Chapter 7

"What's the matter Kouta?" Yuka came out from the bathroom now wearing a fresh jumper and trousers. She was still drying Nana's pink hair as she trailed out of the hallway.

Kouta had already turned the TV off, there was no longer any point listening to mind-numbing static. "I think this virus might be worse than we originally thought."

Yuka gasped. "Have the zombies reached Tokyo?"

"I'm nor sure, but it may well be soon if not already..." Kouta rested the remote on the coffee table. "Perhaps our only chance will be if we can flee offshore."

"Nana knows a place where we can hide from the monsters." The horned girl raised an enthusiastic hand. Yuka must have helped cheer her up about her abnormality. "We can go back to where Papa and the rest of my kind live."

Kouta and Yuka both shared uneasy expressions. "Isn't that where the ecological research facility is located?" Kouta turned to Yuka. "I'm pretty sure our Professor mentioned that place to us in one of his lectures. He could have produced that virus there..."

"Or perhaps even a cure as well..." Yuka suggested optimistically.

"Even if the island has a cure, how can we possibly reach it. It's at least five kilometres offshore."

"Don't worry, Papa's men will come and rescue us, I just know it!" Nana seemed hopeful of her papa's return.

Yuka shrugged her shoulders and turned to Kouta. "Well we can only last here for so long before our food runs out."

Kouta brought a hand to his chin. "We'll sleep on it tonight – we need some rest after such a horrible day. Then we'll pack some food and supplies and make for the shore. We'll take our next step from there."

"Sounds good to me." Yuka beamed with hope. "C'mon Nana I'll show you to your bed."

As nightfall encroached the Maple Inn, Kouta paced the living room, the moonlight glaring against his wrecked face. He had to prove himself to both Yuka and Nana that he could lead and formulate a plan form survival. If he could not match Bando in strength and courage, he could at least demonstrate a quick intellect and responsiveness to the looming disaster which had corrupted his sleepy town.

…

Mayu shivered as she slowly made her way through the cold dark forest. Her thin ragged sweater and barely visible shorts were not the most snug attire she could find. She could hear the howls of rabid beasts that were once human. Like a pack of wolves, they ruled the night. It was the eerie silence that terrified Mayu the most. Though she had lived a secluded life away from her abusive parents for a year, this felt a lot different than those nights. At least she had Wanta to keep her safe from the ghouls she once believed roamed the beach every cold windy night; at least she had some sort of shelter; at least she was used to that setting.

Mayu's footing cracked a few twigs. She yelped softly, worried she might attract the 'wolves'. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found no-one around and moved forward, climbing over a small crest. When she reached the crest she saw a man resting against a tree a short distance away. Initially she thought it could be another one of 'them,' but then again, why would these things need to sleep? And why wouldn't this one be along with the rest of the 'pack'? Perhaps it was safe...Besides she had to the chance. Without Nana, she couldn't bear to sleep out here alone without some sort of protection.

And the man looked like he could provide that vital muscle. Large-solid build, the buzz-cut hair and thin shades of a commando officer. She edged closer to the man admiring the way his head leant to one side in his sleep. When she got closer she noticed a large infected wound in his right arm. What if he was bitten by one of the monsters? Would he become one of them?

CLICK. In a quick blur the man extended his left arm and produced a rather foreboding gun. His face was emotionless and cold as ice. Mayu's throat choked in shock, unable to scream or speak. Her teeth chattered, cold and afraid...

She was face to face with the cold unforgiving barrel of fate...

Why? Why does it have to end like this...

BOOM!

…

Yuka jolted from her bed. She thought she could hear some movement outside. Terrified of what might be approaching their house, she crawled through pitch blackness whispering for Kouta. She swept her hands in front of her, making sure she didn't run into any walls.

"Kouta...Kouta...Where are you? I hear something outside?"

She could see the pale blue light coming from the front room, she followed the light, turning the corner and discovering the door was wide open. She covered her mouth sweat trickling down her cheeks.

An intruder!

She took a few seconds to calm her breathing and slowly edged her head over the corner to face the doorway. A gentle breeze flowed into the room. She decided to reach the doorway and check outside. Slowly making her way for the door she heard a footstep behind her. Paralysed with fear she held her breath, hoping it might have only been Kouta or Nana. Another footstep...another and another. Finally she could feel them breathing on the nape of her neck. Adrenalin kicked in, she swung on her knees ready to throw a wild punch when she discovered.

"A girl...? W-What is a little girl doing here?" She sobbed with relief, wrapping her arms around the exposed legs of this naked girl before her. It just seemed so surreal, as if a guardian angel had dropped down on earth to save her, Kouta and Nana from the monsters. She pressed her wet cheeks into the girls small belly before raising her head to get a better view of the girls face. And Yuka believed she must have been an angel, with pink hair and tiny horns just like Nana and a sweet little smile.

However Yuka soon realised Angels eyes don't glimmer red like the colour of blood, nor do they possess warped faces and sharp knife-like teeth.

