10-Stretching the pawns
One of the things that Takashi found curious, was how he was feeling about the lack of the usual sounds in the city.
Takashi would be lying if he said that he founded the silent city; occasional moans crashed and stumbling around sounds; very much of his liking. The noises of the traffic, the hordes of people, the perfumes, the mobile phones, the screams, the announcements on the bright TVs, the radio, the music, the trains, all of that had died with the explosion in the sky and Takashi enjoyed the silent city for what it´s worth.
Also, feeling heavily shadenfraud-ed, the entire time. Sure, the city was awesome now, but not at this zombie apocalypse price, for Kami´s sake.
After the transformation on the Takagi state defense and the balance that Takashi has reached with his inner Beast; something that was nothing but his own thought back at him; Takashi discovered that he was more physically balanced and that he could now, change into three distinctive forms. His human form; although with enhanced strength, stamina and the claws and teeth when adrenaline is softly rumbling on his veins, the massive wolf form that he took in the temple after seeing Saeko being the war goddess that she was and the hybrid furred butcher machine form that he took on the defense of the Takagi´s state.
For what Takashi remembered of the conversation with Magnus, those were the tip of the iceberg for a Therianthrope like him, that could change shapes at will if he had enough experienced and skills to accomplish it. According to Magnus, during the conversation that Takashi and he had in the academy, the Therianthropes like him were only limited by their imagination when changing shapes is the topic at hand. Magnus was the living example, from dog to man to man-bear and he has already insinuated that he could change into whatever the heck he wanted.
Takashi was not all that convinced of doing anything similar, the real problem was that Takashi was still trying to make heads or tails about his condition and the sudden shape-shifting abilities that he has acquired in less than 24-hours was already pushing his sense of belief hard enough. It does not help, that Takashi was a teenager, barely of eighteen years old, that has passed all his life as a human; stronger, faster, but human nonetheless; and suddenly being in four legs and with a fluffy tail was not what his brain was accustomed too.
In order to become more comfortable and competent with his powers, as soon as Takashi exited the state; not really wanting to provoke more tensions after the battle where two massive Therianthropes had saved all their lives; Takashi changed into the massive wolf form that carried Saeko from the temple to the manor and runs over the closest building to get a sniff of the air around the state.
As always, Saeko's smell was the only one that Takashi could never block and it was a comforting sensation; Saeko was tired, angry and worried, but that was very normal considering the situation that has taken place in the Takagi state not an hour ago.
There was a lot of new, strange and tangy, sensations on the senses of Takashi after the battle and the explosion on the skies, something has added to the atmosphere when the bomb exploded. Takashi was hardly a scientist, he was a mechanic at best and just as a hobby and method of keeping the worst of their seizures at bay, so Takashi did not know what could be the extra that the bomb has deposited in the air, but possibly it would be radiation.
After all, a freaking nuke has detonated in the skies over the city, sending an EMP that has destroyed all circuitry of the city.
At this point, Takashi was more than accustomed to the putrid smell of Them. Butchering Them by the hundred overloaded his senses, and by now, Takashi was capable of smelling Them from miles away; it did not help that Takashi has tasted more than enough the gray and horrid flesh and blood of Them, finding it disgusting beyond words.
Using his wolf form, Takashi was able to traverse the roof of the nearby buildings, looking out for his prey. His senses were better as a wolf than as a human and for a bit, Takashi had to relearn to manage the overwhelming sensory information that his inhumane senses delivered to him. It was not as the mind splitting migraines that Takashi had in the past, but it was either a pleasant experience, Takashi sense of smell was offended by the smell of Them and the tangy extra that floated in the air, but it was just a matter of focus, to disregard the worst of it and focus in the smells and other signals that he was looking out.
After what transpired in the Takagi´s home, Takashi was on the hunt for the blood of Shido and his minions.
Surely, the entire situation could have been handled better, but to be honest, this apocalypse was making the best and worst of humanity to get to the surface and that means a lot of shit going on and lots and lots of things that were kept under wraps and things as education, common sense and routine, now had the chance to get out and get retribution.
