And I'm back guys! And does it feel good to be back!
Been a very hectic week or two for me. My minor issues with editing my current novel aside, there was some personal scares in my life along with car troubles too that have now been fully taken care of. Hopefully, that'll be the last of it for me.
On another note, my first novel, which had been available only on Amazon Kindle up until now, has been published on a plethora of other online platforms too, such as Barnes and Noble and Apple and more. There's a universal link for my novel available that I will try to post on my profile page for this site soon enough. If you're interested, please give it a look!
On a second (third?) note, the current novel I'm working on has been properly divided up into two 'books' so far, though I've yet to publish them. Will probably do so within a few weeks after I develop a cover for both, though it still might take a bit of time to do so since there's naturally plenty of other things in my life that need to get done – nothing serious, just other stuff in general.
Well then, not much else to say at this point really. So, let's get onto the chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 4
Boobs.
Massive, soft and oh so comfortable boobs.
This is the sight Saeko woke up to in the early morning, her head all but smushed in between Shizuka's aforementioned breasts, experiencing their softness and elasticity firsthand as she tried to gently wriggle herself free.
Surprisingly, she felt rather hesitant to do so – she may not swing that way, but even she couldn't help but admire the sensation her head was experiencing right now, a sensation that she was certain all the guys and more than a few dozen girls back at her school would've gleefully sold their souls to feel for themselves.
Alas, she couldn't really breathe. Death by snu-snu as she's heard some people call it wasn't a way she'd desire to leave this world.
That said, breaking free of Shizuka's hold proved surprisingly tough. The woman, naked as the day she was born for some reason, had a surprisingly strong hold on her and the more she tried to wriggle out, the tighter Shizuka's grip got.
Her breath quickened a bit as she exerted more effort to break free, doing her best to ignore how said breaths seemed to tickle Shizuka's chest and cause the woman to moan ever so lightly in her sleep. She also tried to be mindful of Shizuka's hardening and sensitive nipples as she squeezed her head free.
…Saeko also tried not to stare at the nurse's lovingly pink areole too but found this to be also surprisingly hard to do, ultimately looking away with a blush upon her cheeks.
Wiping off the drool that she'd let out during her sleep – gods above, how she hated that she drooled whilst asleep, so unladylike – she surveyed the room and its occupants.
She along with the other girls had taken up residence here in Hayashi-sensei's bedroom, all five of them having plenty of room to stretch their legs out.
Hayashi-sensei and Takagi-san had taken the bed while Miyamoto was sleeping in a very comfortable looking sleeping bag, the only one that Hayashi-sensei had.
As for herself, she'd deemed it fine to sleep on the floor with just a blanket and pillow.
How then did Shizuka end up smothering her? The nurse had initially been sleeping alongside Hayashi-sensei and Takagi-san in the bed, said bed having been big enough for the three. Saeko supposed the nurse must be something of a sleepwalker and had ended up falling beside her during the night as a result.
But she was letting herself get distracted by this.
It was the start of a new day in this new world, a world where zombies and creatures of the unknown now roamed about. Given how chaotic things had been yesterday with no aid from officials in sight, Saeko was more than certain now that whatever exactly was going on in this city was going on elsewhere too, though whether 'elsewhere' also included countries besides Japan, she knew not.
Not that it really mattered much – the chaos here was more than enough to deal with as it is.
In any case, it wouldn't do to already start this day in a dour mood. That'd only lead to an overall unhelpful mindset and she's learned long ago when she first took up the way of the sword that the mind was the greatest enemy anyone can face.
Negative thoughts, no matter how minor, can be all that it takes to dull one's actions and reactions. With how fast and vicious those zombies are as well as those creatures, that'd only lead to an extremely swift death if their attention was ever drawn.
Well, that aside…
"Hungry…" she mumbled softly, feeling her toned stomach rumbling a bit. Given how tiring the previous day had been, it would seem that the dinner last night simply hadn't been enough after all.
Right then, might as well go and prepare breakfast, for herself and the others. Then after they eat, they'll hopefully be able to come up with a proper plan of action to take.
Quietly exiting the bedroom, Saeko headed for the kitchen area.
Naturally, this required her to pass through the living room area, where the two boys of their group were resting.
But much to her surprise, this statement was only partially right.
"Ah, Komuro-kun," she said quietly. "Already up?"
