Hey guys I'm going to make this chapter a longer one, and you finally get to see who dies! Well... maybe you guys have guessed its Brendan Birch? If so, you're... never mind, I'll tell you in this longer chapter. Have fun! Okay, maybe not die, but how about missing in action? Lost? How's that sound? Or maybe for two characters MIA or dead? Sound good? OR THREE?! I'm going to make a really really long speech and announcement now, blah blah. Thanks for reviewing, and reading my chapters! I appreciate it a lot! I also have decided on a new type of infected. And if you guys want you can also submit bad guys OC form too! Like, the bad guy who kills the survivors? Just review it or pm me! I AM ALSO FEATURING A NEW CHARACTER IN THIS CHAPTER!
If you really really like my storyline and characters, chapter and et cetera, you may feel free to recommend this fanfiction to your friends! It's optional, no need to trouble you all or anything, but if you want to share or if you feel like it, please, do so. Thank you for reading this really really long speech! If you didn't... well, just read the rest of the story!
As I would say once again, I do not own these characters. Some, that were submitted, are from various anime or manga. Others, though, were original characters, or OCs.
Chapter 8 of 'Living Amongst The Dead' starts now! With two/three character perspectives!
Kyoko Hori
Brendan was lying on the ground, unconscious or dead. Lelouch was fighting in anger due to his lost friend. Izumi Miyamura was clutching at his wounds, one at the arm and another at the leg, while I was tending to him, telling him it's okay over and over again, his face in shock. I poured some alcohol on his leg and arm wounds, making him wince. The bullets had passed clean through his limbs. So they should be okay in time. Then I saw my brother Sota make his way to us, he was up and alive again after his palm wrist got chopped off due to the bite. He glanced at Izumi worriedly, then hid behind a car to avoid gunfire.
From the corner of my eye I spotted Sergeant Naomi Wesley, shooting round after round of ammunition. Lelouch being slammed to the side by the guy who had stabbed Brendan. Olivia hiding alongside Sarah, shooting at the enemy every once in a while. Hilda and Hilbert returning fire as well. Then I saw that Lelouch had dropped his rifle next to us. I grabbed it and aimed carefully at the guy who had stabbed our friend, then shot and hit his flesh. The man's eyes widened and he clutched his stomach. I had shot his stomach.
'You will pay for this, insolent brats. Oh, yes, you will.' The man's eyes glowed with hatred. Pure hatred.
Then he and his cronies fled.
The Sergeant immediately rushed to the side of Brendan.
'Is... is he dead?' Lelouch asked uncertainly.
Sergeant Naomi put her head next to his chest, then her eyes narrowed.
'He's breathing. But his heart is not thumping.' She said in shock.
'Let me see.' Hilda glanced at the stomach wound. Then, she grabbed a metal thingie (sorry, but from this character's perspective she does not know much about medical appliances) and jutted it into Brendan's stomach.
Her face was screwed up in concentration, her hair beaded in sweat, and then she perked up.
'I've got it! The bullet. It's out!' She wrenched the bullet out with the metal 'thingie'.
We waited. Sergeant Naomi pressed her head to his chest again. Nothing. We were about to give up when Brendan's eyes flew open.
'Wha-what what?' He gasped. 'Ugh, stomach pain, stomach pain.' He added, groaning.
We all sighed in relief, and Olivia gave him a hug. Sota, my brother, he was smiling. Izumi breathed a sigh of relief again, then patted Brendan's back. Sarah looked jealous as she glanced at Brendan and Olivia.
'Are you guys hungry?' I asked. I was a great cook at my old home before... before the world of the dead. I stirred the pot with Hilda, who was also a good cook.
'Yeah!' Izumi exclaimed.
'Okay!' Takashi said. Blake was missing for a while. Then he walked to where Hilbert was. They conversed for a minute, or two. I was staring at them suspiciously, while cooking alongside Hilda. Then Hilbert spoke up.
