Chapter 2:
The DEAD Business Hours
' I was still asleep.
Having a pleasant dream about
a girl I met at school yesterday.
Little did I know, that dream was the last.
Its was to be replaced by a never ending
Nightmare.'
" Oh what happened?" I asked to myself, " thinking back, everything was fine this morning. I was still asleep on the couch when uncle Yu called me. He told me there wasn't time to explain just that I had to get a backpack and go up to his room. He said behind the wall scroll of a half nude model cosplaying as CC, was a wall safe. I entered the code he told me. In the safe lay a Beretta 9mm handgun. It was Uncle Yu's personal custom made, he kept for home defense. Of course the police didn't know about it. After stuffing the pistol and three twenty round 9mm boxes into the backpack. I started to head to the kitchen. Thats when i saw it. Outside Uncle Yu's window was one of the most horrific things I ever saw in my life." Only the scene I witnessed just outside the window would become the norm from now on. " A man as fit as a heavyweight boxer. Was mercilessly brought to his knees while his assailants tore into his body. Ripping off skin, flesh and muscle, all the while the man screamed in pain and agony. I could even see his eyes wide with horror while he watched his own blood and organs being ripped out of his body and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Because he no longer had the strength or sanity to fight back. The only reason i didn't lose the contents of my stomach was because there was nothing in my stomach to up heave. I forgot I was still on the phone with, he must have heard me dry heaving because i could hear him yelling to me from my phone. I had to get my senses back in order, Uncle Yu told me to head to the kitchen and grabbed a few bottles of water and some MRE's he loves so much. After I did that I ran up to my room and throw on my school coat and grabbed my dads cross necklace and my katana. Now I headed out the door only to be hit by the same scene that I saw from the window. But this time I was somewhat mentally prepared. The rest is self explanatory. I fled from the walking corpses, said a prayer for the self defence forces in the blackhawks, had a badass moment, was almost surrounded, then I turned a corner only to be met by a flash of pink then black."
Now I'm laying on the ground my eyes shut because my head was throbbing, most likely from falling to the ground and the air was warm and moist. I tried to sit up but my nose made contact with some sort of fabric. Immediately after that I heard a sharp moan. Somethings fishy here and it's not just the smell of the air. Forcing my heavy eyes open I found myself face to, well, crotch with a pair of pink and white frilly panties. In any other time, in any other place this would be so fucking hot. Damnit, nows not the time to be enjoying this. I realized my arms were still free so I reached up and grabbed what i thought to be the hips of whoever this person was. But what I gripped didn't seem like hips. They were soft like marshmallows, and the more I examined the objects in my hands the more I confused I became. Another sharn moan sounded, then it clicked. Realizing what was jiggling in my hands I Quickly moved my hands down a foot, gripped and rolled the obvious girl off my face. I got up to my knees, there was a girl with short pink hair and glasses sitting on her knees opposite me. I got the sense that this girl didn't have a single muscle in her body. As I looked her over I saw that she had her arms crossed over her breasts, which were quite big. Continuing up I saw that her green eyes were glaring at me through her glasses. her expression on her face shown a mix of embarrassment and anger. I could also see that tears were beginning to form along the edges of her eye. I didn't really know what to say or do. But before i could she-
" You Groped my chest!" She yelled at me. " I've been defiled, I'll never become a bride now." This time it seemed like she was talking to herself. I still couldn't believe that this situation was even occurring. " You!" She was now yelling at me again, with her finger point straight at me. " Not only did you grope my chest but you also saw under my skirt without protection! you better take responsibility when i get pregnant!"
" S-Sorry I didn't-" 'Oh my God! What the fuck is going on!' I didn't have time to examine this situation. She didnt even realize that one of "them" was right behind her. " Look out!" I screamed, jumping to my feet I ran over to her. I saw that she was completely frozen in place by my sudden action. I had no time to care about how scared she was at the moment, I'm too busy saving her life. Without a second thought i cut down the corpse behind her, with my katana. Turning around I grabbed this girls arm and pulled her to her feet. " Come with me," I yelled, cutting down another corpse. She nodded without saying anything. I was actually starting to get excited, this was becoming fun. I shook my head, 'No! Not again!'
Now we were running down an abandoned street. Cars were crushed and left cluttered around the street, some were still running . Blood was splattered all over the ground and I could even see bloody hand prints in a few cars, like people were trapped in while being devoured by one of "them". I didn't want to take a chance and sneak a peak for fear of one of "them" being it one, breaking the glass and pulling me in. The girl whose hand I was holding was barely keeping up with me. She was so light that I was practically dragging her along. I had no faith that if I was being pulled into one of those cars by one of "them", that she would be able to pull me out. Now I could hear "them" approaching from behind and even ahead of us was blocked off by "them"!