Seated in a chair close to the glass wall, drapes closed over it, was Takashi Komuro, the one who'd been requested by the now deceased Hisashi Sugou to put him to rest.
Komuro-kun, as she'd noted, was very much awake.
But just because he was awake already didn't make him look any less tired.
If anything… he looked even more tired than before.
He smiled dryly. "More like I never really slept, senpai."
"Too much on the mind?" It was something she asked rather rhetorically. Given that he had killed someone that she'd surmised to be a good friend of his, it was only natural that sleep wasn't something he would easily obtain.
"Kind of… though sometimes, it feels like the opposite to me," he muttered in reply.
It made her quirk a delicate eyebrow and survey the teen with just a bit more interest.
In all honesty, something about this boy had intrigued her from the very start. Although they haven't even known each other, much less interact with one another, for a full day, she felt her interest in him grow with every little thing.
She'd never been one for gossip back in school, but even she'd heard vaguely about a second-year student that was notorious for both his slacking and seemingly perpetual fatigue, as if constantly worn out by every day life. She'd also heard he'd even been in a few fights here and there back when he was a first-year, but nothing really confirmed this tidbit of info. But it was notable in that he never was said to have actually lost any of these fights…
In any case, when Komuro-kun had first introduced himself yesterday, Saeko had had certain expectations of him, which had been blown away by how lively he'd been during their escape from the school. Then again, running for one's life can do that to people.
But his quiet alertness during the argument yesterday over Sugou-san's request had surprised her as had his equally stoic but certain acceptance to be the deceased teen's executioner.
It painted the boy sitting not too far from her in a new light.
He certainly was a puzzle.
"I see," she said in response to his words just now, unable to really comment beyond that. "Heard anything suspicious during the night?"
He shook his head. "Nah, not really. Seems like those zombies really are calm and cool when no one's around to grab their attention… and none of those other things seemed to be nearby either."
Saeko nodded and smiled a bit. "That's good to know. Looks like our barricade may last without challenge."
"Sure hope so." He then looked at her in mild confusion. "So, what are you doing up already, Busujima senpai? Sun's barely even rising."
"Ah, waking up this early is something I'm used to doing. As a practitioner of the sword, it's common to rise early in order to train. Though I'm afraid that's rather impossible to do now with those things roaming around outside." She paused. "But I figured I could start making breakfast, if nothing else. Are you hungry? You didn't eat at all last night, right? I could make you something first, if you'd like."
At her offer, Komuro-kun looked surprised, even a little flustered. "A-Ah, you don't have to. I can wait until everyone else is up."
"You sure? That might be a while…" Everyone else were still out like lights. They likely wouldn't be waking up for another hour at the most.
"It's fine. But thanks, senpai." He smiled, looking really quite grateful for the offer. For once, his eyes seemed to lose that constant look of fatigue.
It made him look really nice, more so than he already does.
It made her smile in return. "Saeko."
"Eh?"
She giggled softly. "I like for my friends to call me by my name. Given the events of yesterday, I'd also like to think we've all become friends now, yes? Or am I being a bit too presumptuous?"
At her words, Komuro-kun seemed to babble a bit in genuine surprise, only to trail off and shake his head as if to physically shake off his current emotions. After doing this, he smiled again, enough to show his teeth a bit. "Heh, guess so… Saeko. Hope you don't mind all of us being in this together for a while."
"Not at all, Komuro-kun. Then if you'll excuse me, I think I'll start breakfast. We're going to need to eat quite a bit to make sure we're at all full strength."
"…Think you could use a hand?"
Now it was her turn to be surprised. She never would've expected such words to ever leave his mouth. Call it outdated or whatever, but she believed the kitchen to be a woman's domain as a result of her upbringing, rooted in Japanese tradition, beliefs included. To have a boy offer to even help threw her for a loop.
Nonetheless, it brought another smile to her face. Her eyes twinkled with fascination.
"I certainly wouldn't mind a little help."
Waking up not long after the sun started to rise, Rei was quick to note the smell of food reaching throughout the hall and down to the bedroom.
Her mouth automatically watered as a result and in a still semi-sleepy haze, got up and followed the smell towards to the kitchen area, only vaguely aware that the others there was starting to wake up too from it.