'Guys, after eating, we gotta move. For all we know those bad dudes will come and attack us again.' He suggested, after we had loaded our plates with food.
'Yeah... but where to go now?' Hilda asked.
'Don't worry, I know a place.' Takashi perked up. 'It's really cool, epic, the epitome of a fort!'
Sota stood up. Then he asked, 'Where is it?'
'Oh, it's called Death Valley! And it's in California!' He grinned. We all gave him a droll stare. I broke the silence by laughing out loud so hard that my chest began to hurt.
Then everyone was staring at me now with a droll face.
'What? Death Valley?! It's a freaking dead man's desert!' I insisted.
'Not helping...' Hilbert said, switching the topic as quickly as it had started. 'How about Los Angeles?' He suggested, whilst picking his nose idly.
'Umm... A, it's far. B, it's far. AND C, IT'S FAR!' Lelouch grunted.
'But it's got rich mansions, estates, and casinos!' Hilbert argued.
The two continued arguing until Olivia pushed them aside.
'Hmm... how about my house? It's not far from here.' Sarah Allen suggested, after a while of silence from her.
'Sounds good. Where is it?' I questioned.
'Umm... it's... I don't exactly know. But we passed it along the way to the highway.' She responded.
I slapped my forehead, sick of this indecision. Then I turned my attention back to my rice and soup, and I picked on the fried fish.
Takashi and Izumi were deep in thought, their faces idle of all or any emotion.
Sarah and Olivia were chatting with Hilbert and Lelouch.
Blake was standing guard alone.
Sergeant Naomi Wesley was looking after Brendan, and brought a bowl of rice porridge for him, using the rice that Hilda and I had cooked, and the soup too.
And Hilda was sitting beside me. Two best friends together, and two good cooks together. What could go wrong? We could talk for hours and hours and still not get bored.
*silence*
'Okay, so much for thinking that.' I muttered out loud.
'Thinking about what, hmm?' Hilda asked.
'I was just thinking that we were two best friends, and two good cooks together. So I thought we could talk for hours and hours and still not get bored,' I added, blurting it out, 'And then silence occured.'
'Yeah, but we're not supposed to talk in the world of the dead anymore. I wonder if my parents were here. What would they do?' Hilda said, with a trace of sadness. Her parents had died in a car crash before.
'They would be very proud of you.' I said, trying to cheer her up. That did get her a smile, but it faded away quickly, and we were back into business.
'So, where should we go?' She asked.
'The boys are still at it. Sarah Allen suggested that we go to her house.' I said.
'Is it a good enough option for all of us?' Hilda asked again.
'Not really, we passed it before reaching the highway.' I responded.
Hilda rummaged around through her bag, obviously looking for something. 'Hold on a minute,' She muttered.
'What?' I wondered.
She held something small aloft.
'Got it!' She smiled triumphantly.
I stared at it for a moment.
'Umm... what is that?' I asked.
'It's a radio receiver. It is size changeable. It can shrink or grow, you just need to pull it to stretch or push it in to shrink.' She said, as if it was something very obvious.
I picked it up, unsure of what to do. Then I pulled it, hard. The radio receiver started to grow a bit.
'Hmm... how does it work?' I asked.
'We just pick up the signals from the antennae there.' Hilda added, 'Hold it!'
I stared at her. 'What is it?'
'I'm picking up a signal! Don't touch it! I need to turn on the volume.'
*static*
*Brrzt* - whoever is in this range, we need - *Brrzt* - reinforcements! More of them are coming - *Brrzt* - HOLY SHIT! THAT ZOMBIE IS REALLY STRONG! - *Brrzt* - WE NEED HELP! HURRY! THEY ARE MUTATING! - *Brrzt* - ARGHH! - RAWR - *Brrzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* A man's voice could be heard, then the signal went dead.
'The signal's dead! Wait... I'm picking up another signal beam headed our way!' Hilda exclaimed excitedly and wearily at the same time.