" Now those monsters are ahead of us," she looked at me. " What are we going to do?"
" Tchh" I clicked my teeth trying to figure a way out. Then it caught my eye. Ah house a door down from the corner had a foreclosure sign in front of it and there was a sales agents car crashed against a trash truck in front of it. Just my luck it so happened to be one of the cars with a gory scene in the window. " This way," I said pulling her along. Cautiously I crept up to the blood stained window and peaked inside. The decor inside wasn't pretty the girl beside me saw the obvious disgusted look on my face.
" What is it?" she said trying to look over my shoulder.
" Don't look," I said pushing her back. Releasing her hand that I forgot I was still holding. " Its to much for you. Turn around and keep watch," I didn't want to take the chance of her screaming at the sight of this. Looking at the serious look on my face she nodded silently and turned around. Opening the car door I covered my nose and crawled in. I rummaged around the random blood soaked items in the car. Finally I found what looked like the house keys in the dead drivers pocket.
" Hey you need to hurry the monsters are com-" She froze at the sight of the bloody car interior, but she didn't scream. She just stood there wide eyed
" Don't look!" I said again moving her away from the car. " Follow me we need to hide," Taking her hand again we ran over to the foreclosed house. Quickly I unlocked the door and I walked in the girl clinging to my arm as I locked the door behind us.
I felt like a paranoid conspiracy theorist, locking bolt after lock of the front door to the foreclosed house. After that was done I turned around the girls I ran into, now clinging to my arm, stood beside me. We stood in the empty front foyer. As far as I could tell none of "them" seemed to be here. But I had to be sure.
" Stay here," I told the girl, " i'm going to go look around."
" W-Wait! Why do I-" before she could finish I grabbed her while putting my finger to my lips.
" Shhh! We don't know if any of "them" are in here. I need you to stay put until I check to be sure its safe." She didn't answer all she did was nod and sit against the wall. It didn't take long for me to search the house thankfully nothing eventful happened while I was searching. Now me and the strange girl sat in the living room across from each other. This atmosphere just screamed acquired I had to break the silence.
" My names Keller Grayson but I go by Gray. May I ask your name," breaking the silence she stared at me with a pouty look on her face
" I still haven't forgiven you for what happened earlier," she paused, " My names Arise Tomoe. Its nice to meet you Gray-kun." She looked out the window, then back at me. " Do you know what's going on? why are there people eating other people?"
" I'm sorry but i don't know. Everything was normal yesterday. But when my uncle called me he sounded frantic. And when I looked outside thats what I saw." I gestured towards the window.
" Its just like that 28 somethings later movie. Or that Chainsaw lolli something video game. But if it were like that you would have to be a head and I would need to be a sexy blonde cheerleader."
" Y-Yeah." I can't believe what comes out of her mouth. I opened my backpack, rummaging through it. I brushed aside the beretta and pulled out a water bottle. " Here, you must be parched from all that running just now." She scooted closer to me and took the water bottle. After opening it she stole a long swig, " Ah that hits the spot," she said taking in a breath between gulps, " thank you." She screwed the cap back on and handed the bottle back to me. Now that we've had a chance to slow down for a bit. My mind started to register smaller details again. I noticed that Arise was wearing a Fujimi High girls uniform.
" Arise-san, do you go to Fujimi High?" I asked her. Tomoe looked a little confused, she blinked a few times before answering.
" Yes. I was out sick with a cold for a week or so. So i missed the start of this semester, Today was supposed to be my first day back. It seems that if someone catches a cold. It makes you bedridden for a week."
I looked at her for a second, " Yeah, tomorrow was supposed to be my first day but because they had trouble with my paperwork, I had to start the semester late to."
Tomoe looked at me then her eyes widened, like she finally noticed something substantial, " You're a foreigner!"
I couldn't help but laugh a little, " My name didn't give it away, or the fact that i don't even look anything close to Japanese?"
Tomoe had a sorry smile on her face, " My glasses were falling and shifting the whole time so i couldn't get a clear look at you. But now that I can see you, you look really hot."
I had no idea how to respond to that, " Thank... You."
" Sorry I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
We sat there for a bit. I could feel the tension starting to rise. We can't just sit here, we have to do something, we have to survive. " Hey Arise-san. Do you know if your family is ok?"
