really getting irritated. They continued to run down the street for another five minutes and they all started to wonder where Shadow was taking them. Shadow then stopped and held up his hand motioning for them to stop. They held back while he crept up the side of the building and leaned past the corner to look down the street. There was the factory but shuffling towards them was a large horde of zombies. He quickly ducked back behind the building.

"Well?" Saya demanded

"My hideout is just ahead but there's a ton of zombies between here and there."

Takashi cursed while everyone else looked nervous.

Well it looks we'll have to find another way around." Saya sighed.

"That's one way but where's the fun in that." Shadow said with a smirk pulling out a bottle with a cloth in it

"What are you thinking?" Asked Takashi.

Shadow didn't answer. He only pulled out a lighter. Kohta's eyes lit up seeing what he was doing.

"Oh cool! you're gonna hit em with Molotov cocktails?"

"That's the plan." he replied opening up a nearby cardboard box filled with them. He handed one to each member of the group except for Alice.

"Lets go." He said leading them into the street. He then lit the clothes of all their bottles.

"On my mark." He ordered. They all pulled back their arms.

"3…."

"I gotta bad feeling about this." Rei whispered to Saya

"2…."

"This is gonna kick ass!" Kohta said excitedly

"1!" with that they all tossed their bottles which left a trail of smoke through the air then smashed in the middle of the horde creating a massive fireball that engulfed them all. The group watched as the zombies were burned to a crisp while a few stragglers walked towards them. Shadow raised his rifle to take them out but Saya grabbed on to it.

"You idiot didn't you hear what I told you earlier? Its bad enough we had to bomb those things but do you need to make more noise? You'll only bring an army down on us you idiot! They only respond to sound so quit trying to-"Shadow cut her off by shoving his rifle into her and knocking her to the ground making everyone gasp.

"What the he-Shut up." Shadow snarled cutting her off.

"Ever since we met all you have done is bitch and complain and it's really getting on my nerves. I've had a lot more experience with these things than you have so just shut the hell up!" he barked angrily.

Saya looked up at him fearfully and nodded. He was right he did have a lot more experience with these situations then any of them and a lot more dangerous than any of them could imagine. He was not someone she could afford to make an enemy out of.

"If you really want me to stop shooting then I guess I'll do this the old fashioned way." He said as he drew his sword, dashed forward, and cut them all down in a few swift moves. By then the fire had died out and the street was clear. The group moved towards the factory and Shadow kicked down the door and led them through the abandoned building. He quickly spotted his latter and jumped onto it and climbed it followed by everyone else. Soon they found themselves on the roof. They all took a moment to look around and catch their breath.

"So your hideout is an abandoned factory?" Takashi observed. Shadow nodded in reply

"There isn't anything up here except a fold out chair and a makeshift fire pit." Rei observed. "Don't you have anywhere to sleep or eat or that stuff?"

"This is only my look out area my room is over there." He said pointing at a trap door in the corner.

"HOLY CRAP!" Kohta exclaimed picking up a very big gun. "A barrette .50 caliber sniper rifle! This is one of the most powerful rifles in the world and was originally developed for and used in M2 Browning machine guns. It developed by a guy named Ronnie Barrett who began his work in the early 1980s and the first working rifles were available in 1982, hence the designation M82. Barrett designed every single part of the weapon personally and then went on to market the weapon and mass produce it out of his own pocket. He continued to develop his rifle through the 1980s, and developed the improved M82A1 rifle by 1986. The first conventional military success was the sale of about 100 M82A1 rifles to the Swedish Army in 1982. Major success followed in 1990, when the United States armed forces purchased significant numbers of the M82A1 during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq. About 125 rifles were initially bought by the United States Marine Corps, and orders from Army and-"GIVE IT A REST FATTIE!" Saya shouted breaking him out of his rant.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "You seem to know your weapons. I'm impressed." He commented

"I went through army training during a trip to America where I was taught by a black water instructor for a month." Kohta told him.

Shadow nodded in reply before turning away to clean his weapons.

"I don't trust this guy." Saya whispered.

"Why because he decided he didn't want to hear you nag him?" Takashi snickered.

Saya turned red hearing that. "I mean that he completely unpredictable instead of trying to avoid fights he goes looking for them. If he comes with us it would be suicide. Not to mention the fact that he might go crazy."

"I have to disagree with you on this."Said Saeko." He is very sane I can assure you. You seem to forget who he is. A strong man who has able to hold his own for a very long time and if what Kohta said is true he is capable of bringing down whole armies. His skills with a sword rival mine, his knowledge and skill with guns matches Kohtas, he may be smarter than Saya" she paused to see Saya fuming. "And like Takashi he is a natural leader. He would be a great asset to us."

"Saeko is right. We should try to stay with this guy if he will allow it he could help us find me and Takashi's parents a lot faster. And if he was able to survive this like this even before the outbreak he definitely won't go psycho."Said Rei

Well we don't even know if this guy is the real Night Hunter. He could be just some faker for all we know." Saya argued.

"If he's an imposter then how was he able to kill those guys like that?" Takashi asked

Saya opened her mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything to say.

Alice simply looked on not really understanding the situation, Shizuka was spacing out, zeke was chasing his tail, and Kohta was drooling over the massive sniper rifle.

The group continued to argue about it for a little while longer while the sun set in the distance.

Shadow turned his attention from his weapons back to the group. Unknown to them he was hearing everything they were saying. Apparently they were debating whether or not to bring him with them to where ever it was they were going. The pink haired girl didn't seem to like him but the group's leader and the other two girls were keen on taking him with them but he already knew his decision. He wanted no part of what they were doing he had his own duties to fulfill and going with them would only cause trouble. He had to make sure they left by next morning. The sun was setting in the distance.

