Hey! This is chapter 2 if haven't already guessed. I don't have much to say so, without further ado! Chapter 2 (heehee that rhymes)!
Disclaimer: I do not own High School of the Dead, if I did that would be fucking awesome! But I don't…..
Please, Enjoy!
Chapter 2
Takaeda's P.O.V.
"How… much… further?" Koiyuki said between breathes.
"Not too far! We're almost to the next stair case!" I answered.
"Can… we at least… take a break?" Kaito asked, still trying to breathe.
We've been sprinting for a while now. Ever since Yoko had a sudden realization that her brother could be in trouble we've been running our legs off! Now we were at the 2nd level. We ran into Them a few times but they were easily taken care of. It's actually quite fun to fight for your life believe it or not! I can't really describe the feeling well… I guess what I feel when I kill is… if anything, power… When you're fighting for your life you actually hold a lot of power. It's the power to live and to hold other lives all in your hands. I could stop fighting and die, let my friends die, and forget all about Yoko. Or I can run! I can fight! I can live! This world has always been boring, I'm glad to have something interesting! And that begs the question…. "Have we gone insane?" The answer? We were never sane to begin with…..
"Yoko! I know you want to rescue Kanasei, but if you keep this up you'll drain yourself of all your energy!" I called to her, trying to convince her.
She was silent and continued running ahead of our group.
"Yoko! You'll be useless if you continue this! We need to stop!"
I could feel myself getting more tired. The others looked like they were gonna faint at any time.
"Damnit, Yoko! Listen to us!" Akira yelled.
"SHUT UP!" Yoko cried. "I don't want him to be alone! He won't be alone! I'm supposed to be there!"
With the last of my strength I tackled Yoko to the ground with her kicking and screaming. The others completely plopped down on the floor to.
"What the hell's wrong with you!" She yelled at me, pounding my chest. "I promised! I promised we wouldn't be alone anymore!"
She bowed her head and curled up to me. She was crying. I just sat there with her and held her.
"I don't- I don't want to cry anymore…. I don't him to cry anymore…" She whispered.
"I know… Don't worry, he'll be fine. He's your little brother after all!" I said.
She laughed a bit and looked up at me with a smile. I returned the smile and kissed her on the forehead.
"It's not good to be out in the open. Get in here." Akira said, pointing to the Tech room.
I helped Yoko up and we went in the classroom.
"Boys, you mind helping me barricade the door?" Akira said, trying to push a desk.
"Why? I didn't see any of Them outside." Kaito said.
"No, she has a point. We need to be ready for anything." I added.
Kaito sighed but agreed. And on the count of three we picked up the desk and moved it to block the door while the girls set a few chairs up to strengthen the barricade.
"There! That should do it!" Koiyuki announced.
"Hey guys, come look!" Yoko said, pointing out the window.
Outside was even worse than in here! An army of Them surrounded the school and out in the streets it looked like utter pandemonium!
"Kanasei….." Yoko breathed.
I placed my hand on her shoulder.
"Like I said, he'll be fine." I said, trying to comfort her.
"Yea… I hope so…"
"Guys look!" Koiyuki exclaimed.
"What is it?" Akira asked.
"Out in the street! Look!"
We looked out the window and tried to see where she was pointing. It was…. The greatest sight ever! A bus! A school bus was right by the gate.
"Hell yea! We can get out of here!" Kaito cheered.
"Yeah! It's not like we're still on the second floor and have to get pass a hoard of Them!" Koiyuki said sarcastically.
Kaito growled at her but she had a point.
"Akira, what do you think?" I asked.
I looked Akira and I guess she was already on it! She was in her thinking pose, hand to chin, her elbow resting in her other hand and she tapped her foot. She after standing around for a while she opened the window and looked down at the ground, then scanned the area, looked at us, then the room.
"Guys, look in the room. Rummage through everything!" She commanded.
And we did what she said. We looked all over and we found the usual things in a Technology Class, some workshop equipment, first aid, and school supplies like pencils, pens, markers, paper, the usual. The only area we haven't checked was a cabinet that was locked. We figured the key was in the teacher's desk but we couldn't get to it and we absolutely would not risk moving the only safety we have.
"Damn, if I had my lock pick this would be easy!" Kaito said.