It put her in something of a good mood, the mere thought of simply letting herself go whilst eating helping to combat the despair that yesterday had brought her.
Binge-eating wasn't really something she'd ever been prone to… but now was as good a time as any to indulge, she supposed.
However, her good mood began to die when she heard not one but two voices coming from the kitchen.
The sight she saw only made her mood die for good.
There, helping Busujima senpai was none other than Takashi. The teen in question still looked tired as hell, but simultaneously managed to look a bit more alive than he'd been looking yesterday as he and the third-year chatted amicably as they finished up cooking, the completed breakfast already set on plates on the dining table for the most part.
The sight of seeing Takashi already looking so cheery – that is, cheery for him – after the world had gone to hell and taking Hisashi along with it irritated Rei immensely. She and Hisashi may not have been dating for that long, but they'd gotten close in the time they'd been together and she knew that Hisashi and Takashi had been pretty decent friends, her relationship with the two of them notwithstanding.
To now see Takashi, Hisashi's supposed friend, looking so upbeat the morning after killing him… well, perhaps irritated wasn't the proper word after all.
She made a sound, a groan not unlike one normally made when up and still out of it. It got their attention and put an end to their quiet yet lively chat.
"Ah, Miyamoto-san," Busujima spoke, the tall girl's eyes widening marginally before narrowing considerably. It was slight, but the tone of voice just now was equal parts soft and annoyed. Looks like the swordswoman didn't like having someone so abruptly butting into things.
"R-Rei…!" Takashi, for his part, merely sounded surprised at the sight of her already up.
"Glad to see the two of you relaxing after yesterday," she said. "Not every day we go through the things we did."
She looked to Takashi rather accusingly as she said that last part. Sure enough, he flinched at the obvious implication behind her words-.
Hisashi.
After flinching, the lively look in his eyes and expression went away and he visibly returned to the quiet and grumpy looking guy he normally was.
This was a change that didn't go unnoticed by Busujima, who looked to Takashi in concern before leveling a mild yet stern glare at Rei.
Rei, for the most part, was unapologetic… but there was still a part of her that screamed at herself for doing that to Takashi. Just because she was still sad and upset didn't mean she had to go bringing others down with her.
But what was done is done.
"…Breakfast is ready, everyone," Takashi mumbled as he turned to wash his hands and wipe up at the sink. "Go take a seat if you want."
There was a light pitter-patter of footsteps behind Rei and she turned in genuine surprise to see the others were up, standing just several feet behind her. Off in the distance, she could just barely see Hirano getting off the couch, reaching slowly for his glasses.
The looks on their faces indicated that they heard just enough to know what had gone on. Yet none of them said anything and merely went to wash up and head for the dining table in silence.
"Go take a seat, Rei. I'll be over there in just a minute." Takashi's voice was back to its usual tired tone and it only filled her with more guilt.
In her anger, she'd gone just a step too far.
All she could do in response was nod to Takashi's back and leave to wash up and go sit alongside the others.
As she left, she could feel Busujima's glare still boring into her.
As everyone gathered and ate a delicious breakfast, Saya did her best to keep from huffing throughout.
While she succeeded in staying quiet, she couldn't quite stop herself from shooting glances at three particular people: Takashi, Rei, and Busujima.
It was the first two in particular that she looked at throughout the morning meal, the first one in mild sympathy and the latter in genuine annoyance.
Rei was a girl that Saya had known since they were kids. They got along pretty well back then but as they grew up, they sort of just drifted apart as different things took priority in their lives. Still, Saya had liked to think there was still something there between the two of them, a strong acquaintanceship if nothing else.
She also liked to think that she still knew the girl, but apparently had been somewhat wrong. She never would've thought Rei to be the kind of person to make such a petty comment like that.
For once, Saya actually looked to Takashi in sympathy. A slacker the guy may be, he'd proven to be surprisingly lively yesterday and level-headed during the argument yesterday when it came to Sugou's request. That the teen then went through with it in such a timely manner just surprised her more, having caused her to reevaluate the opinion she'd held of him for years now.
But reevaluated opinions or not, it was a plain and simple fact that what Rei did was a bitch move, especially since for once in a long while Takashi had actually looked happier when he'd been speaking with Busujima.
That all said though…
What a tense breakfast this was. Everyone was silent as they ate and not simply because of Rei ruining Takashi's mood. Her comment had also made them all aware once again of the state the world now seemed to be in well before they had any time to even entertain the thought of it being a bad dream.