"Today went by pretty fast." he mused to himself.

Shadow stared off at the sun while the group bickered some more.

An hour later they were all sitting down around the make shift fire pit eating dinner that shadow had cooked. Everyone stayed silent while they ate. Shadow had his back to them while he ate.

"Hey Shadow how exactly did you take down that major drug trade we heard about on the news?" the fat kid asked breaking the silence getting everyones attention. Shadow kept his back turned to them.

"What's it matter to you?" he asked.

"Well I just think that it was so awesome how-you think killing people is awesome?" Shadow growled turning towards him. The fat kid flinched seeing the look he was giving him.

"There was nothing awesome about that night those people were doing horrible things. I found bodies of victims they had tortured, raped, and killed in one of the storage rooms and the smell…I can still smell it. They did all that for money so I punished them for it that's all there is to the story." He said standing up to face the group. Everyone was silent as Shadow glared at them.

"You leave first thing tomorrow morning." He said.

The leader nodded. "By the way we never really did introduce ourselves. I'm Takashi Komuro"

"K-K-Kohta Hirano." The fat kid said nervously.

"Rei Miyamoto." Said the brown haired girl.

"Saeko Busujima." Said the purple haired girl.

"Saya Takagi." The pink haired girl said giving him a dirty look which he returned.

"I'm Shizuka Marikawa." Said the blond women.

"I'm Alice Maresato and this is Zeke." Said the little girl holding up the dog who barked at him.

Shadow nodded turned away.

"Hey Shadow? we need to ask you a favor." Said Rei.

"I know what you're going to ask and the answer is no." he replied

"What?"

Shadow turned back to look at them. "You want me to go with you to help find their parents." He said pointing at Takashi and Rei. "And my answer is no. I have duties to fulfill and they don't involve going with you."

"Oh and why not!" Saya shouted angrily.

"There could still be people out there in the city who need my help and going with you would prevent me from helping them." He said glaring at her.

"We ARE people who need help." She shot back.

"I gave you my help already. You don't need me anymore So stop telling me otherwise you idiot."

"DON'T CALL ME AN IDIOT! I'M A GENIUS!"

"THEN WHY DON'T YOU ACT LIKE IT?"

"ME SURVIVING THIS LONG IS PROOF OF IT!"

"WELL YOU LOOKED PRETTY SCREWED WHEN I FOUND YOU!"

"FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!"

"SAYA THAT'S ENOUGH!" Takashi shouted.

"But-"Takashi cut her off with a stern look.

"She does have a good point though. Why can't you help us? We could really use it and you said its your duty to help people like us." He said.

Shadow grunted. "you guys are well armed, you have a medical expert, two people who are trained for situations like this, a….brain if that's what you call her." He muttered looking at Saya with disgust while she fumed angrily. "And you Takashi. A natural leader. You don't need me." He said turning his back to them.

"I can see your point but we aren't as strong as we seem. We're exhausted, low on ammunition, food and medical supplies, we keep getting into battles that we barely survive and we have a child that we have to take care of. At the rate we're going we aren't going to last long out there that's why we need your help."

Shadow did not respond.

"Chances are that there are a lot more people where our parents are and they might not be doing well right now. I'm not demanding that you come with us but try to understand our position. You say your duty is to help innocent people right? Well here's an opportunity for you. Besides what if your parents were over there?"

Shadow clenched his fists and spoke through gritted teeth. "I told you before my parents are dead."

"oh…yeah…sorry."

"Don't bother." Shadow grunted

"well it's your choice…but just consider what I said." Takashi murmered.

Shadow then walked over to his room and pulled out several sleeping bags and tossed them to the group then jumped down the trapdoor and pulled it shut.

"That went well." Saya grumbled

"We should try to convince him some more in the morning." Said Rei.

Saeko shook her head. "No he has made his decision and we must respect it."

Takashi nodded in agreement. "Saeko's right there's no point in trying to convince him anymore he isn't going to listen."

"I don't know about you guys but I'm going to sleep." Said Shizuka with a yawn.

"yeah we should probably get some rest if were gonna get anywhere tomorrow." Takashi sighed.

The group said their good nights got into their sleeping bags. A few minutes later they were all asleep.

A few minutes after everyone had fallen asleep. The trap door in the corner opened and Shadow emerged from it. He looked over the group for a few seconds as they slept then walked over to the edge of the building and looked out over the city.

"If I just stay in one area alone…will I be doing more harm than good?" he thought to himself as he stared out in to the night thinking about Takashi's words.

"What if he's right? What if I'm just sending these guys to die tomorrow?"

Shadow continued his thoughts for several more minutes when a whimper broke him out of his thoughts. He turned to see the little girl Alice crying and shivering in her sleep.

"Mommy…Daddy…" She murmured.

It was their and then Shadow made his decision.

"All right everyone up." Said Takashi.

Everyone slowly got up yawning and groaning.

"Takashiiiii!" Shizuka whined. "Why do we have to get up so early?"

"Because that guy doesn't want us here so we need to get out of his hair before he does anything to us." He replied.

"Finally we get away from that asshole." Saya grumbled.

Takashi rolled his eyes.

"Wait we don't even know what part of the city we 're in how are we supposed to get to where we're going now?" asked Rei.

Takashi cursed.

"Does anyone have a map?" Asked Kohta

" I know this city very well we aren't going to need a map." A voice from behind them said

They all turned to see Shadow walkin towards them carrying a large duffel bag filled with weapons ammo, and medical supplies.

"We?" asked Takashi trying to fight back a grin

Shadow nodded. "Yeah now pack up we leave in ten minutes

TBC…