"So, what are you planning to do from now on?"

"Huh?" Saki asked.

The two of them had driven up to a ledge overlooking all of Karatsu. It was the parking lot for the Kagamiyama Shrine, one of their most disputed pieces of territory. They were leaning on the wooden barrier. "In the future," Reiko clarified.

She thought about it for a moment. "I figure after taking over Kyushu comes taking over the rest of the country, right?"

She chuckled. "That's just like you."

"Not you though?"

She looked to the sky. "I…" she paused. Slowly, her optimistic smile turned into a sour, twisted frown. Tears started pouring down her face.

"R-reiko?" A strong breeze blew from beyond her, blowing her hair away from her face. She panicked as the ground around them began to crack. The sky darkened and the clouds above began to swirl. "Wh-what the hell?!" she yelled. She turned and looked around at her surroundings, which had turned into a hellish landscape.

"Saki." Reiko's voice boomed.

She glanced back at her old friend. By this point, the only terrain left was the ground the two were standing on and the railing.

"SAKI!"

"R-Reiko! I didn't want to leave! I just wanted to show off!"

"SAKI!"

"I know! I regret it, okay?!"

"SAKI!"

"God, just stop!"

"SAKI!"

"Stop yelling at me!"

"SAKI!"

"I don't…"

SAKI!"

"Please…"

"SAKI!"

Saki shot up, breathing heavily. She looked around, terrified and panting heavily. She was at the train station. It seemed to be morning. She looked up to see Ai was standing in front of her.

"Saki, the train is coming. It's time to wake up." she pulled on her wrist.

She blinked. "Y-yeah. Got it." She stood up, stretching out. Ugh, there are so many kinks in my back... can't believe I fell asleep in a chair like that. She looked to the left and saw the train. It was a small train, only capable of holding fifty or so passengers. She bent over and attempted to pop her spine.

The three of them waited patiently as the train came to a stop in front of them. As soon as it stopped, Saki stepped forward, but Ai pulled her back. "Hey!"

"We have to wait for people to get off the train first."

"Tch… I've never had to ride a train before, okay? Gimme a break."

The doors opened slowly and a handful of people got out. Finally, the three girls stepped up to the door. The inside of the train had seats on either side of the car facing inwards, with poles placed throughout.

"Is this train headed to Imari?" Ai asked the doorman.

"Yes. All three of you?"

"Yes."

"Okay, that's 1,950 yen."

Ai gasped. She turned towards the others. "I forgot it costs money! Do either of you have money?"

Saki shrugged. "Why would we?"

"I'm sorry, but if you can't pay, I'll have to ask you to leave," the doorman said.

The three of them turned around and walked back onto the platform. Saki shook her head. "C'mon. We gotta go find some money somehow. Or we could walk. Which one's better for you guys?"

"Wait!"

The girls turned back around.

Inside the train, a man had stood up and extended a 5,000 yen note to the girls. "Here. You girls need to ride the train?"

"Wow, things are finally looking up for us!" Saki exclaimed. She put her arm behind her head and leaned against the window. "Thanks dude, you really saved our butts back there!"

He leaned forward. He wore a navy blue button-up with a cyan undershirt and white khaki pants. "Don't mention it. I like to help out where I can. My name's Shinta Okoba. I'm a journalist." He extended his hand.

Saki shook it forcefully. "The name's Saki Nikaido! Nice to meet ya!"

Junko shook it daintily. "Junko Konno. The pleasure's all mine."

Shinta cocked his head. "Junko Konno? Interesting name. Have we met before?"

She was surprised. "Um, no, I don't believe so…"

"Hmm… that name is just familiar, that's all." He turned to Ai and extended his hand. "And you?"

She was flustered. "My name is… uh… Miho… Saito.

He seemed a little confused by her hesitation, but still remained polite. "Nice to meet you." He held out his hand for a second more as Ai failed to shake it before awkwardly retracting it.

Saki looked at Ai and cocked her head. Huh? Miho Saito?

"So, you three are headed to Imari? What for?"

She piped up. "Oh, we're headed to-"

"We're visiting a relative!" Ai yelled.

He stared at her suspiciously. "You're all in the same family?"

"Oh, no, we're just friends! We're visiting my relative. Together."

Shinta was silent. He looked back to Junko. "Well, anyways. Seriously, I could have sworn I've heard that name before. And… you look… oddly familiar. I have to know you from somewhere."

She was incredibly flustered. "Um, you, maybe…" She turned to Ai.

"You ride the train a lot," she mouthed silently.

"I-I ride the train a lot, so maybe you've seen me here?"