*static*
*Brrzt* - The infected are all around us. And we are fighting back. I need to see my brother Takashi Hamasaki soon. Takashi, if you are still alive, and if you still have that radio, please respond. - *Brrzt* A female voice sounded.
'Umm... hello?' I said.
*Brrzt* - You're not Takashi, are you? Do you know anything about his whereabouts? Is he alive?! - *Brrzt*
'Yes, he is. There are twelve of us, camping out at Park Banville (I am not sure if it exists), somewhere across the highway. It's near Sunny Elementary School.' I responded.
*Brrzt* - I... see... tell him, that I am on my way. I am the only one coming. - *Brrzt*
'Wait wait wait!' Hilda stuttered. 'What's your name? How are you getting here?' But the signal was already dead.
'Shit!' I shouted.
'What is it?' Izumi said, walking over to us, Takashi following behind him. The rest of our friends were busy talking or eating.
'Takashi, we have a message from your sister.' Hilda said.
His eyes widened. 'My - my sister? She's alive? Is she alive?'
'Yes, yes, she is.' I said impatiently. 'But that's not the point. I heard something from the army, or the police, too. The zombies are mutating.'
'You're serious?' Izumi was shocked.
I looked him straight in the eye and said, 'Yes. There is a really strong zombie now, or so I've heard. And they are all mutating, and adapting. Depending on the climate, or the habitat.'
'I mean, how will my sister see us?' Takashi sounded impatiently to Hilda.
'You forgot? You had driven here, in your car! You insisted that you bring it here, remember?' Hilda argued.
Izumi smiled. 'Well, if the zombies are mutating, we should mutate too. We need to adapt. Depending on the climate, or the habitat, right? This is a park. And it's strong. We adapt to be strong.'
Then, I saw a tall girl, about Sergeant Naomi's height, bang the gate, her eyes widening when she saw Takashi. She was about our age, but looked more matured than us. 'Takashi!' She exclaimed. Takashi wore a smile as he rushed over to aid his sister with the gate.
'Hey, little sister. What took you so long?' He said, grinning.
'Your car isn't exactly easy to spot, you know.' She responded. The gate was then unlocked by Takashi.
'Oh...' Takashi had everyone's eyes on him. 'This is Kaori Hamasaki. My younger sister. She's 17 too. Just like you all.'
'Hi!' Kaori said. 'Oh shit, Takashi...'
Takashi frowned. 'What is it?'
'Umm... the infected were chasing me.' She said nervously.
'And? You weren't bit? Anything?' Takashi asked urgently.
'It's not a bite. It's that... they're coming here, too.' She frowned.
Takashi's jaw dropped. There were a lot of moaners reaching the gate.
'Oh, shit...' Sergeant Naomi said.
Sarah Allen
Takashi's sister had arrived. And she looked attractive. I mean, for a girl. I'm bisexual, but I try not to make it look like I am. But then the horde of infected were coming, and we were almost practically defenseless.
'Go, go, go!' Blake yelled. 'Back gate!'
We all made a dash for the back gate, except for Blake who was mowing down the hordes of infected outside.
'DIE, you M*****F***ERS (censored word)! BURN IN HELL!' Blake was yelling.
'Come on, Blake, you'll die!' I cried out.
He glanced at me with a crazed look in his eyes, which slowly faded away.
'Okay, I'm coming.' He added, then bolted for the back gate.
Then Takashi stopped. He spotted the burly man's katana at the side of the front gate. Then he made a dash for it.
'Takashi! What are you doing?!' Blake yelled.
Takashi didn't answer until he reached the katana. When he had just touched the grip of the sword, the gates exploded with a horde of infected, they were trying to attack him. Takashi sliced a wide arc around him, whipping aside lunging arms and rotten teeth, then ran for the back gate. Blake and I had already reached outside. When Takashi made it, faster than the runner infected horde, Blake desperately tried to lock the gate, only to be driven back by teeth. Takashi was slashing them freely now, then only I realized he was a pro katana user.