Akira rummaged through her hair and pulled out a hair pin which let the part of her hair that was in a ponytail, fall to her shoulders.
"Will this work?" She said handing it to Kaito.
"Perfect!"
Now that I actually looked at us, we looked terrible! Yoko's long blonde hair was all stringy, her uniform was stained with blood (thankfully not hers) and she had a few bruises but nothing to major. Akira's black hair, tinted with a shade of purple, fell in clumps on her shoulders and ended at her midsection her uniform had blood to but not so much since she didn't fight. Koiyuki's bright red hair fell to her waist and was a little messy and she looked like she could've seen better days but overall she looked more decent that we did. Kaito looked fine and I think I was to. I almost laughed on how dysfunctional we all are!
"And… Got it!" Kaito said with finality.
He opened the door and peered inside.
"Oh, hell yea!" He said.
"What'd you find?" Akira asked.
He had a big smile on his face when he pulled out this circular saw blade.
"What else is in it?" Yoko asked.
We looked inside and found a couple of boxes that we took out. They contained some more equipment and extra pieces.
"Found it! I knew they had some in here!" Akira declared.
She pulled out a blanket or a tarp or something.
"They use these to cover up projects and stuff so people don't mess with it!" She explained.
"And that's important, how?" Yoko asked.
Akira simply smiled. She started tying each of them together to make one big rope.
"So? It's just a ro-" I stopped.
I looked out the window. I realized what she's doing.
"A rope indeed…" She smiled.
"Okay…. I still don't get it." Koiyuki said.
"Okay then. Listen up, I made a plan!" Akira declared.
"Wait guys! Check this out!" Kaito said still going through a box.
He pulled out a staple gun.
"Check it out! Cool huh?"
Yoko smacked him on the head.
"Ow! What the fuck!"
"Would you pay attention dammit!"
"I was thinking this could be useful! You didn't have to hit me!"
"Yea, I did! Just give me the stupid gun."
"No! I'm keeping it!"
"Give! Now!"
"No!"
They started arguing and fighting over it. I could tell Akira was getting annoyed I was to. Koiyuki was just laughing at them, until suddenly we heard a click kind of sound. We looked at Yoko and Kaito. Kaito's hand was bleeding; the idiot had just stapled himself.
"AH! SON OF A BITCH! That hurts!"
"That's what you get!" Yoko smiled.
"It's you're damn fault!"
"My fault!"
"Both of you just SHUT UP!" Akira yelled.
We all then heard a bang on the door. Then the smell… the smell of rotting dead.
"Oh, shit! They heard us!" Koiyuki said.
"What if it's just people!" Kaito asked.
Another loud bang! Followed by moans.
"I highly doubt it." I said.
Akira finished tying the blankets together and tied one end tightly to a desk propped up against the wall then tossed it outside.
"Now, I don't have time to explain but once you get down head straight for the bus! I'll say the order we will go out in! The rope can't hold to many people so move fast once it's your turn." Akira ordered
Another loud bang and this time the glass on the door cracked.
"First is Kaito! Once you get down there I want you to just bolt! Head directly to the bus! The key will probably not be there but I'm sure you know how to hot-wire it! GO NOW!"
Kaito nodded as he grabbed his staff and started to crawl out the window.
"Next one is you, Koiyuki! Take this!"
She handed her the saw blade-gun thing that Kaito found. I don't know when the hell she made that though!
"Use this! I don't care how just go! But wait till Kaito's almost down. I want you to then not stick around but don't go too far. If one of us gets into trouble you can run to the rescue, but keep more of an eye out for Kaito!"
Koiyuki just nodded and went to see how far down Kaito was. A loud bang at the door again! The glass broke as theystretchedout their cold dead arms, trying to grasp their next meal that was just out of reach. Kaito apparently made it down because Koiyuki started to make her decent.
"Takaeda! You're next! Same thing applies!"
I nodded. I was about go but the door was being pried open by Them. It didn't felt right for me to leave the girls, not now.
"Your chivalry is bullshit right now dammit! Get going!" Akira yelled.
The girls stood in fighting positions. Akira had nothing on her and Yoko had her extremely damaged staff, while I had a bloody, messed up staff.
"Well, worth a shot." I thought.