" My parents are separated. My dad lives in Tokyo and my moms away on a business trip. Which is why I ran into you. I woke up late because I forgot to set my alarm. Which my mom always reminds me to do. But when I woke up I was in such a rush to get to school that i didn't even notice that people were eating each other. That is, until I ran into you."
" Again i'm sorry," I said bowing my head, " I didn't mean to," I looked up at her, " But you do understand the situation we're in don't you?" I looked at her with a serious look on my face. " There are people eating people out there. And the people that are eaten come back as one of "them". If we're going to survive we need to stick together. Do you have any way to defend yourself?" She shook her head. 'Of course' I thought to myself, " Do you know how to fire a gun?" I asked her.
" No, but I may not look it or act it but i'm actually really smart and I can learn really fast." She said to me with her chest puffed out and a very small hint of pride in her voice.
" Ok then," I reached into my pack and pulled out the beretta I took from uncle Yu's safe, " Here get a feel for this. I'll give you a crash course on how to use it." I spent a good thirty minutes show Tomoe how to load the magazine into the handle. Showing her how to pull the slide to chamber a round. Showing her where the safety is. And where the mag release is and how to reload it. She didn't really ask much questions and when i gave her a quiz she was able to replicate everything I showed her to a T. She might say the craziest things, but she is really smart when she isn't talking. " Ok looks like you got the hang of it. Now I want you to leave the fighting to me. I only want you to use this as a last resort. I don't know what they react to and i don't want to take any chances." Tomoe nodded to me, still holding the Beretta with both hands pointing down towards the floor.
" What about your family Gray-kun?" She asked. " Aren't you worried about them?"
" Of course I am." I told her, still trying to seem worry free. Truth was I was horrifyingly worried about them. What person wouldn't worry about their family in this situation. But they were thousands of miles away, across the sea. The only people I need to worry about now is me, Tomoe, and Uncle Yu thats all. " But their all across the world. There's nothing I can do for them, save to pray and thats all. But I have an uncle who owns a hunting shop a few blocks down. That where we're headed, after that we'll try to find a safe place with more people and try to contact both our families." I told her, standing up and throwing the backpack over my shoulder. checking myself to make sure I'm not forgetting anything. My phone and headphones were still in my pocket, my dads necklace still hung around my neck, and my katana was still strapped to my belt. I was all set. I looked at Tomoe and she gave me a thumbs up with a smile.
" Ok follow me we're going to try and sneak around them through the back alleys, got it?" I asked her.
" Yup. Its not like i'm planning to lose my virginity to these zombie A-holes."
...I had no idea how to respond to that so I just nodded and started walking towards the door, Tomoe yelled behind me to wait.
As I peaked through the front door I saw that there weren't any of "them" around the house at the moment. Now's our chance, I motioned to Tomoe to follow and we left the house. Heading down the street I more screams, as I turned a corner I saw a group of the corpses munching on a new victim. I took a step back and turned into an ally, Tomoe following behind. Uncles Yu's shop was only about two blocks away now. 'So close' I said in my head. I could hear hear even more screams as we passed behind house after house. I could even see "them" behind a lot of the fences, a few reaching out at me and Tomoe.
" Stay close," I told Tomoe, " Don't let them grab you. I they do you're screwed." I said bluntly. Tomoe nodded and came closer behind me, still clutching the Beretta in her hand. As we passed by one of the dead hands clipped my shirt. When I pull away I used a little too much force. I stumbled back and fell against the fences behind me. Within an instant hand were all over me pulling me through the fence. " Shit this is back," I mumbled. I fell back first on top of one of "them", but something clicked in my head at that moment a wicked grin appeared on my face. Falling on the corpse I rolled back over it to my knees. Unsheathing my weapon in an instant and thrusting my blade down into its mouth. It coughed spraying blood everywhere. Looking up I saw a whole group of them around me, ' This is exciting! The thrill!' I was surrounded but I wasn't afraid I was anxious. I wanted to face them. I wanted to cut them down. I wanted to feel the power I had over them. So I stood up, blood gushed out of the corpse's mouth staining the backyard grass red as I pulled my sword out, gore clung to its tip. Flicking my right hand I splattered a half circle of blood over the green grass and looked up,
" Come at me bitches!" I smiled, " Come get some!" I yelled, sprung off my feet and at the monsters ahead of me. The adrenaline was rushing through my body as I cut down the corpses ahead of me. My body was heating up now, it felt so good seeing these bodies drop to my feet. Blood gushing from the wounds my sword had just inflicted on them. The majority of the grass in the yard was now a flowing pool of red with the bright sun causing it to gleam beams of light into my eyes. The reflection of my face in the bloody pool was a glare of pure pleasure. I cut down a few more of "them", when a scream snapped me out of my pleasure induced daze. I turned my head back towards the back of the yard, where the broken part of the fence I fell through lay. Tomoe was was sitting against the fence.