Finally Blake managed to snap the lock shut, and the horde of infected kept slamming the gate. It was only a matter of time before it broke open, but at least we had a headstart.
'Whew... why the hell did you go back for the katana, man?' Blake asked.
'Because I'm good with it.' Takashi panted. He was a fast runner, but his stamina was depressingly not that good. But he could run quite far too.
'You guys are lucky you didn't get bit or die or anything.' I muttered.
Blake sighed. 'Anyways, where are our friends?'
Takashi frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. 'No idea. Have we lost the infected yet?'
'I hope so...' I said. 'Anyways, we'd better pick up the pace. We don't know where our friends are at and we need to lose the infected behind us.'
'Easier said than done...' Takashi muttered.
'Hey!' I frowned.
'Jeez, just kidding.' He groaned.
'So, tell us about your sister. How is she?' Blake asked.
Takashi smirked. 'My sister was an annoying little runt when she was eleven. Still is, as a matter of fact. But now she's 17, and she can fend for herself. She's a tough little cookie, she is.' added Takashi, sighing a little.
'But still, as tough a cookie she is, cookies don't survive in the world of the dead. No one lives to bake cookies anymore, so humanity will be extinct in a matter of time.' Takashi sighed again, then continued. 'You see Kyoko Hori's brother? The kid named Sota? He's a real tough and smart kid. But kids suffer in this kind of world. Kids need to be looked after, you see. So... what about you, Sarah? Any dead skeletons in your closet? You too, Blake?'
'There is a dead skeleton in my closet. I brought it home from science class,' I said, with a huge amount of sarcasm. Takashi was gullible, though. His eyes lit up.
'You had a dead skeleton in your closet? From science class? How sarcastic.' He laughed.
Blake had a distant look in his eyes, like he was thinking of something that happened a while ago, his eyes misty with sadness.
'I... lost my girlfriend thanks to her father.' He said.
'You mean... her father rejected you?' I asked.
'No... no, I mean, her father became one of 'them'. That undead person... he ate my girlfriend, tore guts out, and ate them!' Blake was clutching at his face now, insane with sad laughter.
'And you know what? That was not the worst part. I had to put my gal down. My girl... she rose from the ground, her guts hanging loose. And you know what else?' He continued, still laughing sadly, tears running freely down his face. 'My girl tried to eat me. And I wanted to give in. I wanted to. But my hand, it just had to pull the trigger.'
Suddenly his face turned stony and angry.
'It was those infected bastards. I'm not going to rest until I've put all of them down.' He snarled.
I was shocked. I never heard such a heartbreaking thing from Blake before, he was always a friendly guy back at San Frank High, one of my juniors, at seventeen years old. He mixed with all levels. And now, from such a friendly person, he broke down into a entity full of sadness.
It's shocking and amazing how someone can break, change, or bend in this kind of world, the survival world. Maybe we were meant to live, or maybe death is waiting for us nearby, as we treaded on the ground of dead bodies.
*moan*
The first infected sprang alive from the ground, then lunged at us only to meet a swinging of Takashi's katana. But it was too late. The infected zombie had did its work. I screamed because I was shocked, then immediately covered my mouth and mentally hit my head. That was a stupid move!
The infected around us had risen to their feet, and they were craving human flesh, our flesh. The horde from the park gate were also catching up, distant moans could be heard.
'RUN!' Takashi ran in the lead, slashing away zombies into bits and pieces. We followed the clearing path Takashi had made for us, dodging hands and limbs along the way.
'YEARGH!' My arm was caught by a lunging hand! I struggled to pull it free, but then the zombie had come to me already, and opened its mouth wide...
*Blam*
Blake shot it from the side of the head, and offered me and hand, which I gratefully accepted, and we tried to catch up with Takashi, who was like a demon, cleaving and chopping limbs, heads, body parts like they were sushi to a cleaver.