Takashi experimented it on his own flesh when he was separated from the rest of the pack due to the little hissy fit that Rei pulled in the bus. Takashi took a nasty hit in order to protect Rei; on a second mental note, Takashi really should do something about Rei and Igou, that was a weak link in the pack that Takashi did not like; They were separated from the rest of the pack and had to survive on their own for a good chunk of a day.
During that time, Takashi was attacked by crazy people on the streets, not part of Them, just assholes that just reacted with violence to anything that comes close, eliminating all menaces before realizing that they are as screwed as the rest of the word and they were alone. The poor sod with the brackets that rudely fondled Rei´s breasts was just an example of the kind of mental breakdown that the city; and surely the rest of the country and perhaps the rest of the world; was experimenting.
Now, Takashi was an average teenager, but thanks to his unique status, knew full well how difficult was for people like him, that did not fit in what Japanese society expects, to go through the average daily life. After Them made their appearance, the entire and comfortable routine was FUBAR and the people are not entirely accepting the situation. The apocalypse has taken place just three days before and it has not sunk in the minds of the survivors; except perhaps Takashi´s pack or the Takagis that were exceptional individuals.
The pack was something that had Takashi counting his lucky stars. The pack was the perfect crew to hang around this apocalypse and Takashi was decided to pay back that loyalty with absolute dedication to them. Among the pack, the situation that had him baffled the most was his growing harem and Rei and Igou status. Yuuki was the second female that has openly declared that she was going to ride Takashi for all that´s worth, and it would be possible the worst secret ever, the crush that Takashi had on Hayashi-sensei.
Standing over the edge of a shutdown neon announcement, Takashi took a deep sniff of the air, filtering the smells and looking out for the signals that would lead him to his preys. It was the first time that Takashi hunted without the Beast at the wheel and it was a novel experience for him. Takashi had memories of his hunt for the mercenaries that kidnap Saya and vaguely flashes of the drugged up night that screws forever his social life; not that he had much before. Hunting was something that Takashi was really enjoying, even if he knew of the urgency of the task.
This hunt was two objectives:
Vengeance and resources.
In other circumstances, Takashi would have ignored Shido and his cult completely, Takashi´s pack was the main priority for him and Shido´s cult was nothing but a bunch of wankers that sooner or later would end fucking themselves up royally. In this apocalypse scenario, Shido was clever snake, but he depends on the goodwill of his cultist, once he screwed up once, the next "Alpha fool" on the flock would dethrone him and stole all his goodies for himself, so on and so forth until Them finally chew the last asshole of the group.
However, when Yuuki stabbed the bastard in the gut, she started a chain of events that ended up in the actual state of Hayashi-sensei, and that was something that infuriated Takashi.
That was the vengeance part of the hunt.
The other part came from the very own greed of Shido, when he looted the infirmary, the kitchen, the rooms, well, everything that was not bolted to the floor was looted by Shido´s little bitches as soon as they made an escape from the manor. For what Takashi understood of all the event, Shido was persona non-grata in the Takagi State. There was some back story about Shido, his father, and Rei that Takashi has no idea about and that honestly, the teenager did not care three fucks about.
Shido has taken medicines that could potentially help and heal Hayashi-sensei and by all that is sacred, Takashi would hunt Shido to the end of the world for that freaking medicine. Just in case, Takashi was with his senses open for a pharmacy that could store similar things. Still, Takashi doubted about it, in the average pharmacies it would be hard to find medicines that were used in hospitals; in the Takagi, it was not so rare considering the fortune and influence that the family had on the city and in the country.
Jumping over a fence, and biting the head of a trio of Them that stumbled at the other side, Takashi looked out for the smell of fear that he was smelling. That particular smell was female, Takashi did not recognize it, beyond knowing it from the academy. Meaning that a student from the academy that has survived was around or one of the females that accompanied Shido was nearby.