" Get away, please don't come near me," she pleaded. One of "them" was kneeling over her, its hands grabbing onto her shoulders. She struggled to break free of its grip, her right hand pushing and hitting its chest. While in her left hand she clutched the Beretta I gave to her. But "it" was just too strong for a scrawny girl like her to tangle with. I could see its face getting closer and closer to her. Blood and saliva dripped from its mouth as it drew near, " Don't touch me!" she said with a tremble in her voice. She now held the firearm with both hands. Having given up on trying to push it away. Even from halfway across the yard I could see tears of absolute fear welling up under her glasses.
" Please no... GET AWAY!" I heard Tomoe screamed as she shoved the guns barrel into the corpse's mouth. With a loud 'BANG' the back of its head exploded. Sending chunks of brain, bone, and flesh all over the hellish looking back yard. Its near headless body slumped over Tomoe's, as if it was giving her a hug. Tomoe didn't even scream, she just sat there motionless her eye wide with horror fixated on the gaping emptiness where half the bodies head used to be.
" Arise-san!" I screamed and cut down two of "them" who were moving towards her. Sliding to my knees I pushed off the body, " Arise-san! look at me, look at me," I looked over her face, shoulders and arms. Anywhere on her upper body "it" could have bitten her. Thankfully I did find any bite marks. But Her hands were shaking, and her eyes were quivering in terror. It looked like she was about to have a mental breakdown. " Arise-san, dont think about it!" I grabbed her shoulders, which caused her to jump, and looked at her in the eyes. " Arise-san, i need you to not think about anything." I reached into my pocket and pulled out my smartphone and earbuds. I plugged the earbuds into my phone, I quickly pressed the power button, sliding the auto lock I swiped through the dashboard and tapped my music player app. I selected play all and stuffed my phone into her hand, " here Arise-san dont think about anything but the music, just listen to the music." I said, " don't let this out of your hand ok?" All she did was silently nod. Picking up the Beretta, I dropped it into my now open pocket. With my left hand I grabbed her right and pulled her up to her feet. My right hand scooping up my katana I had dropped, " Follow me, run as hard as you can and keep up."
I pulled her along, running through the allies trying to find a way to get back to the main street. I didn't even need to worry about having a tight grip on her hand because her hand was clutching mine so hard that I couldn't feel it anymore. But I was still practically dragging her, I knew every time she stumbled or tripped because my arm would almost get jerked out of my sochet. I would have to violently pull her arm just to get her back up on her feet. I glanced back once or twice just to make sure I wasn't just dragging a corpse. I could tell that she was still in shock, her eyes were still wide but now they were hollow because her mind was shutting down to protect itself. But that won't last for long and she'll be pulled right back out to reality, and that won't be pretty.
I finally found an ally back to the main street. As far as I saw it was void of any undead. But that assumption was falsified almost instantly as we emerged from the alley only to find pair of "them" waiting around the corner to the right. Tomoe was still clutching my left hand for dear life so my movement was now diminished greatly. With a forward thrust is stabbed the first in line through the throat. Kicking it aside I slapped the seconds hands away with the flat of my blade and came down with a downward slash, cutting deep into the face and torso of the second corpse. It fell on its face blood seeping from its fresh wounds. There were more of "them" around but they had yet to notice us. Suddenly it became very silent. There was no longer any screams or shouts. Just a few minutes ago this street was filled with people, Running for their lives, fighting off groups of "them". Now the street stood in an eerie silence. frantically I looked up and down the street searching for my uncles shop. Finally my eyes found it to the left of us on the other side of the street, a few blocks down. But like the street, something about the shops felt very ominous. I could see that one of the front door windows was shattered, and there were bullet holes dotting the remainder of the windows and walls. But I didn't have time to worry about it. I glanced down at Tomoe, " Arise-san, we're almost there-," Her knees were dripping blood, there was practically no skin left on them. I have to get her to the shop, fast! Uncle Yu has a first aid kit I can use to stop the bleeding and keep it from getting infected, " hurry Arise-san." I said pulling her the last leg of the way.
