This chapter will take a while, so... Well, it may not seem so for you but I have my schedule packed again. When summer rolls around, I'll have at least a bit more time. Monster Musume is scheduled to come by a month or a month and a half. Still thinking on the theme/context. If you like some steamy ecchi/sexy/harem moments, expect it. Anyway, here we go...
...
As the group of survivors crept along the sidewalk with the rain storming down, Tucker glances over his shoulder to the distant high schoolers. By the sight of it, Tucker had begun to think that they are still taken aback by his appearance and the little amount of background information. So, he stops by the door to a small mart and kicks it in.
"Everyone, in here", Tucker calls out, waving everyone inside. "Grab some rain gear and what not; whatever you need. After that, we'll continue on ahead to the suburbs."
Everyone hurries inside without hesitation, mainly to get away from the pouring rain. Luckily, they had gone through the awnings of the small stores, so they weren't entirely wet.
"Damn, we got lucky there", Rei blurts, shivering a little as she goes through the aisles in search of raincoats.
Takashi took a water bottle and heads for the bathroom at the back silently while Hirano and the others go about their business. Tucker sat on the counter, watching everyone as he sets his rifle down aside and unbuckles his mask by the straps on the back of his head. Once he took it off, he sets the 3-pound object next to the cash register, revealing a skin tight black balaclava. His eyes were visible, which were a dark blue color and his skin shown to be a caucasian color. The girls watches him, peering over the aisles out of curiosity as he slid his last facial layer free from his head. He had black, short, messy hair in a fray. As he tries to fix his hair, the girls go into awe at his sight, now murmuring to one another.
"Gosh, I never realized how much of a looker the guy is", Rei whispers to Takagi.
Saya blinks then glances elsewhere furiously, hiding her face from Rei. "Don't come at me with that!"
Rei looks over to Shizuka and Saeko, who were watching Tucker push his hair back for the finally touch, though the silky strands fell forward again once more. "How old is he again", Shizuka murmurs aloud to herself, her mind boggled by the sight.
Saya rolls her eyes, then snaps at the girls quietly. "Hey, wake up! Grab what we need so we can get a move on!"
Alice walks over to Tucker, tugging at his sleeve like the child she is. "Mister? How many umbrellas do we need?"
Tucker gave Alice a tender, small smile while he rummages through her hair playfully. "Two is enough, little bird." His solid Japanese was spoken with a light tone, the accent not matching the language quite well. "Gotta travel light and fast through this storm."
Alice nods cheerfully, running to the back of the mart. The girls held an envious look at the skipping Alice, then looks to Tucker. But, they go about their business once they found his eyes aimed at their general direction. "Got anything over there?"
"N-Not yet", Rei calls out.
Takashi had just exited the bathroom with the empty water bottle, tossing it aside and meeting Kohta at the back of separate aisle. "What are you looking at?"
Kohta glances at Takashi with an innocent, though crooked, smile. "Something for the weapons."
Takashi took another glance, finding a pack of condoms in Kohta's possession. "W-What the hell are you thinking?!"
"Wait, before you react, hear me out!" Kohta scurries with his words. "This is to put at muzzles of our weapons to keep rain, mud, and dust from getting inside.
Tucker held his head over Kohta's shoulder, looking down at the pack. "Pretty ballsy trying to stick one in her, are you?"
Kohta jumps and wails his arms, blushing furiously and looking to Tucker. "Wait, is that you?"
"In the flesh and blood, bud", he replies with a chuckle.
"What the hell is this for", Saya shouts as the pack of condoms fell on her head. Takashi walks elsewhere to avoid the incoming verbal abuse. Saya stomps to Kohta and Tucker, holding the pack in their faces. "Just what the hell are you two plotting?! Are you trying to bust one of us in our sleep?!"
Kohta shook, apologizing with apologies after apologies. "N-No, we figured that this would keep mud and rain from getting into the barrels of our guns!"