"KOUTA!"

…

Mayu wasn't sure if she had experienced death, she was expecting a painful end. But she was intrigued by the seemingly numb and pleasant feeling of death, she was afraid to open her eyes and discover a strange new world unfamiliar to her own. Perhaps the real pain of death was knowing you would never see then ones you love or eat the foods you enjoyed ever again. But she had to open her eyes, she couldn't lock them shut forever.

But suddenly she did feel something, a heavy push which drove her to the ground. Confused Mayu opened her eyes, much to her disappointment, death wasn't very different to the life she was just experiencing seconds before.

"Get your arse in gear little girl!" A gruff voice came form the side. It was the same man as before. His gun still faced the same direction as Mayu was standing before.

So I'm still alive? But what was he shooting at?

Her answer would appear in the form of a young naked woman with flowing pink hair. As she drew closer Bando grabbed picked up Mayu off her feet and carried her further into the bushes, stopping only to exchange a few bursts of fire at the mysterious woman.

"Sir? What are you doing? Why are you shooting her?" Mayu tried to ask the determined commando.

"Tch. Just shut-up kid or you'll bite your tongue." Bando winced and loosened his grip on Mayu slightly. He was using his injured arm to carry her. "Shit..." He had to drop Mayu and clutch his arm.

"Are you hurt sir? Maybe I can-" Mayu was hit by the man's limp arm. She fell to the ground sobbing in pain and confusion.

"Fucking hell..." The angry man muttered to himself...This is fucking shit-house...I can't keep this up any longer..." Suddenly he acknowledged the child. "I'll keep her back for while, just run away from here."

Mayu was frozen in panic. Unsure of this man's nature and the strange woman he was escaping from.

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME MISS! GETTHAFUCKOUTTAHERE!"

Suddenly Mayu did something unexpected Something drew her towards this brutish man, and instead of repulsion she experienced the force of attraction towards him. Squeezing his arm tightly, she sobbed into his injury.

"Please sir! I have no idea where I am and am alone and scared...Please help me...Let me help you fight the monsters."

And even the man was feeling unexpectedly sorry for this poor child now. He sighed and knelt down so he could be level with the child. He produced a sweaty old handkerchief and wiped the area where he hit her.

He mumbled something along the lines of. "Sorry I got bit carried away there..." Before he scrunched the hanky back into his pocket and lifted his gun defensively. "You think you can keep up with me?"

Mayu nodded with minimal confidence. The man produced small aerosol cans. "When that woman gets close I'm gonna lob a few of these at her. It should give is some time to escape.

"But sir I don't understand what did she do to us?" Mayu asked innocently.

"I know what she is. She's one of those lab rats from the research facility offshore. This ones a particularly mean bitch so we have to stay well away from her."

As the ruffling became louder though the shrub Mayu quick;y introduced myself. "My name's Mayu."

"Great..." The man scoffed, still focusing on the shrubs. He grumbled something along the lines of "Bndu..."

"Hmm? Is your name Bando?"

"Sure why not?" He quickly zipped into action, the pink hair jutted out of the bushes. Bando pierced the cans with his combat knife releasing a huge amount of pressure. He rolled them towards the horned woman who was seemingly gliding towards them. Unlike the zombies her eyes weren't those of death or hunger, but rather of loneliness and sadness. As she reached a few metres away Bando dropped a lighter near the cans and made a break for it. The small clearing was showered in flames. Bando grabbed Mayu's arm and ran for it once again. This time he didn't turn back, if that didn't stop her it was best he spent his vital time fleeing from the dangerous creature instead of ogling her form and waiting for her next move.

…

THWACK. Yuka was saved when Kouta appeared behind the red-eyed girl slamming the leg of the coffee table on her horned head. The girl slumped forward and was swiftly knocked out. As blood curdled around her head, soaking itself in her pink hair Yuka sighed a deep angst-filled breath and picked herself up. "Thank you Kouta. I don't understand, she seemed just like Nana, but her teeth...and those eyes..." She rubbed her arms only to find warmth from Kouta's own.

"It's alright, I'll take her outside, you get Nana and start packing a few things..."

"We're leaving tonight?" Yuka shuddered in a whisper.

"We have no other option now, if she's one of them, then the rest will follow soon enough." Kouta was about to lift the little girl when he suddenly fell violently. It wasn't as if he was tripped or lost his footing but rather felt an invisible push. Yuka bent over to pick him up but was slapped hard in the face by this invisible force. She spun in the air before landing in the corner.

"YUKA!" Kouta reached over for her but was slung back into the other wall. The wind was knocked out of his body and he struggled to stand. He focused on the strange girl who was rising slowly. Astonishingly she was starting to float in the air. Slowly she raised her head revealing her wicked face behind the scrap of pink hair which trailed down her eyes.

"Chi...Chi...Chi...Chi..." She muttered under her breath until she bore a set of demonic fangs. "BLOOD!"