The surroundings were not that far from the Takagi, a couple of blocks at most. Hardly a surprise, Shido may be a coward and a fast runner, but they are human, Them was all around the place and they had to run with extra caution or do not be surrounded or falling into a bunch of Them by accident. The majority of the group of Shido were from the same zone that Takashi and Saya, so navigating through the streets was not all that difficult, the real problem was Them and the supplies that they have left behind.
Not much after Takashi started the hunt, he found the broken bus. The vehicle was on the side of a blockade, smashed against the concrete block, but in any danger of exploding due to the gasoline that leaked to the side. The smell of gasoline was the thing that called Takashi´s attention the most of the place, along with the big group of Them that were stumbling directionless around the wreckage.
Quickly ripping apart the ones that even looked in the direction of the Takagi state, Takashi jumped over the bus and used his wolf senses to look out for Shido or any of his little minions. After a quick sniff of the air, Takashi started to jump over buildings and fences; killing any of Them that got in his way; and that at the end led him to the particular female smell of fear.
It was easy for Takashi to follow the scent, it was another one of the hundreds that floated in the city but without the constant traffic and traversing of people around, it was a walk of the park for Takashi to isolate and follow the scent. It was a welcome change after the shit that Takashi has endured for the most part of his life.
Climbing the side of the small building; a storehouse that Takashi did not remember how the business was named; Takashi changed back to human and walked to the edge of the roof.
The worst of the transformations was the nakedness.
Takashi hated to walk on the buff; when he was a wolf or in his hybrid form, he was covered in sturdy fur that protected him from the elements and the naked pink skin of his human form was not all that cranked up. Sure, Takashi´s skin was leather like in resilience or even higher if his mind was to it, but Takashi has been wearing baggy clothes since he was a child, so being naked was not of his like.
Still, Takashi smiled for a second at the touch of the gentle breeze that started to foretold of the cold winter that is to come in the following months. Without electricity, the winter is going to be hard to survive that´s for sure. Takashi´s pack had planned for a hike through the mountains or a quick voyage to a nearby island and colonize the place after cleaning it from Them. But without working vehicles or electric wares, humanity was basically back to the steam era.
From the vantage point where he stood, Takashi could see into the main roads and streets of that sector of the city; as Takashi expected, the place was still crowded with Them but all of them were stumbling around, completely lost and just following any sound that reached their ears. It was a hilarious picture to see a big group of Them to smack their faces against a wall, trying to reach for a wind chime that lazily hanged from a balcony at the other side of the wall.
There was a woman crouching in the balcony, breathing heavily and dressed in a police officer clothes. Takashi raised his eyebrow at the image. Thanks to Takashi's eyesight, he could see the woman from quite the distance, and he could see that she was not harmed, but her entire body language spoke of tiredness and frustration. The woman was not a teenager, but Takashi would say that she was in her early thirties or later twenties, she was of slim complexion, black hair, and blue eyes. The stress of the apocalypse was on her, as she laid against the edge of the balcony, with desperation painted in her eyes.
Takashi decided to help the policewoman, she could lead him to other groups of survivors or could guide Takashi faster to whenever had Shido and his bitches went. With luck, the woman would have information that Takashi lacked and could help him and his pack to get to a safer zone that in the middle of the warzone that was the Takagi state. Without electricity, it was clear that they have to leave the place and move to a zone that was not surrounded by bloody hordes of Them, eager to chew them at the lesser sound.
The evacuation of the state is something that surely was going to provoke more than one headache to all the persons involved. Takashi didn't even want to know the kind of bullshit that the terrified civilians were about to spout about safety and living and who knows what more. Call Takashi jagged but in the three days that he has survived as Therianthrope and suffered more wounds and damages than his entire life before, not even once has he protested about anything that has not won by himself.
For Kami´s sake, Takashi even fell a bit; but not much as the pack needed it; about how his pack has practically looted the house of Rika Minami. It was a good thing that Shizuka gave them permission, otherwise, Takashi was sure that Magnus would have kicked his ass a thousand times for looting his Alpha female home.