Tucker, completely calm, looks down at Kohta and gave him a slap on the back. "You're a smart piece of turd, huh?" That praise brought immediate tears to Kohta's eyes. "Anyway, cut the kid and I some slack. Don't jump to conclusions like that. You're a smart beauty, I get that, but don't go too quick on your answers every now and then."
Saya pokes her finger in Tucker's finger. "And you, don't even think about calling me that again, understand? I know how to handle myself and my problems. I don't need a smartass to tell me off."
Tucker simply raised his hands up in defeat. "Wakata."
Saya pouts, looking at the pack before Shizuka took it from her hands. "Oh, what are we using these for?"
Tucker rolls his eyes with a chuckle, not wanting to go through this again. "I'll be headed out to map out the surrounding. Stay here until I return... Please?"
Rei nods with a giggle. "I'll keep 'em here for you."
Tucker gave her wink before heading off to his masks, putting them on. "Thanks a ton, sweetheart."
Rei blushes, holding her cheeks and watches him leave out into the storm. "What a gentleman."
Takashi looks over at Rei with slight sorrow in his eyes.
"Don't let it get to you", Saeko says to Takashi from the opposite aisle. "A woman is just showing her puppy love, that's all."
...
Tucker crouches with his rifle shouldered and lowered, ready for anything that came up. He froze with a hidden smile at the sight of headlights ahead, supposedly a car. "And bingo was his name-o..."
He crept towards the lights with his rifle raised towards it, the rain making visibility slightly difficult. He could turn on his different visors, but his battery chip was fried by that EMP. The closer he got, the more his heart sunk...
"What the hell", he mutters to himself with every step. He then froze once more, his heart dropping immediately at the sight of a mask surrounded by blood, pieces of black clothing, and flesh. As he glances to the side, he caught a tiny glimpse through the thick rain of a single stray corpse. The figure stood, staring right at Tucker. The long hair of the figure lays down their shoulder and over the similar mask. Their sides was shown to be missing a chunk or two. "Fucking shit... Patterson, God no..."
The swaying lone figure was indeed the corpse of Patterson, a close friend to Tucker and the sister to the woman that loved him very dear. The woman who was last seen to put a bullet in her own skull. Slowly, Tucker raises his lowered HK416 rifle right at Patterson. Once she had turned to the side, revealing the back of her unprotected head where her pony tail had been free, Tucker shook and trembles as bad as his heavy breathing. "Fuck... Fuck... Patterson..." A single tear streaks down from his eye beneath his mask. "Brecken... Everyone..." He shuts his eyes, then let's out a loud shout as he fires round after round with semi auto on, stopping at his sixth shot. "Fuck!" He went into the running idle dark MRAP's driver seat, tossing the duffel bag in the back. He rests his head on the wheel, ripping off his hardened mask, but keeping on his balaclava. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" With each shout, he stomps on the dashboard at the empty passenger's seat. There lies Patterson's rifle and above the seat hung her own and her sister's charm necklaces and dog tags. On the dashboard was pinned a laminated photo of his whole squad. As he looked at it, he sighs, then got out the vehicle for a moment.
...
Rei was leaning back on the cashier counter, looking outside with her rifle across her chest. She, like the others, was wearing a plastic raincoat and the end of her rifle's barrel covered with a single sticky condom.
"I'm telling you idiots, the jerk left us", Saya says, as if she's been saying repeatedly. "Get it through your thick skulls; we literally just met the guy. Did you think we can actually trust him on coming back when he said 'Hey, I'll be back'?"
Takashi lets out a sigh, nodding in agreement. "Well, we're not too far from our neighborhood. We'll head there and look for Rei's-..."
Rei shushes him as light were seen glowing outside, growing brighter and brighter at the side. Everyone but Rei took cover, so Takashi pulls her down behind the counter. "Stay hidden, who know's who the hell that is."
The sound of a squeaking stop was heard just outside the door, then the door opening to bring in the loud noise of rainfall. "Shit, did they leave me like that?" Tucker's clear voice says quietly in the eerily quiet mart. "Fuck..." A loud sigh was then heard.