Her comment had therefore been twofold in nature and it wasn't until after they all finished eating and Hayashi-sensei insisted on collecting all the plates and putting them in the sink that it was finally addressed.
And so, just as the teacher came back, Saya decided to get the ball rolling.
Letting out a long huff that she'd been holding back, she opted to get straight to the point. "Well then, what are we going to do now? Aside from checking on our families, I mean."
That much was obvious, something that really went without saying but needed to be said anyways for the sake of confirmation. And there was one more important question that needed to be asked too…
"And how? With those things roaming the streets and whatever that creature had been out there too, it's not like we can just drive from one place to another constantly." The mere fact they had to abandon Hayashi-sensei's truck a few blocks back said enough about this. Any loud enough noise was only going to draw very much unwanted attention from those zombies.
Saya then shuffled around a bit in her school uniform, it being the only clothes that she and the other girls had on hand, save for Hayashi-sensei since this was her place and the nurse who was wearing clothes lent from the other adult there. Evidently, the two shared similar measurements barring bust size, the nurse having to resort to her blouse from yesterday.
She grimaced silently. Perhaps they could do something about clothes first now that she thought about it. Running around in their school uniforms wasn't all that appealing a thing either.
"Well, for sure, we're going to need resources," Hayashi-sensei spoke up. She was currently without her glasses yet still pressed up on the top of her nose as if to push up an invisible pair she had. An unconscious action that was also likely a sign of nervousness, Saya realized. "It's not like we can carry absolutely everything we need from here with us. We'll need to make stops as we go."
"W-Weapons too," the geek then said shyly. Saya could see Kohta look back towards the couch he'd been sleeping on, where his makeshift weapon was lying against. "Preferably something we can use from afar – having those things up close isn't really…"
Yeah, that definitely went without saying. Those things were far too vicious and strong to fend off up close, especially if they managed to grab them. The porker's idea, while obvious too to her, really was a damn good one.
"Erm, I don't exactly have any guns lying around though…" Hayashi-sensei muttered.
"Well," Kohta began. "If you're okay with it, sensei, can I look around and see what you have. I might be able to come up with some stuff for us."
The teacher nodded and Kohta perked up at the permission given. Evidently, he was excited.
"But what about our families?" Rei then asked. "And how to reach them?" She asked these two questions hesitantly, clearly ashamed over what happened earlier, but still willing to speak her mind nonetheless. Saya supposed she'll give the girl that much praise for now.
"My parents are already dead," Hayashi-sensei said softly. "They had me late in life and passed away several years back. I was an only child, so no siblings to worry about either."
"Mine live up north. Normally it's a three-hour drive to reach them, but now…" the nurse, Shizuka, said before trailing off. Her statement was enough to make them all wince. If it normally takes that long to reach them with decent traffic, then trying to reach them now with those things running around everywhere was going to take much longer, to the point it may very be impossible unless the situation drastically changed.
"What about yours then, porker?" Saya asked Kohta.
"My parents were on an overseas trip – touring military bases in America," he said sheepishly.
Ah, that'd explain his fascination with guns and all that military stuff. Then with these three families out…
"So, it's just mine, Rei's and Takashi's families left… yours too, Busujima," Saya commented.
"Ah, my mother died not long after I was born, so my father is the only immediate family I have left," Busujima said. "Knowing him, once this disaster started, he likely went off to help others. He won't be anywhere near the dojo."
"My dad's an inspector so he likely was out in the city when all that happened… and mom was a former officer, so she probably took off to help before the 911 lines went down," Rei then spoke up after Busujima did.
That only left her family and Takashi's then.
"But is there a chance any of them will try to return home to see if you made it back somehow?" Hayashi-sensei asked.
"Maybe, but if they're in the same boat as us, it's going to be a while before that happens. And I live the next district over, so…" Rei began.
"The same is true for me," Busujima replied. "My father also has a great deal of faith in my ability with the sword, so it wouldn't surprise me if he even took longer to circle back home."
"T-That's an awful lot of faith he has in you…" Kohta mumbled.
Busujima merely smiled. "At the risk of sounding arrogant, I'm skilled enough in the way of the sword to warrant such faith."
