~ CHAPTER 2 ~
(The Mahjong Club - Part 1)
Kiyosumi Mahjong Club - Friday - 9:25 PM
"What crazed people?" Hisa asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
"I honestly don't know..." Mako replied. "But they were moaning and walking around like this..."
Mako started mimicking the movement of the ghouls she saw earlier, stumbling around and imitating their moans, much to Hisa'a amusement. A grin spreads across her face and she started laughing at Mako. Kyoutaro and Yuuki laughed at her as well. Mako blushed, realizing she had done something that made her looked stupid. On the other hand, Saki, Nodoka and Yuuichi were not laughing.
"Hmm..." Kyoutaro, who had stopped using the computer, thought. "Maybe what you saw were just a bunch of drunks?"
"Yeah, right! Ten to twelve drunks walking in a group? And trying to attack us?" Mako said sarcastically. "Yeah, I don't think so!"
"Maybe they're a bunch of perverted drunks?" Hisa winked an eye and pointed to Saki and Nodoka. "I mean, look at their maid outfits!"
Saki and Nodoka blushed. Upon hearing what Hisa had said, Kyoutaro looked to where Saki and Nodoka were standing. He ogled at Nodoka and blushed. He started daydreaming about her being his personal maid - bending down to pour his tea as he watched her big, round bosoms bounce slightly - which went unnoticed by the others in the club house.
"Hey, look!" Mako shot back. "I'm not joking, okay? Those people out there could have killed us!"
"That sounds scary!" Yuuki remarked, then turned to Kyoutaro. "Kyou-chan will protect me, right?!"
"Eh?! Protect you from what?!" Kyoutaro asked, snapping back to reality from his daydreaming state.
"From those drunks, of course!" Yuuki replied. "You'll protect me if they try getting their hands on me right?!"
Saki sighed and Nodoka shook her head. Frustrated, Yuuichi slapped his forehead with his palm. Everyone in the club house were practically bickering about the subject and eventually going off topic. Hisa was being too carefree, making jokes on the matter, while Kyoutaro and Yuuki were having their everyday squabble. Yuuichi finally had enough and snapped.
"ALRIGHT, SHUT UP!" Yuuichi shouted. "JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Everyone went silent and turned to face Yuuichi, who was breathing in and out, eyes burning with anger behind his glasses, fists clenched tightly.
"Takei-san, don't you realize that this is a serious matter?!" Yuuichi said angrily, pointing at Hisa.
"Then? Why don't you tell us what really happened?" Hisa stared at Yuuichi, smug look on her face.
"She's right, Yuuichi-kun" Mako told Yuuichi. "Besides, you're the one who really knows what's going on..."
Yuuichi sighed. He walked up to the Mahjong table and pulled one of the chairs back. He sat down, placed his elbows on the table, took off his glasses, buried his face in his hands for a few seconds before letting go. He looked at Hisa, who was sitting in front of him.
"Look..." Yuuichi sighed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, okay..."
"Nah! It's okay!" Hisa smiled. "Now, tell us what happened..."
"Well, I was heading back from band practice with my friends..." Yuuichi began, everyone in the club house listening intently. "It seemed like any other normal day, until I notice that there was not a single person in town. There was no one in the streets. All the stores were empty but the doors were wide open. As I continue riding into town, I saw someone walking up ahead. I was actually glad to see someone else in town so I called out to him. He was someone I knew, working for a sushi restaurant in town. I've met him a few times but we never talked much. But then..."
"Go on." Hisa said. She was getting interested in Yuuichi's story.
"But then..." Yuuichi continued. "I realized he was missing an arm..."
The club house went silent. Hisa and Mako exchanged looks. Saki and Nodoka kept quiet as they stood behind Kyoutaro, who had gotten up from the chair in front of the computer and sat on an unoccupied chair at the Mahjong table to Yuuichi's left. Yuuki, sitting on Yuuichi's right, sat quietly.
"I thought something terrible happened to him. Like an accident or something. He was losing so much blood. So I decided to call for an ambulance but the line couldn't get through. I tried calling again. The line still couldn't get through. I told him I would take him to the town's clinic, but then..."
"But then what?" Hisa asked, urging Yuuchi to continue his story.