I stood next to them in fighting stance.
"What the hell are you doing!" Yoko asked.
"You guys go! I'll hold them off!" I said.
"Damnit, Takaeda! I can't explain it right now but there's a reason for my order! Go now!" Akira yelled.
"No! I'm staying!"
The door was being pushed open even more now. They were just about through.
"God damnit!" Akira yelled in exasperation.
She started frantically looking around the room, digging through boxes, looking in shelves, drawers, cabinets, and just started pulling out a bunch of random stuff.
"Akira? What are you doing!" Yoko asked.
Bang! A couple of chairs fell from the door. One of Them started wiggling its way through the door. Once it was on our side, we'd have to fight. But Yoko wasn't thinking about waiting. She ran up to it and stabbed it straight in the head, once she ripped out her staff its limp body fell to the floor. But that didn't stop Them. More and more started to pile on top of each other, Yoko did her best to keep them away but more just kept coming in its place! Until, BOOM! The door had finally flung open… The hoard of Them piled into our little room. The smell of rotting dead in this enclosed area made it hard to breathe. Akira was still doing something with all the random crap she collected while Yoko and I fought the hoard. Their movements may have been slow but there was so many of Them that it didn't matter. They just kept coming, one after the other! At one point Yoko's staff split in half while slamming one of Them in the head. My own weapon was starting to look nearly busted as well.
"Akira we need help!" Yoko yelled.
Slowly we were starting to be cornered. I looked at Akira who was kneeling behind me, still working on something. I went back to trying to fend Them off.
"Akira! We need-" I started.
I was interrupted by something flying passed my face and I saw one of Them suddenly fall to the ground.
"One down…" Akira said.
She was standing behind me with a wicked smile on her face. She was holding some sort of…. gun! It looked like one of those saw machines but with this firing mechanism attached to it. She continued to shoot Them down, one by one.
"You two! Get out!" She commanded.
"We're not gonna leave you!" Yoko argued.
"DO IT!" She said more forcefully.
She kind of scared us with the intensity in her voice.
"Don't worry about me. I figured myself out…" She said.
She never stopped shooting them with god knows what were her bullets but they were affective. They continued to fall, one, two, three, four. I looked at Akira's eyes… she had our eyes now…
"I knew…. I knew I could never bare to have another humans blood on my hands….."
The hoard of them kept coming but it seemed not to matter. Five, six, seven, eight….
"Then I realized, "I don't need to have blood stained hands to kill!" She laughed. "This is it! This is what I can do! Now go! I'll be right behind you!"
We nodded and I quickly started to make my way down the rope. Luckily there weren't as many of them down here as I thought, well, at least not where I'm at. A lot of Them were heading over to the bus where I could see Kaito and Koiyuki were almost to. When I got to the bottom I made sure it was clear of Them, then I waited for Yoko.
-Yoko's P.O.V-
"Yoko! Stop day-dreaming and move your ass!" Akira shouted.
I could see that she was being surrounded but in my haste to get down for her I sort of….. fell… and while I tried to grab the rope my weight just ripped it and the makeshift rope came down with me. As I was falling I kept thinking;
"This is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt!"
I shut my eyes expecting to fall anytime soon but, I landed on something soft-ish. When I opened my eyes I saw Takaeda holding me/ I think I fell on him.
"My hero!" I laughed.
"Yea, no problem." He said while rubbing his legs.
Yep, he tried to catch me but I guess he tripped and I fell on his lap. Nice save!
"Damnit Yoko!" Akira yelled.
I looked up and saw her still inside, and then I remembered….I have the rope… -_- She threw down her gun at me expecting me to catch it, but her gun had a saw blade attached to the front, I tried to catch it but I was worried it might cut my hand off, so it fell. "I hope it didn't break" I thought after I picked it back up.
"Takaeda, heads up!" Akira called.
And she jumped out of the window with a bag filled with who knows what and I don't even know where the fuck she got it! Takaeda ran frantically to catch her and she fell right on top of him, like me I guess.
"Owwww….." He groaned.
"Thanks." Akira said.
"Yea…. No prob."
Takaeda got back up after Akira got off and he kind of stumbled a bit but he assured me he was fine. The zombies that were up in the 2nd floor tried climbing out the window but they just fell and broke their legs, it made me laugh.