We rushed madly to one of the gun stores, and Takashi tried opening it, but failed.
'Open up!' Takashi yelled, kicking the store door.
'Takashi?! Come in!' Kaori Hamasaki greeted us, our friends all inside, fearful of the infected outside. We all heaved some heavy furniture to block the door, and the sounds of moaning grew steadily stronger, then the thumping stopped. We saw the shadows of the infected chase after another prey, and we were safe again.
'Whew... That was close.' I panted.
'Too close, don't you think?' Blake said. 'Why're you guys here for?'
'Guns.' Hilbert gave him a droll stare. 'We're here for guns.'
Takashi looked around. 'Wait... where's Kyoko and Izumi?'
'Who?' Lelouch asked.
'Hori and Miyamura.' Takashi said.
'They...' Olivia started. 'They didn't make it here. We were cut off from them. We were at a supermarket looking for supplies when a huge horde of infected suddenly burst in and trapped Hori and Miyamura... shame... they were trapped at the back there and there was nothing...'
'What do you guys mean, nothing?!' Takashi yelled angrily. 'You guys have weapons!'
Sergeant Naomi growled, 'Kid, weapons is one thing, another thing is, if we attacked them, we would die too.'
Takashi was fuming, Olivia was scared stiffless, Hilda and Hilbert were silent, and Lelouch was stunned.
'Wait a minute!' Blake said. 'Sota was there too?'
'Why do you ask?' Hilda asked.
'Because,' Blake added, 'He's not here.'
A scary and dark silence filled the room, except for a few moaning outside.
'So, the kid, and my two friends are gone. What could be better?' Takashi gritted his teeth.
No one answered. They looked sheepish and guilty.
'Hold on, they may be alive.'
Everyone looked at me as I said those words.
'Wha-what makes you think so?' Kaori Hamasaki said.
'Because,' I said, glancing at Takashi, 'Sota is a tough cookie. Miyamura is a defensive guy. And Hori has survival skills.'
And as I said those words, hope began to slowly flood through my entire being.
'So they will live.' I said, a little more confidently.
Takashi, who had been silent whilst I was talking, said, 'They must be alive. Because, if they aren't, we are going to have trouble, and blood in our hands.'
'So, what say we look for them?' Lelouch suggested.
Hilbert piped up, 'Sure thing! Let's go soon!'
'Hold on, you guys.' Takashi grunted. 'Does this place have a car?'
'A car?' Sergeant Naomi asked.
'Yeah, a car.' Kaori Hamasaki said. 'It must be big, to fit nine people, though.'
'Yeah, but is there one?' Brendan asked, still clutching his wounded stomach.
Hilda disappeared behind the gun store for awhile, then came back, saying, 'This gun store is linked to a garage. And this garage...' She grinned.
Takashi Hamasaki
'Holy shit!' I exclaimed, looking a the gigantic SUV that beheld my eyes. All of us weren't fat, and this SUV could fit 7 fat people!
'Let's get in.' I said, beckoning to my friends to enter. It was a tight fit, but we all managed to squeeze in.
Engine working? Check.
Gas tank full? Check.
Extra fuel supplies? Check.
Motor Oil? Check.
Car key? Check.
Man, I was going to love this ride. It was a muscly SUV, a Range Rover Evoque. It would have cost fifty five thousand USD, and I probably couldn't afford it, but... wow! A cool SUV in the world of the dead? Heck, and I could drive above the speed limits now! No need to worry about police, unless, say - the undead ones, who want to eat my flesh.
I used to be a mechanic, so I learned how to seriously modify a car to make it extremly dangerous.
'Hand me that screwdriver, Blake.' I asked, as I put steel spikes on top of the car hood (bumper in some other countries), and put another layer of glass on the windscreen, and opened the door to the roof, placing a assault rifle tripod on the roof and put spare ammo there.
When all modifications were done, I jammed the car key inside the ignition switch, and turned the key.
