Disclaimer: We own our characters, that's all.
Author note: I'm writing the names in the English style of 'Given name – Family name' rather than the Japanese style of 'Family name – Given name'. I'm just not used to writing names that way. I'm having enough trouble with the japenese terms, I'm mostly just using them when I quote the manga directly.
Chapter 10: The Roadway to Hell
I managed to reach the roof of the humvee, crashing down hard on it. Saeko helped the girl inside while I caught my breath. I heard the door opening as I climbed inside, Gerard was doing the same. I heard him shout "We're inside, get us out of here!" Shizuka-chan floored it and we plowed through the horde towards the river. I heard Gerard ask "Is Katie okay?" I told him "It wasn't Katie. Thought she was at first, realised she wasn't once she started talking to me." We looked over at her. "What's her name?" he asked me. "I don't know, she never told me and I forgot to ask."
We looked at each other. "Should probably ask her now that we're safe" I said. "Yeah, probably a good idea" he responded. Then he sniffed and said "Hey, what's that smell?" I took a sniff and noticed it too. He said "It's coming from you." He leaned in towards my back "Is that urine?" I took my jacket off and smelled it "It is...but how did..." I looked over at the girl I rescued. She looked uncomfortable "I-I'm sorry Onii-chan." I just sighed and told her "it's okay. No harm done, It'll wash out." I tried to put on a friendly face. "My name's Peter Ashall, you can just call me Peter. What's yours?" "I'm Alice Maresato" "That's a nice name Alice. Here, I'll introduce you to everyone." I pointed out everyone and told her their names. "We'll keep you safe"
We were able to make it to the river without any real holdups. Gerard talked Shizuka-chan through the river crossing "This thing's built for fording rivers so put it in first gear and ease it into the water, slow and steady, it shouldn't be deep enough to flood the engine." Shizuka-chan asked him "How do I know if it's too deep?" He told her "The truck's equipped with a snorkel so the air goes in through there" He pointed out the intake pipe coming out the hood "as long as the water stays out of there we'll be fine." Shizuka-chan nodded and drove into the river as Gerard instructed. "Okay, just keep the rev's low so the wheels don't spin, river-beds are loose, it's like driving through mud, only slower."
I figured it was a good idea to get some rest now that we have a quiet moment. I noticed Takashi was fast asleep with Rei and Saeko sprawled over him. Lucky bastard. Kouta and Saya were on the roof with Alice. I shed my jacket, tossed it up there and settled in to the sound of the engine and a bad rendition of 'Row Row Row your Boat'.
We were woken after a while, not sure how long, girls still crawling over Takashi. Rei tugged his cheek, saying something about him being "popular" while Saeko was drooling on his leg. He quickly got up saying "let's get out. We need to get over the embankment". I was close to bursting out laughing, then Rei glared at me. That shut me up.
After getting out of the Humvee we tried to help Alice down but...well with what happened during my rescue of her she wasn't exactly...willing to climb down just yet. Rei told us that she and the rest of the girls were going to change and to not look. Naturally, I had to sneak a peek. I'm a guy, it's just nature. I only saw Shizuka-chan's bare back before I turned back muttering "I'm not a perv, I'm not a perv, I'm not a perv, you are a perv, I am a perv, I am a pe-HEY!" Gerard started laughing so I punched him in the shoulder, asshole got me mixed up! "heh, totally worth it" Gerard said while rubbing his shoulder.
The dog I rescued alongside Alice was making a ton of noise. After I picked him up he calmed down. "Hey, we really should come up with a name for this little guy." I said to the others. After throwing out some ideas we decided to call him "Zeke", from what the American army called the Zero Fighters during World War 2. Obviously, this was Kouta's idea.
Kouta gave Takashi a crash course in shotgun use. Takashi didn't seem to be trying all that hard. "Why don't one of you just use it. I'm much more comfortable with a bat anyway" Oh for crying out loud. I told him "you need to know how to use everything at your disposal. You never know when when we might be stuck without a weapon." While this was going on the girls came back, now fully dressed. Rei was carrying the AR and wearing knee and elbow pads, don't know where she got those. Takashi gave a nervous laugh while Kouta's was more aroused. "What? Got a problem?" she said. Takashi panicked a little and said "no,no, it suits you...do you know how to shoot that thing?" It's safe to assume she doesn't. "Hirano-kun can show me how. If not, I can just use it like a spear." Kouta jumped up "Ah, I know, I know, I know! The army puts bayonets on those guns, and we just happen ot have a bayonet over here." How convenient. Some fumbling later and the bayonet was mounted. Gerard spoke up "I can teach Rei the basics, I've used rifles before." He handed me the revolver and the four spare bullets he had left "Yourself, Takashi and Kouta should head up the embankment and make sure the road's clear." Made sense to me so we did it. We went up, swept the area and confirmed it was clear. Shizuka-chan drove the humvee up...nearly running Kouta over in the process.