"He attacked me..." Yuuichi continued. "And tried to bite me... I pushed him away but he was unrelenting... He still kept coming for me, still wanting to bite me, growling and grimacing, like a primitive beast. I had no choice but to use force. I smashed him in the face. He went down. It bought me some time and I found a pipe, the same pipe I brought with me here, and knocked his head right off with one swing! THWACK! His head went flying and landed a short distance away from his body. But... The head was still moving..."
"So." Hisa cuts in the story. "You're saying that the guy's head was still moving even after it got knocked off from his shoulders?"
Yuuichi nodded without saying a word. Kyoutaro leaned back on his chair, not knowing whether or not to believe the story. Yuuki was frightened and so was Saki and Nodoka. Everyone in the club house found his story really hard to believe, but at the same time, Yuuichi did not look like he was lying.
"You do know that's not possible!" Mako said. "He would have died once his head is off his body! His head should not be moving!"
"I do know that..." Yuuichi said and continued his story. "I was scared shitless when I saw the head moving. It was moving its jaws... still trying to bite... I backed away and saw more of those things coming for me. Moaning. Lurching. Like the man who just attacked me. There were too many of them. About twenty to thirty of them. I managed to fight off one of them, a male high school student. I hit him in the pressure points with my pipe but it didn't phase his one bit. Then I smashed him right across his head. He went down and never got back up..."
"B-But that sounds like something that should happen only in horror movies and video games!" Yuuki protested. "Are you sure?"
"Then, I thought of my family." Yuuichi continued. "And seeing that I was surrounded by those things, I ran into an intersection and quickly looked for my house. When I reached my house, it was dark inside so I thought no one was home, but the front door wasn't locked. So I went in. I called out for my mom and my big brother. No one answered, so I went upstairs to my mom's room. I heard sounds coming from behind the closed doors so I figured she was inside. I opened the door carefully and turned on the lights, and... And..."
"I saw big brother..." Yuuichi paused, clenching his fists tightly, tears forming in his eyes.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to..." Hisa said reassuringly.
"No... No..." Yuuichi said and wiped his eyes dry. "It's okay... Really..."
"Well, we're listening." Hisa said as the others listened.
"Big brother..." Yuuichi stopped and just let out a deep breath. "Had turned into one of them... And he was fucking eating mom! She was on the floor in a pool of blood! He... he was biting into her arm! I didn't know what to do! I could only scream in anguish! Big brother, or what used to be him anyway, heard me and went after me. And then... I did what I had to do... And smashed him in the head with my pipe, his skull cracked opened and he went slack. He dropped to the floor and stayed there. I ran out of my house... And ran... And ran... And ran... And I eventually got out of the town and met up with Someya-san and her two friends with those things on my track..."
"I'm so sorry, Yuuichi-kun..." Mako said sympathetically, gently patting Yuuichi's back. "I'm so sorry about your mom and your brother..."
Yuuichi buried his face in his arms on the Mahjong table and started sobbing. Mako placed her arms around Yuuichi's shoulder, trying to comfort him. Hisa was totally lost for words. Kyoutaro was taken aback. Yuuki looked down at the table not knowing what to say. Nodoka just stared at Yuuichi, a single tear trickled down her face. Tears formed in Saki's eyes.
"He's been through a lot..." Mako sighed and turned to Hisa. "Look, I know its really hard for you to believe, but he wouldn't lie about it..."
"But... Just what exactly is going on out there?" Hisa said, feeling really concerned for Yuuichi. "Seems to me like it happened suddenly..."
Hisa walked over to the other side of the club house and opened the large double-sided door that lead to the balcony. She climbed over the railing and down to the roof where a beach chair, complete with a beach umbrella, rests. The others in the club, except for Mako and Yuuichi, followed her. Hisa walked closer to the edge of the roof to get a clear view of the town. The street lights were on but she saw only few of the houses had their lights on. Upon closer look, with the help of the street lights she could see several figures moving down the streets, at least two to three dozen of them. They were all shambling, in the same way as Mako had demonstrated to her earlier. Faint but yet clear moaning sounds were heard from the figures, sending chills up her spine. She spied on a telephone pole tilted by a car, which had most likely crashed into it earlier that day. She looked down at the road in front of the old school build they were on and saw about a dozen more figures shambling, another dozen on the pathway that leads from the town and right to the stairs that would lead up to the road in front of the building. Hisa looked back at the town and saw about six to eight figures clawing at the front door of one of the houses with their lights on. There were congested screaming coming from inside the house.