Rika and Magnus were in the same relationship that Takashi and Saeko were. They were the Alpha male and female of the pack, the leaders. In Magnus case, Takashi knew that Rika and Shizuka were his entire pack and only because Marikawa-sensei was one of a kind, has the older Therianthrope allow her to stay with Takashi´s pack. It was another of those occasions where Takashi counted his lucky stars.
With the presence of Magnus and Takashi in the mansion, the most probable outcome was a riot. People fear Takashi; not without good reasons, despite how the Therianthrope saved their lives; and the bear-man that has fought at his side in the defense of the entrance to the state.
Takashi jumped from the edge of the building, changing to his wolf form half-way, and moved to save the policewoman in the balcony. She could help him to end this hunt quickly, even if Takashi was enjoying it a lot.
As Takashi was searching for Shido and the medicines that will help Hayashi-sensei, a meeting between his pack and the Takagi was taking place back in the state. Unfortunately, it was far from pleasant.
"Are you fucking kidding me?", hissed Saya and the rest of the pack swore that her pink twin tails straightened like the ears of a huffing cat.
Of course, none said a word, they were not that suicidal thank you.
The motive behind the hiss of Saya was her own father and the decision that he has taken, about the future of the state, the pack and the civilians that they have still shivering on the hall of the state. No one liked them there, but it was the only place safe and out of the cleaning labors. Several of the civilians had taken a hand in helping with the cleaning of the army of Them that Takashi and Magnus have butchered, but a lot more of the one's camping were ill-suited for such tasks or are triple busy with all kind of tasks around the state, now the electricity was a wet dream.
The Takagi patriarch has decided to grab everything they could and get out of the city, into the military bases on the outside or to the electric generators near the coast. But that was not the decision that has made Saya take her metaphorical claws out, the decision of leaving the state was a reasonable and logic one, now that they are unable to support the technology that kept the state up and running.
No.
The decision that has made Saya swear and hiss like a threatening cat, was how her own father has told her to abandon the pack and come with her family to the electric power grid.
Now, Soichiro Takagi was not a fool. Not even in a bad joke. The Takagi patriarch was also one of the few individuals that know the kind of groups that a pack is; after all, his wife, the love of his life, was part of one; and know how really tight-knit a pack can be. It was a very ballsy move on his part, but Soichiro had his reasons for that, reasons that were both rational and egotistical in the same amount.
In his stern and stone-faced style, Soichiro was actually a good father. Takagi senior did want the best for his daughter, the best education possible and one of the things that actually made Soichiro pause was the packs- Soichiro knew the packs as an outsider of the pack does, however, the individuals that had managed to accomplish what Soichiro did in the past by courting Yuriko, can be counting with one hand and there will be spare fingers.
For a military man like Soichiro, the packs are something of a mixture between a unit and a paramilitary organization, governed by a monster that had little care for anything that was not the pack. Soichiro did not want his daughter to be in such a bunch, they are not organized, just loyal to each other, it was tyranny camouflaged on filial bonds. Not even real bonds, Soichiro knew that the packs were not tied by blood in all cases. The biggest example would be the pack in front of him, they are not united by blood, but by happenstance.
These are not soldiers or adult men, they are just teenagers that are high in the sensation of the pack. Soichiro has seen the dark side of the packs, the fanaticism, the disregard for those that were non-pack. Over his dead body would Saya ever become an arrogant slave of Takashi and her pack.
Perhaps due to her status as a mother of Saya, Yuriko Takagi did not want to separate herself from her daughter. Yuriko loved her daughter, love her so much that even knowing that a pack cannot be separated in the method that Soichiro was trying, she did not want to part with her recently recovered daughter. The unknown situation of Saya was something that has provoked nightmares to both parents. Thankful as they were to Takashi and Magnus, the idea of Saya in a pack that is going to abandon them again and try their luck somewhere outside was something that scared the Takagis a lot.
The truth was indeed that the pack were teenagers, well, Takashi´s pack at least.