After getting everyone on the road (and confirming that Kouta does not need a change of underwear) Shizuka-chan asked the obvious question "What should we do now?" before asking Saya "Your house is in 2-Choome at Higashi Hill, isn't it?" She confirmed it was and Takashi said "Then the closest place is your house." For whatever reason, Saya seemed hesitant about going. She whispered something in Takashi's ear. Eventually we set off toward's Saya's house.
It was quiet. No zombies around. Takashi and Rei were on the roof while the rest of us were inside. Then we reached Higashi Hill. "Oh shit! Gun it!" Zombies everywhere. Several turns and many a corpse later we ran into a snag. Rather, we ran into a wire fence somehow strong enough to stop a speeding humvee in it's tracks. We couldn't stop, too much blood on the tyres. Rei got thrown off the roof and cracked her back against the hood before hitting the ground. Takashi jumped off, fired his shotgun at the nearest zombie...and missed completely. I didn't waste any time jumping out to help them. I heard Kouta shouting something and knew Gerard was right behind me. I stuck with my bat, only had 9 bullets for the revolver. We fought our way towards Takashi and Rei, his aim had improved but he was struggling to reload. His gun was knocked out of his hands but I crushed the zombie's skull before it could grab him. My bat broke against it's skull! Down to just 9 bullets and my bare hands, not nearly enough for this many zombies. We were cut off from the shotgun by the approaching horde. I ran out of bullets quickly, they were approaching too quickly for knocking them down and stomping them to be effective. I was grabbed, the others were too far to help me but just before I was bit, the zombie's head exploded, the gunshot came from behind me...where Takashi and Rei were. I glanced back, Takashi was firing Rei's gun, it was still tied to her so he couldn't stand. I got behind them, give them a clear shot and I could kick any nearby zombies away.
POV Switch: Gerard
There's way too many for us to fight, we've got to get out of here! "Peter! Takashi! Grab Rei and get over the fence! NOW! Saeko! Help me clear a path!" "Where?" "How?" "Climb the Humvee!" It's all gone to hell. Peter and I have fought bigger hordes before but we had better weapons and an advantageous position. Now, it didn't matter how hard we fought, they just kept getting closer. I had three lunging for me when I heard the unmistakable sound of a shotgun blast. One head splattered and a second caught a few pellets, not enough to kill it but it gave me an opening. I kicked the third one back and smashed the second one's head with my baton. After crushing the third one, I glanced over where the shot came from, I say Saya of all people using the shotgun. She was yelling something, couldn't understand because Alice was yelling too. What I did hear clearly was a call of "Everybody, Get Down!". I looked through the fence. People in fire-fighting gear were wielding water cannons. I went prone and they blasted the zombies back. "This way! You can thank me after you get behind the car!" The voice was a woman's, we didn't waste any time getting over the fence.
Oh my god, that was nuts. We moved here so we could get away from this shit! I'd go and thank our rescuer but I...don't feel too good. I'm gonna sit down for a bit.
POV Switch: Peter
Sweet Jesus that was close! Gerard and I really need to tell the others about what we went through back in Fortune City because this is one of the closest times we've been to death.
I touched Rei's back to check if it was okay. She yelped in pain and glared at me, seething. "Sorry, just checking." It felt dry so there wasn't any bleeding but we'd need to get a proper look at it. "Here, we'll have Shizuka-chan look at it when we get somewhere safe" They nodded in agreement.
I looked over at Saeko. She was thanking our rescuer, being polite and formal as she normally is. "Thank you kindly for rescuing us in our time of need." The woman in the fire-fighting gear said "Of course" removing her helmet "I wanted to help my daughter and her friends." wait, what?
Saeko shouted "Mama!?" and rushed over to her. Her mother pulled her into a hug. I just looked on. Nobody said anything, nothing needed to be said. It's moments like these that make the struggle to survive worthwhile.
Author note: This chapter was one of the hardest we've written yet. Getting a fight to flow well in 1st person is harder than you would think at first. We hope you enjoyed this chapter and if not, please tell us how we can improve. This is our first story so naturally there are going to be weak-points. Anyway, thanks for your patience and we hope you continue to enjoy the story.