The Range Rover Evoque revved to life, making little or no noise at all. Once my friends were inside the SUV, fitted a bit tightly, I was about to step on the accelerator when Blake stopped me. 'Dude, one problem.'
'What's that?' I blinked.
Blake sighed. 'How are we going to fit the other three?'
'Umm, there is always cross legged sitting and floor sitting, so it'll be fine.' I managed, unsure if it would work or not, but Sota definitely could fit.
Blake shrugged, and got back in the car.
*Vroom*
*Vroom*
*Vrooooom*
I stepped on the accelerator with all force, and broke through the metal garage door, with hardly a dent on the car hood. 'Wooo-hooo!' I yelled, exhilarated.
'He's always like this,' I heard Kaori tell Olivia.
I slammed into smaller cars and infected aside, as if they were rag dolls, plowing into trucks thanks to the steel spikes I had placed, tearing apart lesser vehicles and damaging larger vehicles.
'This is like a freaking road trip!' Lelouch complained as he clutched his stomach, and he looked as if he was about to puke from the rear view mirror I looked into.
I laughed.
'Aw, cheer up, dude. We are surviving, are we not?' I said.
'Yeah, but I'm dying here!' Lelouch groaned.
I chuckled when Lelouch grabbed a plastic bag and heaved into it, retching and choking from carsickness. Nothing amused me more than someone puking out their food in a car.
'So, where did you guys last see Hori and Miyamura?' I asked, looking into the rear view mirror, at the same time, weaving away from the gun store and garage.
'Umm... it was at a large supermarket or something. It's called Fresh Produce.' Hilbert responded.
'Okay, so it's gonna be quite far from here. You guys should get some sleep.' I said.
Eerie silence... It seemed to me they were already sleeping. I grinned and stepped on the accelerator more, zooming past cars and stores, carefully avoiding trucks and tankers.
Then I heard a ear splitting
'RAWR!'
A huge muscular zombie came out from the shadows, holding a small truck, and aiming it at us.
'SHIT!' I yelled, speeding faster, breaking more and more of the speed limits. The monster looked like a giant. The mutation had modified its arms, making it larger and more muscly. It was like the Hulk, but was not green skinned. The 'Hulk' threw the truck at our car, and I swerved to dodge it, but instead crashed into an already damaged tank.
'Shit, shit, shit! Wake up, guys!' I yelled to my friends.
They all sprang awake, wondering the cause of the crash.
Their eyes widened when they saw the monstrous figure that beheld their eyes.
The monstrous figure grunted like a hog, then charged at us, intending to kill us. I reversed the car, away from the tank, and drove as fast as I could. The 'Hulk' jumped on top of the damaged tank, ripped its tank gun out and threw it in the air in hatred for our narrow escape.
'It seemed that the hulk like monstrous figure relies on sound, it's eyesight is terrible.' Lelouch finally pointed out, all of them still in shock by what had happened.
'Yeah, but bad or no eyesight, it almost bloody killed us all.' I shuddered.
'You scared of that thing?' My sister Kaori asked me, smirking.
'Shut up. Like you're not. Like you even saw it.' I growled.
Kaori laughed a bit. 'Your argument is invalid. I did not say I wasn't scared, for one thing. For the other, I did see it. So you suck, Takashi.'
I said nothing as I concentrated on the infected traffic. I wanted to lose myself in the thoughts of cars, engines, and tools, not by some stupid infected argument by some annoying little sister.
Brendan was groaning in pain again, Sergeant Naomi and Hilda tending to his wound.
Someday, if I survive this, there won't even be a grandson, or a son to tell this tale too. I guess even if the world is on the verge of destruction, humanity on the verge of extinction, we humans that survive never change, even though we think or feel we change. Like how I love driving. I still do.
A/N: Well, that's the end of this really really long chapter! What do you think happened to Kyoko Hori, Izumi Miyamura and Sota Hori? They may be dead, let's hope not! Why don't you guys review and tell me who or whether do you think died? Thanks for the support!