"But using only a sword against zombies and those things… and a wooden one at that too…"
"So, the point is," Saya began. She could foresee an argument about the effectiveness of guns vs. swords between these two if she let this go on too long. Best to stop that well before it could start. "All of you won't be able to reach your families any time soon for various reasons."
Getting nods from them all so far, Saya prepared to continue, only to pause and then look to Takashi, who seemed kind of out of it. Had Rei's comment truly affected him that much?
She was about to call out to him specifically, but then he looked up and at her just before she could do so.
"My parents can take care of themselves."
The rather sudden statement took them all off guard. He just sounded so sure of this.
"You sure about that, Komuro-kun?" the nurse asked in concern.
Takashi nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."
He didn't elaborate on that and for some reason, the firmness of his tone was enough to keep them all from asking for details.
With all that said, the only family left was…
"Your own, Takagi-san," Kohta said. "How's your family doing, you think?"
"…I'm sure they're fine. More than certain they are." She sighed. "Plus, they'll likely have all the resources we may need for any other little trips we might have to make. And they're fairly close by, but it'll still take a solid day or two of travel to reach them and that's assuming we have some mode of transportation."
It was that last bit that was the clincher. On foot, reaching her home would take several days and that was assuming they traveled a decent distance each day without having to make any crazy detours for their own safety.
"That's… that's really quite convenient, all things considered." Hayashi-sensei looked perplexed, almost even suspicious, of what she'd said. "Takagi-san, just what kind of people are your family?"
"You'll see if we can get to them," Saya grumbled out. She wasn't exactly embarrassed of her parents' influence and power but speaking of it wasn't something she was used to. Not even this situation would change this part of her.
But the way Rei and even Takashi seemed to just snort and lightly smirk respectively right after her comment only made the others' interest in her family grow considerably. Unlike the others here, Rei and Takashi knew exactly what her family was like; they'd been over to her house once or twice when they were all in kindergarten and even though that was years and years ago when they were young and stupid kids, her family and their property weren't exactly things someone can easily forget.
"Sounds like we all know where to go then." Surprisingly, Takashi was the one to say this. "I'm guessing we all want to get moving soon so we should probably start getting all our shit together, right?"
He was already standing up and looked to her for confirmation. Saya nodded. "If we really do want to start looking for our families, starting with my own, then we ought to go as soon as possible. Just because things are calm right now doesn't mean it'll stay that way for too long. We've rested up enough, I'd say."
The whole point of coming here to Hayashi-sensei's penthouse suite in the first place was partially to treat Sugou initially and simply to find a place to rest until a proper plan and safe location can be thought of.
This may be rather sudden to decide on going to her family after only a few minutes or so of mild discussion – and barely at that, it'd mainly been her rattling off questions and statements and the others responding – but to be frank, Saya wasn't liking being cooped up in this place for any longer than she had to be.
Being this deep into the city, where the population was dense and therefore so was the zombie horde, wasn't exactly comforting. If anything went wrong while staying here, they'd have little in the ways of escape options. It wasn't as if smashing the glass walls and jumping out were an option, after all, unless suicide was truly the only option left.
Thankfully, the others seemed to understand this.
"Sounds good to me," Rei said.
"Agreed," spoke Busujima.
"I'll get started on finding some stuff for weapons," Kohta commented. "Hayashi-sensei, you have any tools? How about cabinets for spray cans of any kind?"
"A-Ah, let me show you where…" Hayashi-sensei replied.
"U-Uhm, guess I'll try scrounging up whatever's left from the first-aid kit?" the nurse said uncertainly.
"That'd be ideal. No telling how soon or how severe any of us could end up hurt," Saya said to the buxom nurse.
She tried to keep from twitching in mild annoyance as she saw the nurse become much more certain of herself now, her breasts bouncing greatly as she spun around and dashed back to the room, where the kit was at.
As everyone started to swiftly gather things up to move out, Saya let out a sigh.
This had proceeded much quicker than she thought it would. She sure hoped this wasn't a sign of something bad.
It was too early in the morning for something bad to go down.
Kyoko Hayashi had on occasion entertained the thought of a crisis occurring. Not necessarily the death and destruction that would follow such a crisis, especially not one of this nightmarish and unnatural scale, but rather of her own actions during such a time.