"Mister?" Alice spoke, peering out from behind an aisle.
Tucker's eyes from the eyesight of his balaclava lit up just a bit like a light switch from depression and sorrow to relief and joy. "Hey there, little one. Where's everyone else?"
Rei stood up, waving at him nervously, then out came everyone else.
"Great", Tucker booms out, clasping his hands together, then points his thumbs behind him from over his shoulders. "I picked up my ride I left a bit ago, so hop in and we'll be there in no time. Shizuka, can you drive?"
Shizuka nods with a smile. "Mhm!"
"Shit, I was actually joking about that... You sure?"
"Yeah, she can drive", Takashi answers.
"Where the hell did you even-... You know what, never mind. File in, ladies and gentlemen."
The teenagers walks to the door, finding themselves looking into the rear doors of the large dark vehicle, seeing seats of three at each side in the interior. It was a bit more spacious than the usual MRAP 6x6, since it was manufactured by Alpha Providence. Once by one, each teen climbs inside as Shizuka went around to the driver's seat and Tucker going to passenger's. As Shizuka climbs inside, and sets her hands on the wheel, she found four masks on the dashboard, one of them being Tucker's.
"Who's are those", Shizuka asks. Everyone in the back looks over to the front, curious to hear this answer.
"My friends'." His answer was dead simple. "Let's get going. Takashi, lead Shizuka and tell her which street to take." He then rests back, holding a map over the head rest of his seat. "Here's the map of the area if you get lost."
"How helpful of you", Saya mutters, grabbing the map. Saeko and Kohta closes the rear door as Zeke jumps in.
"Shit, I didn't even know you had a dog", Tucker says aloud, looking over to the back.
Saya gave Tucker a glare. "Watch your mouth."
Finally, the vehicle had gone into motion.
...
"Hold", Tucker orders, seeing a woman ahead before anyone else. The vehicle slows to a stop, making the woman look to face the vehicle. She had wore a worried look, but her body gesture gave off hints that she was about to run off. "Stay here." He grabs his hard mask and straps it on, then steps out with his rifle raised. Everyone looks out the windshield, seeing Tucker approach the woman armed with a spear. His rifle was raises at her, the muffled exchange of shouting heard to the teenager's ears.
"That's...", Takashi says, his eyes wide. He and Rei hurries out the back, aiming their weapons at Tucker. "Hey, wait!"
Though, once they got into the visibility of Tucker and Rei's mother, they had been talking while shaking hands. Rei's mother wore a smile and Tucker scratches the back of his head, letting his rifle hang by the sling.
"You know this chick", Tucker asks from over his shoulder. "She's another smoking babe looking for help."
Rei blushes. "That's my mother!" She then hurries to Kiriko Miyamoto, hugging her at the charge.
Kiriko caught her happily, hugging back tightly with a relieving look. "Oh, I'm so glad you made it! It looks like Komuro is with you." She looks to Takashi, giving him a smile and wave.
Takashi returns the gesture with a smile. Behind him, everyone else emerges and greets Kiriko.
"Oh my, it looks like you have a band of survivors", Kiriko says in amazement.
Shizuka waves from the car door, and Saeko bowing to Kiriko. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Miyamoto."
"You're so kind, nice to meet you too. Honestly, I thought you all were a group of thugs with those weapons."
Rei looks to her mother, stepping back and waving her arms. "No, it's nothing like that! We just-..."
"Well, of course, when the shit hits the fan, you've gotta do what you can to survive. These bastards wouldn't let me back in after I was doing a run, so I was close to breaking down the door for that sake."
Tucker looks to the barricaded house, then calls out. "Hey, we're getting you guys outta here! There's an evacuation going down soon, so I suggest you get your asses out here!"
Saya looks to Tucker as the word 'evacuation' was spoken with suspicion.
A barrel of a shotgun pokes through the barricade at Tucker, who was just a foot away from the barricade. "That's nonsense! We won't listen to a cosplaying hick pretending to be some masked vigilante!"