He squinted. Saki looked between the three of them, confused. Huh? You don't…

He sat back up in his chair. "Maybe." He looked to the side, then back to the girls. "Well, I have some work to do. Nice meeting you." He seemed much more serious than he was before. He pulled a laptop out of his bag and opened it.

"What was that?" Saki whispered to the two girls. "Miho Saito? What the hell?"

"Did you see the look on his face when he heard Junko Konno? We're not exactly as obscure as you are," Ai snapped back quietly. She glanced at Shinta, then back at her. "Plus, he's a journalist. If the public were to find out that there are zombies running around before we want them to, that might be a bit of an issue."

Oh.

"I-I shouldn't have told him my real name. I'm sorry," Junko mumbled.

"Hey, you're okay. We've only been around for three days. I'm sure you're not used to giving fake names. We only have to worry about it while we're homeless and vulnerable," she said. "Once we get settled in and start trying to be threatening, we can start telling people the truth."

She looked down at her boots.

Ai turned back to Saki. "You know the way there from Imari, right?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, totally. It's like a 5 minute ride from there. I've practically got the route memorized."

"Good. I don't want any more setbacks. We've already wasted an entire day. Once we're there, we'll probably have to wait a while. It looks like it's pretty early in the morning, so we'll probably-"

"What?" Shinta whispered to himself.

Saki and Ai glanced over at him. Huh?

He was staring at his laptop screen, eyes bulging.

Saki looked back at Ai and shrugged. "Probably just got a surprising email or something."

"No, look at him."

She looked back to see his eyes darting frantically between his screen and Junko. Uh oh.

"What on Earth…?" he whispered to himself.

Ai gulped. "I think we've made a terrible mistake."

Saki looked back at her. "Crap, crap, crap! We've gotta get outta here!"

"Well we can't just leave! We have to get to Imari and if we get off the train, we might not be able to get back on!"

Saki looked back at Shinta to find that he was now staring at the two of them suspiciously. She put her elbow on her leg and supported her head, making sure to avoid eye contact with him.

Ai put her hood up and turned towards the window.

After a moment of staring, he went back to typing on his laptop.

This is bad. This is really, really bad…

"Junko," Ai whispered.

She shot up. "W-what?" she asked.

"Shhh! Not so loud! Don't look now, but I think the guy who paid for us to get on the train just found out who you are."

"How?"

"He probably looked you up on Google."

"On what? I don't understand..."

"Wikipedia."

"Oh no! What do we do?"

"Just stay calm. Chances are he won't approach us. In the meantime, don't make eye contact. We've got to ride the train to Imari."

"I understand." Junko shifted her position, looking to the end of the train car away from Shinta and crossing her legs. She hid her multicolored hands behind her legs.

The three of them held their positions for several minutes, with only slight adjustments.

Okay, just gotta stay like this for a few minutes. Wonder what my arm's up to? Saki turned her attention to her dismembered arm. Nothing had changed. It was still freezing. Huh, maybe they put it in the fridge or something? Her hand started to itch. Crap! No! I can't scratch that! The pain was agonizing. She stopped paying attention to her arm and popped back into the real world. She realized that it was really hot compared to how it was in the fridge. Damn, the fridge felt way better. Maybe I should open a window. Maybe he'll even think we're less suspicious if we do something as mundane as that. She glanced over at Ai. "Hey, uh, Miko, can you open the window? It's getting kinda stuffy in here."

She did nothing.

"Hey, Miko!" She elbowed her in the thigh.

"Ow! Oh yeah." She stood up and opened the window a bit before returning to the position she had held before.

Saki glanced to see if Shinta had gotten less suspicious.

He was now squinting at them, mouthing something unintelligible to himself.

Well, that backfired.

The train finally rolled to a stop at the first station on its route. "Now arriving at Yamamoto Station!"

Saki watched as Shinta started to get up, then looked at the three girls.

He hesitated for a moment then walked out the door next to them.

"He's gone," she whispered.

All three of them took a sigh of relief. They all turned back to face the aisle. Junko sighed. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I'm sure we'll never see him again." Ai smiled.

"I didn't realize that something as small as a name could give us away…"

"Yeah, that's why I came up with a fake one. We can't risk anyone finding out at this point. That was close."

Saki smiled. "Hey, us being zombies won't be so taboo once we hook back up with Dorami." She leaned back against the window again and chuckled.

"Zombies, huh?" Shinta asked.

There was a collective gasp. The three of them slowly turned around to find that he had crouched right outside the window on the station platform, listening to their conversation. He let out a smile, stood back up, and walked back into the train slowly.

All three girls turned with his movements and watched him make his way back to his seat.

He leaned forward, interlocked his fingers, and put his elbows on his knees. "Tell me more."