Would she, as a teacher tasked with watching over the students, be able to do her duty? Would she be able to keep a level head and do everything she can to ensure her students and others around her remained as safe as can be?
These sorts of thoughts used to plague her greatly, such was the burden of her position sometimes, a burden that she took all too seriously more often than not. It was only thanks to the now deceased Teshima-sensei and the other staff members that she'd learned to lighten up every now and then to avoid being too stressed.
And now… now, just look at the situation so far.
When her good friend, Teshima-sensei, had been killed by that… that abomination, and had become one of those zombies and started killing, her mind hadn't been filled with thoughts of going back to protect the students or guiding them to somewhere safe. No, instead she'd frozen up for a split second before running to hide as the zombie outbreak at Fujimi high school had spread faster than a wildfire. If not for a few of the students – Komuro-kun, Miyamoto-san, and Sugou-kun – having conveniently hidden in the same room as her, she might have ended up staying in her hastily chosen spot until she'd been found by someone – or something – else or until she simply had died of starvation or something.
Not only that, but up until now, rather than take charge as the only proper adult of the group that had formed back at the school – Shizuka, as much as she liked the nurse, wasn't quite leadership material herself – she'd instead allowed her fear and despair to take hold of her and ended up causing the students, the ones she should be protecting, to sort of run the show since then.
That said students were able to do what they felt needed to be done to ensure their survival up until now simply amazed her and Kyoko felt genuine admiration towards them all, especially to Sugou-kun and Komuro-kun, the former for having the resolve to die in order to prevent himself from becoming one of those things and the latter for having the resolve to kill his friend for said friend's sake.
At the same time, however, Kyoko couldn't help but loath herself as she and Shizuka brought up the rear of the group alongside Takagi-san.
It's been just a few minutes since they all had assembled with everything they could afford to bring with them on their trek to Takagi-san's home.
The barricade they'd made had been cleared and now Komuro-kun, armed with a large kitchen knife she owned, had stepped out into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear while the rest of them stayed behind to await his confirmation.
Busujima-san and Miyamoto-san stood at the front of the group by the door, the former wielding her wooden sword while the latter had taken the handle of a broom from here to use as a makeshift spear, the wood sturdy enough to endure surprising punishment.
Hirano-kun stood not too far behind the two fighter girls, his nail gun held firmly in hand with his trigger finger pointedly resting on the side of the weapon rather than on the trigger itself – gun safety, he'd said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Kyoko took his word for it – she had no knowledge whatsoever with guns of any kind.
Then behind him was the three of them, herself, Shizuka and Takagi-san. Shizuka was carrying the first-aid kit, large enough in size that carrying any weapon of her own was pretty much impossible due to how unwieldy it'd be… not to mention that no one here really trusted her with a weapon; too ditsy, medical knowledge aside.
As for her and Takagi-san, both of them wielded what could only be described as makeshift flamethrowers. Hirano-kun had found two unopened spray bottles and lighters, duck-taping them together so that if they switched the lighters on and sprayed, it'd make for a pretty powerful blast of sudden flames.
Kyoko earnestly prayed that such a case wouldn't come where she'd have to use it.
A moment later, Busujima-san nodded, having been peering out the door to spot Komuro-kun's 'all clear' gesture.
The group quickly poured out into hallway and very lightly jogged to catch up with the knife-wielding teen, who awaited them by the stairs.
Komuro-kun already had the door to the stairway opened and kept it open for them by putting down the little leg the door had to fix it in place. He headed down first to once again act as vanguard.
As they all entered the stairway and headed down, it was with a much slower speed than before, trying not to make their footsteps too loud, seeing as things always echo in stairways.
What should've only taken them a minute took several times longer, Kyoko feeling insanely tense as they walked to the bottom level.
She nearly whimpered when it sounded as if the kit Shizuka carried jangled a little too loudly and found herself wishing to be back in her penthouse suite.
But she fought the desire to rush back up with all she had. After all, these teens had families to get back to and considering the chaos and ensuing body count that had ensured within just hours alone yesterday, a whole additional day of waiting to venture out could make one hell of a difference between life and death for any other survivors out there, the students' families included.
Time could be of the essence and Kyoko tried to resolve herself to keep up.
Said resolution crumbled just a bit when they all managed to traverse out to the lobby area of the entire building and took a side exit, exposing them all to what lied outside.