Magnus, Rika Minami, and Marikawa Shizuka were another pack, even if the blonde bombshell of a nurse did not know about Magnus and Rika Alpha mates in their pack. Marikawa-sensei was one of kind, a curious mixture of knowledge, airheadedness, perception, empathy, and innocence, wrapped in a body that was lust made flesh. Magnus has already let it clear that the woman was his and Rika´s, no one was allowed to even look at her with ill intentions.
The nurse was self-proclaimed the pack of Takashi as her kids, acting as a surrogate mother, when the situation demanded, for the eclectic bunch of teenagers that made the pack of Takashi. Curiously enough, the only ones with a stable family of sorts where Saya and Takashi. Morita, the Mohawk boy, was a war of the state, Kohta´s parents were overseas most of the time, Yuuki despised her mother, Alice was orphaned in all this mess and Saeko´s mother died when she was barely a small girl. It was a collection of dysfunctional, varied temperaments, united only because of the charisma of a Therianthrope. Not that different from a lot of packs that Yuriko knew in the past in the States.
It was not that Soichiro did not trust Takashi, the young man, far from it, Soichiro knew that Takashi was an exceptional young man, burdened with incomplete or disarrayed Therianthrope powers, trying to become a productive and honorable member of a society that wanted him to hide in the corner, as discretely as possible. When Takashi rescued Saya, in a so violent manner, the boy earned a debt of gratitude with the Takagi, but on the other hand, it was clear that Takashi was a Therianthrope, individuals that are on a league of their own and as parents, neither of the Takagi would have wished something like that for Saya.
"I will not abandon my friends", was the answer of Saya and considering the tone that she had used, arguing would be a very bad idea.
Of course, her parents had none of it, and proceed to gave her their answer in the same tone.
"Saya, you have to accompany us, at last until Hayashi-sensei had recovered and your pack is back together again", tried to reason her mother. "Right now, your pack is tired and alone and you are not going to go anywhere until Takashi is back with medicines that could help Hayashi-sensei or the head of Shido".
"I disagree mother", coldly replied Saya.
Now, Saya did not hate her parents, on the bloody contrary, she loved them deeply. But Saya´s priorities were not her parent's priorities. Saya´s parents were trying to reconstruct Japan, as much as they could, slow and steady; however, Saya was not interested in such a task. The pack comes first for Saya, her friends need her and she will be dammed if her father´s Japanese traditional mentality forced her to abandon her pack.
"You and dad want to set up a permanent base in one of the electric grids of the outskirts", resumed Saya quickly the next plan of her parents, "and I see the logic and wisdom behind it, recovering electricity will do wonders for morale and long term planning".
"However, that was not what I want", then offer her own two cents, Saya.
"We are not your soldiers, dad", Saya frowned at her father, this was one of the reasons why she had very heated discussions with her father.
Saya was a teenager, yes, and that means that she tended to think with the hormones more than with the brain, but in Saya´s case, there was a humongous amount of background behind this resistance to her parent's wishes and plans. Saya was enormously grateful for being born in the Takagi family. She may not act like it, but having Morita or Kohta, and recently Saeko and Yuuki; has granted her a lot of insight about the luck that she had to be actually born into a wealthy family and inheriting the willpower and intelligence of her parents.
Thanks to her family name, she never lacked anything that all modern society took for granted, she never lacked food, clothes, whatever she wished, she never had to struggle to reach month´s end. That was a blessing, indeed, but at the same time, Takagi was a name with a lot of weight.
Half of the "friends" of Saya, were individuals that wanted to lap her up, in order to get on the good side of her parents; wealthy and very influencing individuals in the city and the country; or looking at her as if she was a very juicy filet that comes with a lot of nice extras. Japan was not free of gold-diggers and Saya has inherited the astonishing beauty of her mother, making her a very, very sought up price for political marriages and shit like that.
Soichiro Takagi was the only buffer that she had against those toadies. Her father was a military man through and through, any man trying to court his daughter must have balls of steel, to say the least. It also helped that everyone was convinced that Takashi was going to be Takagi Takashi in the future, they were inseparable as children, but when the Therianthrope thing started to screw with Takashi and he started to date the daughter of a police officer, the tune changed.