"Okay guys let's move!" Akira ordered.
We nodded and darted to the bus. Since we took so long, Kaito and Koiyuki were already at there and took out quite a bit of Them. Suddenly, Takaeda just fell. He was grabbing his leg in pain.
"Takaeda! Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yea… I'm fine…"
He tried to stand up but just fell again.
"Ah! Fuck, my leg!"
I tried to see if it was broken or not but I couldn't tell shit.
"Yoko, Takaeda, watch out!" Akira yelled.
I looked up and saw one of Them right over us! I shut my eyes and held on to Takaeda to try to protect him, but I heard something fly past my ear, and a shriek.
"Damnit! Let's go!"
Akira saved us. We carried Takaeda on our shoulders and continued to move. We had to take a few of Them out but overall it was fine. We finally made it to the bus and Kaito looked like he got it working, we didn't even get the chance to sit down before he punched the gas, sending us flying. As we got to sit down I could see he plowing through Them, blood splattering all over the windows, until we finally broke through the gates. Finally free of this hell….. But moving to a new one. The streets were desolate and bloodied up; the stores were empty and torn apart.
"Wait! Stop here!" Akira shouted.
Kaito immediately slammed on the brakes, launching us forward.
"What? What, happened!"
Akira pointed to a small store that looked completely ran-sacked, but she opened the bus door and ran straight to it. We all went after her but I made Takaeda stay until we could figure out the severity of his injuries. He agreed and propped himself against the driver's seat. When we got inside Akira was wondering around the aisles. It was apparently a gun store or something, just without the guns. Makes sense because of the whole "apocalypse" thing.
"Akira?" I asked.
"This would be a great idea if there were actually guns." Kaito said.
"There's nothing left." Koiyuki added
Akira ran to the back of the shop, we shrugged and followed.
"Found it!" Akira exclaimed.
She was trying to open a locked door. I guess she likes locked things….
"Kaito, you have my hairpin still?"
He dug through his pockets and pulled it out.
"As a matter of fact I do!" He said as he began to unlock the door.
"So why is he doing this, again?" Koiyuki asked.
"I've been over here a lot with my dad. He always talked about the back room and having certain guns that were really expensive and not many people could get. The windows aren't easy to break so the best way to get in…."
The doors clicked and it opened.
"Is to just open it." She finished.
Inside was an entire arsenal of guns and ammo!
"Fuck yea!" Koiyuki cheered, holding a shot gun.
Akira already dug out some bags and started filling it up with ammo and magazines. She was also stashing some small guns, like pistols and such.
"Grab what you can, we're gonna need it…" She said.
So we got some bags, stashed some ammo, a pick up a LOT of guns.
"HOLY FUCK YEA! Guys look at this!" Koiyuki cheered.
I turned to her to see she was holding a fucking Bazooka!
"Hey! Watch where you're pointing that thing!" Kaito said, pushing it away from him.
"Akira! Can I keep it?" She asked.
"It's a gun, not a puppy. I don't see why not."
I guess Akira's kind of our mother now… Well she has always been a motherly figure to me and now that all this shit happen she's trying even harder to keep us together and keep the way she's seen. Strong, smart, and calculating.
"Alright… You guys ready?" Akira asked, holding an awesome Ak-47.
I may not know much about guns, but I at least know the good ones from the zombie survival games I've played. Ah, memories… We picked up our stuff and went back to the bus, Takaeda was amazed by all the shit we got. I'm just amazed that we haven't run into any of Them lately! We've been extremely lucky, even though I sort of prayed for this to happen; everything has been kind of going our way.
"Alright, listen up guys. Here's the plan." Akira began. "We have only two goals right now, Kanasei and survival. Yoko, where do you think he'll be?"
I thought for a while.
"Well, three places I guess. One, his school-"
"But by now the school should be empty, or…." Koiyuki started.
"Or completely zombifyied." Kaito finished.
We were all silent for a while, I guess they were trying to be considerate for me. Takaeda even smacked Kaito for me.
"I thought of that and I would like to think he's not there anymore." I continued.
"So where else?" Takaeda asked.
"Well, how close is our house?"