It was far from a pretty sight, one that had been there before, but one that none of them had taken the time to truly take in yesterday since holing up had been top priority.
The city, what they could see of it from here, was just a wreck. Vehicles, primarily cars but with buses and trucks here and there too, had crashed into one another or into building walls. Some of the windows for these crashed and sometimes overturned vehicles sported dried blood that didn't always result from the crash itself, if the blood spatter was anything to judge by.
Small fires that were slowly fizzling out could be seen within some buildings and cars, another result of the crashes or oil being spilt and alit by something.
Pavement and asphalt was cracked or even outright destroyed in various spots, as if something had rammed hard against it or even through it and the same could be said for some of the buildings too, people having undoubtedly been thrown about hard by those zombies during the course of yesterday.
Windows on a lot of the taller buildings looked broken… from the inside. Kyoko tried not to dwell on the obvious implications.
But what really had her attention – indeed, the attention of the entire group – were the bodies. Those of the dead… and undead.
The former, those who are genuinely dead, practically littered the streets. Some looked as if they'd fallen from great heights – "Don't think of it," Kyoko muttered to herself – their bodies little more than broken and bloodied messes as a result of said falls while other bodies that could be seen within demolished cafes and stores nearby seemed to be missing pieces of themselves, entire limbs and organs looking torn apart or eaten. What looked like brain matter and feces could be seen too, a plethora of people having undoubtedly lost control of their bowels from sheer terror prior to death.
And then… there were the latter.
The undead.
Their bodies stood out even more than the others, what remained of their skin looking much paler than the other bodies while the bones that jutted out looked brittle, coagulated blood covering the wounds that they'd received before they became what they were or after, while their eyes remained dull and vacant.
The mere fact that a fair number of the undead littered the streets showed that some people had at least fought back… and fought back successfully to some extent.
However, that still didn't change the fact that the undead well outnumbered the living in the city now. For they still walked the streets, including this one as moaning and groaning filled Kyoko's ears.
There weren't as many shambling as around as she'd feared, most likely because a majority of them had been drawn to noise elsewhere since yesterday, but their numbers still naturally exceeded the group's by one hell of a margin.
There were several just walking across the street from them, looking to be office workers from a place Kyoko had seen countless times down the street.
One of them looked to be an elderly office worker, a woman whose blouse had been torn to reveal a pale and sagging breast covered with dried blood while the other breast looked to have been eaten. Dreadful looking bite marks littered the undead's wrinkled face and neck, so much so that even a light blow could probably knock its lower jaw clean off. The left ankle was broken and twisted, slowly oozing coagulated blood onto the undead's bare foot.
This one seemed to almost be leading the others there, for the others, equally horrific and sickening to look upon given the states of their bodies, swayed back and forth to try and match its own swaying.
There seemed to be other little 'groups' of zombies as well here and there, much to their confusion.
"It's almost like they're packs… no, they are packs…" muttered Takagi-san quietly as she adjusted the glasses Kyoko had given her earlier. "I know a zombie apocalypse in and of itself is crazy, but even then, this is just…"
"Uhm, Takagi-san, think we can save the thinking for later?" whispered Hirano-kun, sweating a bit from being out in the open like this.
Takagi-san grumbled but nodded reluctantly. "No cars for now – this deep in the city, starting one up will draw who knows how much attention."
So, they'd have to travel by foot then… Kyoko didn't like that thought, but it wasn't as if there was another option.
At Takagi-san's words, Komuro-kun stepped forward and picked up a small chunk of asphalt that had been knocked loose from one of the many car crashes and tumbles. He lightly tossed it up and down in his right hand for a moment, eyeing it intently.
"Takashi…?" both Miyamoto-san and Takagi-san said at the same time. They sounded hesitant and Kyoko knew why.
Hell, they all knew what he was about to do.
Sure enough, Komuro-kun turned around, posing like a professional baseball pitcher before hurling the chunk at an angle through the air.
It flew fast, easily as fast as some of the greatest pitchers in the world could throw a ball, and very far, Kyoko losing sight of it for a brief second almost immediately after it'd been thrown.
She actually gaped. Komuro-kun had a deceptive amount of strength, it would seem. He should've tried out for a sports team.
But then a few seconds later, she winced as she heard the thrown chunk strike a car off in the distance, setting off the alarm which still clearly was in working order.