"You are ruling this like a military camp", shrugged Saya, "and sure, it works, thanks to mom you had the perfect measure of an iron fist in velvet glove, but my pack is not like that".
"We are going to survive this disaster in our way, as a pack, we will survive and prosper no matter what this bloody world toss at us and we are going to do it in our terms, Not. One. Else´s". There was a determination in Saya´s words that shocked her parents a little.
Saya has always been a temperamental child, her shouting matches with her parents were a legend in the state, but they always kept them behind closed doors; something that the men and servants around the house were grateful for, otherwise it would be severely awkward; but this time, Saya was cold, calculating, acting as the brains of a dangerous pack.
From Soichiro´s perspective, he was torn between pride, sorrow and the desire to strangle Takashi for making his precious daughter become such a strong-willed person. That was one of the things that Soichiro feared that would happen with Saya if she was part of a pack. The willpower, close to fanaticism, that the pack sported between their members and when the world put them into difficult decisions.
From Yuriko´s perspective, it was a similar situation, she was proud of her daughter, she has found a good pack, a strong pack, and that was something that has made her grow and become quite the determined little lady. But what Yuriko feared was more along the lines of what would happen when Takashi, still Not a good Alpha, will botch it up.
As a former member of Magnus´s pack; quite the ordeal that she would have to tell Saya one of this days, with luck it will make them closer instead of widening the crack that all this situation has opened between them; Yuriko has experienced the good and the bad of the packs. Although, Yuriko will admit that Magnus did run a competent and tight-knitted ship that made them one of the most powerful packs in America and one of the not so public reasons of the massive fortunes of the Takagi.
Takashi was a good man, or at last, he was a good man now. The power of the Therianthropes is hard to understand for those are not Therianthropes themselves, the primal, furious power of the Therianthropes is almost unmatched by anything that is not heavily backed up in weapons, resources, cleverness, and guts.
In this apocalyptic scenario, Yuriko feared that Takashi may be overwhelmed by the power of the Therianthropes and run his pack as a savage animal do. None would be able to withstand against him, his pack will support him whatever he does and even rationalize the worst of the actions of the pack as part of the survival needs. It happened before, Magnus; by himself, alone and preventing the pack to stain themselves in the blood of the innocents; had to slaughter three entire packs and their Therianthrope leaders that were so drunk on their powers that had destroyed small towns in the corners of Alaska, Canada, and Seattle. The pack resisted to the last men, woman, and child, fanatically devoted to their Therianthrope leaders.
It did not help, that Takashi had practically a harem following him around. Saeko was already his Alpha female and it was blatantly obvious that Yuuki fancied the young Therianthrope. The crush of Saya on Takashi and her attraction to Kohta; quite a surprise in her mother eyes; did not help her argument about how the pack was not the merry Warband of Takashi. Saya, by the way, simply stated that she was not part of the merry Warband of her father either.
It was a low blow but served to illustrate the point of how her father was running the place as a military camp, with his own armed men around and conducting raids into enemy territory. It was a long-running joke among the destroyed neighborhood that the Takagi was a Yakuza family or a samurai-like right-winged paramilitary organization in the middle of democratic Japan.
The rest of the pack was not all that happy of being part of the discussion; Morita was fidgeting on the spot, losing all the sub-context that the conversation have and instead, just wanting to get back to the kitchen to eat the food of the gods again before it spoils; curiously enough, Morita was one of the few that understand the real drag that was the lack of electricity; and then help Kohta to run maintenance in the weapons of the pack.
Weapons that have seen more actions in three days than in all the time that they have been under the possession of Rika and that needed a good cleaning and maintenance. The real problem was Saeko´s blade, she had used the sword that the lord of the mansion gifted her with. It was a present for Saeko´s father, Busujima-sensei, one of the most respected masters of Kendo in Japan, but with her father overseas, in a tournament in China, Saeko has taken the blade for herself and made the Busujima style proud.