Akira and Takaeda looked at each other. This was a topic I felt we were avoiding. Nobody said a word of their parents when hell broke loose, we're all back to being quiet.
"Alright, let's go." Kaito said, breaking the silence.
Takaeda hobbled out of the driver's seat and went to the one behind it so Kaito could take over. I have no idea why we're letting him drive but for now no one's complaining.
"So where's your house." He asked.
"Just go straight for now." Akira answered.
Kaito turned on the bus and we strolled along. We made Kaito move slowly to keep quiet, so far none of Them showed up. Out the window I could see how beautiful It actually looked outside. Despite the apocalypse, the sun was now setting making the sky have a fiery glow along the horizon, further away from the sun, you could see what was blue now be coated in pink. It was quite a sight for sore eyes. For now we were all just, for once, chilling out in the bus. Koiyuki was sitting next to me and we were behind Takaeda to give him room to put up his legs. Akira occasionally told Kaito which way to turn, the sooner we get home the better. I was kind of anxious, will I finally get to see my little brother once again, will I find him there with my "parents," What will Takaeda and Akira think? Our families live right next to each other, if we find one, we find the other.
"Takaeda, let me see your leg." Akira said, sitting next to him.
He nodded and lifted them up so they rested on her lap.
"Tell me when it hurts, kay?" She said
And she started to move down his legs.
"Damn, I never knew you were such a good medic!"
"Well I always patched you up when we were little, remember?"
"Yea, remember when Kanasei got stuck in a tree and he was too scared to climb down?" Takaeda laughed.
"And you climbed all the way up, just to go down with him but you ended up falling down." Akira continued
"Yep, and then he bolted down without a scratch on him." I finished.
The three of us drifted off in our memories.
"Well sounds like you had fun." Koiyuki giggled.
"Yea…" The three of us said in unison.
Akira was right at Takaeda knee and when she pushed down he winced in pain.
"Ow! Damnit!"
"Guess I found it." She said examining the back of his knee. "What about back here, feel anything?"
"Not really, I can feel something but it doesn't hurt too much."
"So it's mostly here?" She pushed on his knee again.
"Ah! Ow! Yep, that defiantly hurts!"
She started moving down the rest of his legs.
"Anywhere else?" She asked.
"Yea, below the knee it kind of hurts and my feet kind of hurt but I guess that's from, you know, running for our lives."
"Yep! How fun that was!" Koiyuki said, jokingly.
We laughed.
"So how'd you injure yourself in the first place?" Koiyuki asked.
Akira and I started thinking…. Then it hit me, he was used as a pillow, twice, and we fell on him from and 2nd story window…. Once I figured that out I looked to him, he was staring at me with the face of "you-JUST-figured-this-out?" Akira was trying to be nonchalant; it wasn't working out so well.
"*ahem* Well, looks like it was just a sprain. You'll be fine after a while, just stretch out and don't walk." She concluded.
Akira walked over to Kaito and continued to give him directions.
"You guys are cute!" Koiyuki said.
"Huh?" Takaeda and I questioned.
"Well, it's nice how you guys have so much trust in each other!"
We looked at each other and smiled, creating our own sweet atmosphere. We did always have trust in each other, we've been through so much over the years.
"I mean, you didn't even flinch when Akira was feeling up Takaeda."
Our atmosphere had left us with that comment, and we just glared at her
"What! She was totally feeling up on this bad boy!" She joked, and slapped his leg.
"OW! Koiyuki, I'm in pain damnit!"
"Oops, sorry."
I smacked her on the back of her head.
"Um, if you guys are done… We're here."
I bolted up to stand next to Akira, there it was… home. Our houses looked desolated and with the sun almost gone they had an eerie feel to it.
"Let's move." I said.
Takaeda hobbled over to us but fell right down. I knelt by him.
"What are you doing! You shouldn't be up!" I said.
"Please! I have to see! This… This is home…. It's only be a few hours but it seems like DAYS since I've seen it. Please…" Takaeda begged.
Akira and I looked at each other.
"*sigh* Kaito help him up, Yoko grab a gun, Koiyuki man the wheel." She commanded.
"So I can go!" Takaeda asked as Kaito helped him up on his shoulder.
"Yes, but on one condition! You stay out until Yoko says it all clear, got it!"