Komuro-kun immediately motioned for them to huddle up against the wall as the noise got the attention of the undead nearby, including the group that had been across the street from them.
The undead snarled and seemed to glare in the direction of the noise before dashing towards it, regardless of the states of their bodies. But they did so without the same level of speed they'd demonstrated before. They even sounded far less vicious as they all charged past the group and towards the car.
This was something that didn't go unnoticed by Kyoko nor the others, all of them sharing a glance as the street as well as those nearby to the west of them cleared up for the most part.
"They weren't as vicious as before… have they somehow started to differentiate between noises?" Takagi-san mumbled in genuine intrigue, but there was a level of worry there too.
Kyoko shared this worry. If that was the case, then distracting the zombies would become harder to do.
Takagi-san then went from contemplative to angry in a second and glared at Komuro-kun. "Why'd you do that?!" she hissed. "We could've circled around the building that way!"
"…I dumped Hisashi's body over there," he said quietly.
That shut the pink haired girl up. Kyoko could see Miyamoto-san tense up at the boy's name too.
"Other way it is then," Busujima-san then said in a low voice, nodding respectfully.
They all could only nod back and instead circle around the building the other way in order to reach the street they had to walk down to eventually get to Takagi-san's home.
The number of zombies that still roamed the area, while far less than the multitude seen yesterday, was still unnervingly great, Kyoko doing all she could to keep from whimpering whenever the group had no choice but to stray just a little too close to some of the zombies to get around various large potholes and other obstructions in the road.
It was well over fifteen minutes of a tense and uncomfortable silence before the zombie hordes thinned out enough for the area to almost be considered devoid of them.
Kyoko's legs shook as she took in this fact, nearly collapsing then and there. Despite their trek still very much only beginning, she already felt so exhausted thanks to sheer nerves.
To think they still had so great a distance to go… will they be able to make it there in one piece? Can she?
Busujima-san had caught up with Komuro-kun during their brief trek thus far, the two of them walking almost side by side. The former watched the left while the latter took the right. As they neared the end of the shopping/business district and started getting relatively close to the residential area of the city, the two of them suddenly froze in place.
Komuro-kun held up a hand to tell them to stop too and they all did so hastily.
A few seconds pass by without anything being said…
And that was when they all heard it.
A sickening gurgling sound that no human, living or undead, could ever produce.
It was coming from under the manhole just up ahead.
The entire group shivered, recognizing this for what it was – one of those surreal creatures, like that thing that had given chase after them in the truck.
"Stay to the sides," Komuro-kun ordered quietly. "No telling if this thing's arm or something will burst out and try to grab for us."
"What a pleasant thought…" Miyamoto-san muttered dryly but obeyed along with the others.
Komuro-kun and Busujima-san remained where they were while the rest of them scooted along the nearby wall and bypassed the manhole that Kyoko could now swear was moving ever so lightly…
Thankfully, nothing happened and the group's two vanguards swiftly caught up immediately afterwards.
"Which way now?" Hirano-kun asked slowly.
"This way," Takagi-san answered as she stepped forward to guide them all. The haughtiness and short temper the pink-haired girl displayed earlier was all but gone now, the near encounter with another one of those creatures evidently scaring her.
"We really gotta pick up the pace, I think," Komuro-kun grumbled out. "…Seems like it's following us."
Something was slithering audibly after them. The sound was coming from under the street. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.
"Don't walk too fast," Takagi-san whispered. "Might just make it do more than follow us. Just keep a steady pace; the sewers don't travel that far."
"R-Right," Kyoko feebly answered back, once again feeling ashamed at how she, the adult, was being led and comforted by those younger than her.
She tried to assure herself that she was only acting this way because she still had yet to fully comprehend and accept what was going on.
It didn't work one bit.
The group continued their journey for the rest of the day in solemn silence.
Done!
Yeah, not much happening in this chapter really, but if I'd continued on until this got to some action, this chapter would easily be 30+ pages long. That may not exactly be a bad thing per say but I don't want to make you guys wait that long just for one update.
Not to worry though, things will start picking up in the next chapter and especially when they do get to Saya's house. Can't say what exactly will happen, can't even drop a hint, but I'm confident it'll be something fairly surprising and enjoyable.
Whelp, not much else that needs to be said here.
Until next time, everyone. Take care!