The problem was that the blade was not all that cranked up, it was a blade to use in duels, to use sparingly and with masterful precision. Something that Them did not allow all that much. Exceptional as the blade was, it was not the kind of enduring butcher knife that a battle against Them demanded. Saeko´s strikes need a blade that could through flesh and bone with equal easiness and unfortunately, the blade that seemed to be more suited to her was the blade that she stole from the temple.
Something really ironic, that the blade that a military man like Soichiro had given her was not suited for the constant carnage and the blade that she found inside a temple in the middle of the city was perfect for butchering them apart. A blade that she found in a temple was perfect for killing zombies. At that point, suspension of disbelief was practically a natural state for the majority of the pack, that has taken a "go with the flow" attitude that prevented a lot of migraines and stress.
Morita nailed bat was as good as ever, though, crude, brutal but effective and enduring, it was all that Morita could have asked for a weapon for the apocalypse and the teenager soon joked saying that it required the exact same amount of finesse that he possessed, meaning none at all. Morita may not consider himself precisely a genius without equal, but the pack had an extraordinary asset on the ground to earth boy, that knew full well what it is to be hungry and cold.
Kohta took on himself the task of keeping the firearms as best as he could given the circumstances. There was cleaning and maintenance kits on the state and Kohta were taking full advantage of them to keep the weapons of his pack up and ready. Firearms was the only thing that Kohta took pride on and it was an invaluable asset for the pack, possibly one of the main reasons for their survival. The chubby boy, who was vowing to himself to get in shape asap, took a good mental note to profusely thanks Rika Minami for the weapons that Kohta´s pack used.
Speaking of Rika, the woman was enjoying a very passionate and intense reunion with her Alpha male. Magnus has run all the way to her after the explosion in the sky and the loss of all electric appliances due to the EMP that came with the explosion. For a Therianthrope like Magnus, it was just a stroll to get to the point where Rika was. In other circumstances, Magnus would have not done something like that, Magnus and Rika were about to tell Shizuka of who and what Magnus was, but the zombie apocalypse had forced their hand a bit and the EMP even more.
After how the telephone call between Rika and Shizuka was cut short due to the EMP, Magnus knew that he had to inform Rika that the nurse was alive and well and protected by a young but promising pack. Rika was more than capable of looking out for herself, she was among the Top 5 of Japan´s snipers and part of the SAT that the city police had for all kind of extraordinary situation; however, she was pack with Magnus and Shizuka and after the sudden cut of the transmission, Magnus knew that Rika would be worried and ready to do something dangerous.
Magnus just had to follow Rika´s scent and he found Rika in the floating airport of the city, defending the place against the zombie outbreak and helping with the evacuation. As soon as she had a break, Magnus appeared and she tackled him, demanded him to change into human form and process to make out and ride him like an animal on estrus. It was not that rare, much like Takashi and Saeko, neither Magnus or Rika could get enough of the other. It was always the same with the Alphas of the packs.
As Magnus and Rika reunited with an abundant quantity of moans and other pleasure expressing sounds and explain the situation to the other during the post-sex cuddling; something that both loved; they agreed that they have to reunite with Shizuka and the younger pack, asap. With Magnus cleaning all the space near the airport, Rika could ask for permission of leave to rejoin with her lover and her friend. Who was on the Takagi manor, one of the places that were trying to help to get a semblance of order in the middle of all this mess.
With the EMP, the situation, that was catastrophic; but still salvageable; become an official clusterfuck of epic proportions and what was worst was the fact the rest of the world was not better. The zombie outbreak; Them, as Igou has called the zombies at the beginning of the start of the nightmare for Takashi´s pack; has affected all countries of the world, turning the planet into a living graveyard, where the dead prey on the living.
Speaking of Igou, and Rei by extension; the "omegas" of the pack, were having their own problems and discussions.
It was a non-verbal agreement among the pack that Igou and Rei were the bottom bitches of the pack. Their actions prior to the apocalypse and how, in order to save their lives, Takashi almost lost his life; twice, one in the Fujimi Academy and the other in the road; not to mention the teenager drama between Igou, Rei, and Takashi when Rei dumped Takashi and started dating Igou in less than a day after she dumped Takashi, have made the teenager less than popular among the pack.