He nodded. Akira opened the door and I headed to our house with Kaito and Takaeda, Akira started to wonder away from us.
"Akira where are you going?" I asked.
"Home." She said with finality.
She headed to her house which was right next to mine and Takaeda's with a sniper rifle. I assumed she'd be fine.
"Alright, wait here you two. I'll be right back."
I opened the door and made my way through the house. It was completely wrecked. I didn't see blood anywhere so that was good, but I couldn't find Kanasei or Takaeda's parents, that was good but also bad. Where could they be? I made my way upstairs and into the rooms, no one was there, dead or undead. I concluded my searched and went back downstairs to tell Takaeda it was safe. I propped him on my shoulder and led him through the house. Kaito stayed outside. He let us just wonder around our house, letting the memories flood in.
-Akira's P.O.V-
There they were. When I got to the last room, my parent's room, the bodies laid there motionless. Not just my own parents, but Takaeda's. It made me drop to the floor and hurl. When I stopped feeling queasy I crawled over to see what caused their deaths. They were all torn up in different areas, my dad had a pistol in his hand, his head was blown on one side, I think he shot himself. My mom and Takaeda's mom and dad were shot in the chest area. I guess they were turned and my dad ended their pain, and his. I prayed for them.
"I'm so sorry… We wished for this. It was our fault!" I thought.
I felt a soothing hand on my shoulder and a sense of peace fell over me as if it was..…. I quickly turned around. Nothing. I felt my shoulder.
"Yea right… Thank you. Mom, Dad. I love you…. Goodbye…" I whispered as tears fell down my cheeks.
I pulled a blanket over them and bowed my head in respect before leaving. Outside Kaito, Yoko, and Takaeda were waiting. Takaeda was on some crutches, they looked like the ones Yoko used when she broke her leg once.
"Well! Did you fine anything!" Yoko asked, frantically.
I closed the front door behind me, sealing the memory forever.
"No…" I said. "There was nothing…"
-Yoko's P.O.V-
I was a bit sad that no one was there, but it was also good.
"So that leaves one place…" I thought out loud.
"Where's that?" Akira asked.
"Where else? It's not very far from here."
They thought for a while then realized.
"The tree!" Takaeda said.
I nodded. The tree was just a ways behind our houses on top of a huge hill. There is where we made most of our memories, the four of us, Me, Takaeda, Akira and my little Kanasei.
"Well! My work is done!" Kaito said, walking back to the vehicle "If ya need me, I'll be in the bus."
We nodded.
"We'll be right back, stay with the bus and Koiyuki." Akira commanded.
He just gave us a thumbs up.
"Hey, Takaeda…" I started.
"Don't worry, I'll keep up." He said.
I guess he figured I'm going to bolt straight there.
"I'll stay by you." Akira said to him.
"Alright, let's go!"
I kicked it into gear and headed straight for the hill. I never stopped to see if Akira and Takaeda were following me. This was the last place where I know he might be. When I got to the hill I started frantically climbing, higher and higher.
"Kanasei! Please be there!" I thought to myself.
I saw the huge tree that grew at the top. I got closer and saw…. A body! A boy! It was Kanasei! My heart was pounding, my lungs were burning! Was he okay! Was he alive! He wasn't moving at all. I got to him and he was…. Breathing! He was sleeping, just sleeping. I ran my hand through his matted, brown hair, his black shirt and jeans were a little torn and he had a few cuts but he was okay. He was safe. I cupped my hand to his face and he stirred.
"Nee-chan? Is that you?" He groaned in his quiet voice.
"Yes... It's me." I whispered.
I held him and curled up with him against the tree. I started to cry.
"You found me Nee-chan." He said, curling up to me.
"Yes. Yes I did…"
I fell asleep with my little Kanasei finally in my arms. Safe and sound…
So, if you remember I used the word "pandemonium" in this somewhere and I would just like to say that….. Whoever the hell invented that word should be given a fucking medal! They turned a word with "panda" in it and made it terrifying, I know it's technically pandemonium but still it sounds like freaking panda! Give that person a round of applause because he deserves it! Anyway sorry for making this chapter so long, I wanted Yoko to finally get Kanasei back, and I wanted it to be really heartwarming, so yea.
I hope you liked it! ^w^