"That little piece of-!"
"We've got a problem", Kohta announces, aiming his rifle down to the street behind him. "There's multiple targets of 'them' at our 12 o'clock."
"Shit", Takashi curses. "Run away with us, Miyamoto. We're going to a safe spot of his to stay clear of the night. We'll be safe."
"That's some invitation, Komuro", Kiriko says, all flushed. "But I'll accept."
Tucker gave the shotgun barrel a look, then looks to the MRAP. "We're bugging out. We don't have the room nor patience to bring these guys along." His mission was to save all he can, no matter what. Was it truly because they had no time or room? "Bottom line. Let's get going."
Everyone then piles into the back and Tucker taking the passenger seat. "Drive on, I'll tell you where to go."
"So, what about this evacuation plan", Saya asks, then suddenly everyone became interested.
"Like I've said..." Tucker removes his masks, then looks over to the group in the back. "We'll sit down and talk about it at my spot." He looks to Kiriko, then to Shizuka."There's some drinks there. You two are up for it?"
Pushing aside all seriousness, the two women nods in agreement. "Absolutely", they both say simultaneously. The high schoolers all wore a look of disbelief at the three adults.
"Is he a hotty, or what", Kiriko whispers to the girls at the back.
Saya rolls her eyes, but the others nods.
"Oh come on, Takagi. I know you think so, too."
Saya now blushes, hiding her face as she crosses her arms beneath her breasts. "So what?!"
"You admit it, then", Rei exclaims with a giggle.
Soon, as if they had reached their destination in no time, they stopped in front of a house, the surrounding walls barricades with furniture like the house from earlier. "I've got this pieced together by duct tape and some cord from my TWC-3 grapple line." Tucker held up his wrist dock computer fitted on his left forearm. "Now, we can settle in. Me first... Who knows if a dumbass got in."
Tucker hops out, grabbing all the masks and duffel bag, then climbs over the wall. Soon, he waves over his hand and motions Shizuka to park to the side. Once she did, he closes the gate and led everyone inside with the other remaining gear. The interior of the house was bigger than it looks on the outside, and a bit spacious. Maybe because all the furniture was tossed outside as a blockade. Tucker had gone to the living room, dropping the duffel bag and setting his rifle against the wall. He then unzips his vest and drops the thing down, which made it look heavier. The part of his Tru Spec black digital shirt that goes over his abdomen was almost skin tight, showing off the texture of his chest. His shirt was dripping, so he peels the thing off just over his abs, but quickly lets it back down as he remembers his company.
"I'm soaked, sorry", Tucker apologizes with a sheepish chuckle. "So I'm headed up to change out. Let me know if you guys need anything. For now, settle in. There's some chow in the kitchen, so help yourselves." And like that, he hurries upstairs with the duffel bag.
Rei sighs dreamily with her mother, Saeko glancing elsewhere to shake off the image she had just seen, and Saya pouting a bit with her hands covering Alice's eyes.
"His chest looks hard like a rock..." Kiriko mutters to herself.
Takashi lets out a sigh. Maybe I should have a talk with the guy, he thought to himself. Well, he did help us out a ton... Even got us a place to settle down. But there's a lot he's not telling us. Who were his 'friends'? Is he straight up military or not? What is this evacuation plan? What else is he hiding? Maybe a talk later tonight when everyone asleep is good enough... Finally, he settles with everyone on the floor, sitting around and playing with Zeke as Kiriko and Saeko goes into the kitchen, talking about their methods of culinary skills. Rei looks down at Alice playing with Zeke as if she was blindly thinking, and Saya teasing Alice playfully on how little she is. I have to make sure we make it out of this alive, just us...
...
Don't forget to drop down those reviews! I'm curious to know what my dear reader thinks and what I'm missing, need, etc. Don't hold back on it. Next chapter will get a bit sexual (maybe more than a bit) and just goofing around. There may a cliff hanger too... Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? ;) Read on, guys. Hope you enjoyed.
-The Red Merc