I quietly pushed open the door that was still intact. Looking around the shop I saw that literally all the the firearms were gone. A few pieces of gear were still strung along the ground and a couple of runaway bullets lettered the floor as well. I didn't see uncle Yu at all. Pulling Tomoe into the store I had to force my hand out of her grip so I could close the store shutters. That should help keep any of "them" out. And if theres any in the store, they should be easy pickings.
" Arise-san, this way." I lead her to a corner of the store. Sitting her down I took care to keep her knees off the ground, " stay here while I look for my uncle and a first aid kit, kay?" She nodded and cringed, as if she just now realized her knees were bleeding. I saw that she was still clutching my phone. I jerked my head at a sound coming from the back of the store. returning my gaze to Tomoe I put my finger to my lips. Silently telling her not to make a sound. I moved to the counter, my sword ready in the traditional kendo fighting position. I hopped over the counter, still read for anything. Turning into the back room where all the repairs happened. The next sight I saw caused my hearts to stop for what felt like an hour. Uncle Yu was setting against the back wall of the room. A security monitor rested beside him, blood ran down his mouth and chest, " Uncle Yu!" I yelled, sliding to my knees beside him.
Uncle Yu looked up at me, " Gray-kun, thank God you're still alive."
" Uncle what happened?" I asked.
" Haha, I was a little careless." He started coughing, " I let one of the freaks bite me while trying to help a young woman and her daughter escape." He coughed again, " I see you have a girl with you. She looks pretty shaken, about to have a mental breakdown. I've seen it many times back when I was deployed with your father."
" Y-yeah I was pretty careless myself. Got carried away and she almost got bitten by one of "them" as a result."
He started convulsing again, " I-I'm not going to make it. I can already feel myself changing into one of them."
" No! Hold on! We can get you to a hospital. They can treat you there."
He coughed again this time spitting out blood. " Sorry Gray-kun, I can't make it. But you can. You and that girl. You need to survive and help each other. Find more people, help them. But first help that girl, If she lets that trauma build up, she'll completely lose her sanity." His coughing got more violent. " If you can help her through this, she'll be just fine after gets over the initial shock. I think shes stronger than she seems. She was just caught off guard by this whole strain of events." His skin was starting to turn pale now. " Two more t-things. First, under the floorboard over there I-I hid Rika-chan's Glock. I fixed the problem, b-but wasn't able to finish re-assembling it. I w-was able to write down how to finish it t-though. I-I leave you in charge of finishing it a-and returning it to Rika-chan." He handed me a blood stained piece of folded paper. " After you've finished it, take it out for a spin. I leave it in your care." He tried his hardest to give me a reassuring smile.
" Ok, I understand. I'll do my best."
" Oh," He coughed up more blood. " One more thing Gray-kun."
I looked him in the eyes, " What is it?" I asked, but I think I know the answer and I wasn't going to like it.
" Kill me..." He told me. " Let me die with pride, as myself."
I wanted to protest but even though i want to, he was right. I looked down at the sword I held in my hand, then back to him. " I understand."
I got to my feet, With both hands I raised my executioners tool over my head.
" Sayonara." With a swift downward slash. I split my uncles skull in two. With a wet thud my uncles corpse slid down on its side. I moved a towel over his body hiding the unpleasant sight from view. I looked away, " I'm sorry."
After I regained my walked out to the corner Tomoe was sitting in. Her face was buried in her arms, my music was still playing in her ear. " Arise-san look at me."
Slowly Tomoe raised her head to face me. " Arise-san I know you're scared. I'm sorry I left you alone. But you can't keep that trauma and stress bottled up." I looked her in the eyes. " I need you to cry. I need you to let it all out. All of that stress all of that anxiety. Because if you don't you'll breakdown and you won't be able to come back." She nodded. I could finally see tears welling up in her eyes. But before she started crying I put my hand over her mouth, "You can't make a sound if you do "they" will hear you." I pushed her head into my shoulder. " Ok, you can cry." Without hesitation a waterfall of tears ran down her face. She was clenching her mouth against my shoulder so hard that she was biting into my skin, practically breaking skin. The only sound escaping was a soft rasping whimper. All I could do was stroke her head.
And glare out the window into the world we'll be living, fighting and dying in. And the world me and anyone else who's willing, will survive in
' The day it all ended.
I ran into a girl
who would soon become one of my best friends,
and held her as she cried in silence.
On that same day,
I killed my dear Uncle,
And vowed I won't let anyone one else dear to me die.
As long as I breath.
Chapter 2:
The DEAD Business Hours.
END.
Next Chapter 3:
The Bell Rings for the DEAD.