"My God..." Hisa said as she stepped back. "This is madness..."
"What are those things?!" Kyoutaro asked. "They're everywhere!"
"It's like a scene from a horror movie..." Yuuki whimpered. "I'm scared..."
"I don't know, but is it possible that some pandemic caused this?" Saki asked.
"Pandemic? What are you talking about, Saki?" Hisa asked.
"What kind of pandemic do you think caused this?" Kyoutaro asked.
"These kinda things shouldn't be happening in real life!" Yuuki protested.
"I don't know, but my dad had this novel called 'I Am Legend' by Richard Metheson. What's happening here right now is very similar to what's happening in the book. Remember Yuuichi-senpai mentioning one of those things trying to bite him? And his brother 'turning into one of them' and eating his mom? Well, the novel tells of a pandemic which infects people and turns them into vampires. So, I think its most likely that some kind of plague turned all those people into 'vampires' and attack non-infected people..."
"Wow... You're talking science fiction..." Hisa sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Unfortunately..." Kyoutaro said. "This isn't a novel... This is as real as it can get..."
"Then, what else do you think caused this?! Any suggestions?!" Saki snapped. "People just don't go around attacking and eating each other!"
"Everyone..." Nodoka said, stepping forward. "Please don't argue... I'm sure there's some sort of explanation to all of this happening..."
"Can we all please go inside the club house?" Yuuki pleaded. "If we keep arguing they might hear us and know where we are..."
Yuuki was about to cry, frightened by what was happening in town, which was crawling with perhaps hundreds of those creatures with apparently very few normal people left. Everyone else were equally afraid, and confused. There were no signs of any vehicles moving. Hisa turned to the rest of the club. She walked over to Yuuki. The younger girl huddled onto her. Hisa placed her hand firmly on Yuuki's shoulder.
"Yuuki's right..." Hisa said. "There's no point arguing about whatever is going on out there. Let's go back inside..."
They got back into the club house. Hisa closed the door to the balcony once everyone was inside. Yuuichi had stopped crying but was still looking down on the table. Mako was talking to him softly with her hand on his back. Yuuichi smiled at her weakly. Seeing the others back in the club house, she pulled herself from Yuuichi and walked over to Hisa. Mako took off her glasses and wiped it with a handkerchief.
"We gotta get outta here, soon..." Mako suggested. "If they know we're here, we're done for..."
"No, its not safe to do that..." Hisa said as she walked over to Mako. "Those things are everywhere..."
"Then, what do you suggest we do no-"
THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
Before Mako could finish asking her question, she was interrupted by loud thumping noises on the door. Everyone in the club house turned to face the door. The sounds of fingernails scrapping against the wood were heard followed by a sickening, spine-tingling moan. Everyone backed away from the double sided door to the the wall on the far end of the club. From the sounds of it, there were at least five ghouls outside, beating on the door. Yuuichi had bolted and locked the doors and jammed his pipe horizontally within the bar handles earlier when he arrived at the club house. Yuuki scampered behind Hisa and started whimpering. Saki and Nodoka held on to one another, behind Kyoutaro. Yuuichi and Mako, stood next to one another, looking at the door being attacked from the outside by the marauding creatures.
"Damn! They're here!" Yuuichi said, getting panicked. "Is there another way outta here?! If they break into the club, we're dead!"
"No, that door is our only way outta here!" Hisa said, trying not to panic. "Unless you wanna break a limb or two by jumping down four stories!"
THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
Everyone in the club house continued to stare at the door of the club house, as the ghouls continued beating and clawing at the door, moaning.
Author's Notes: So, how will our heroes cope with the threat of the "zombies" trying to break into the Mahjong club? Find out in the next chapter! The part where Saki mentioned "I Am Legend" is reference to George A. Romero mentioning that the movie "The Last Man On Earth" (1964), the first film adaptation of "I Am Legend" starring Vincent Price, was his inspiration for Night of the Living Dead. Again, feel free to give me your honest opinions on my latest chapter and how I can improve! Thanks!