They are pack in the sense that Takashi, nobody understood why but it happens, considered them important. Igou was one of the oldest friends of Takashi, and if only for being able to endure the mood swings of Takashi when his Therianthrope powers were out of whack, that was enough to have a debt of gratitude with the karateka teenager, Rei, on the other hand, was an entirely different disaster all together. Rei was the first love of Takashi, not the kind of teenager crush, but the Beast on Takashi wanted Rei, badly, that was one of the reasons why Takashi was always careful around her.
Anyhow, Igou and Rei were not the most popular individuals in the pack right now, and that was gnawing on both of them.
It is almost ironically, how those that inflict the most harm are always those that are the closest. Both Igou and Rei were possible the oldest friends of Takashi and knew the boy well; however, they can not entirely click the Therianthrope with the boy that they know. The boy that was always with headaches, careful do not hurt anyone, the boy that had treasured Rei; as must as he could given the circumstances; and the boy that enjoyed time working on his bike. That same boy that has transformed into an eight-foot monster of fury, claws and impossible violence and had ripped and tore apart all of Them like it was nothing.
Fear, one of the oldest and most powerful emotions of humankind, peeked its ugliest head over the shoulder of the teenagers and made them speculate about what could happen if Takashi lost it; after all, Saeko has already told them about the thing in the riverbank; and become something akin to that beast. It was a very sobering perspective, especially now that all tech was busted and soon firearms are going to be scarce as well.
Fighting against Takashi with blades and arrows was a fool´s errand, to say the least. It would be a massacre and those killed would rise as more of Them.
The two teenagers were not the only one that though something along those lines; but without the knowledge of the infected something akin to Takashi that he and Saeko killed the day before; and among the people that the Takagi had in their halls, some of them were already calculating and grumbling things along those ideas, but more centered in disarm the men of the Takagi and become king of the hill, as they are the only ones that seem to have half a brain in all this disaster.
There are always fools that believe that their plans are the best, even if they lacked anything resembling a real plan, on the other hand, there are people that just wanted to see the world burn. But the latter were already doused out by the Takagi and somewhere in the city, creating their little nightmare reals or being chewed by Them.
An afternoon and evening passed in such a manner, with people trying to mad heads or tails about what´s going on and realizing that this was a complete disaster but they had little to none options left, and for the moment, the roof of the Takagi; electricity what´s not; was the best option.
The personnel of the Takagi was trying their best to at last repair the generators, but the EMP has fried all components and finding spare parts, or even made spare parts, was a bit of a tedious chore that will take time. In the meantime, it was clear that a lot of the preserved food was going to spoil and the preparations for the evacuations plans were already on the move, so they did not put a lot of effort in repairing a generator that is going to be abandoned the most likely.
As the night started to cover the state, several barrels with gasoline from the useless generator were posted along the state, forming a circle of light and heat to keep the location watched and to kept the cold of the night out of the house. There were babies and small children; traumatized for life, for sure; among the civilians that they were the ones more at risk of the sudden change of conditions.
The pack was a bit restless but in good shape, only tired and drained by the events that have taken place during the day and the discussion that Saya had with her parents; something that put the future of the pack at odds with the rest of the people in the state.
It was a chronic of an announced break-up since day one, to be honest. As soon as Takashi and Saeko jumped the fence in his big as a freaking car wolf form, Takashi already scared the shit out of all the inhabitants of the manor. Except for Soichiro and Yuriko that already had experience with Therianthropes, although they would have preferred not to embroil their daughter with one. Therianthropes life is not as cool as fiction wanted to make it appear.
Therianthropes are entities that had zero places in a modern society, they defied the status quo just by their mere existence; fortunately, with the apocalypse and Them chewing all asses in sight, Takashi and his pack would have a lot more of space than other packs in the past. Magnus, for example, was forced to run a tight crew on the states, where every asshole and their grandmother had a camera on their phones and could start a shitstorm of biblical proportions.
"So, we are leaving". Morita was sitting over the stairs of the back door of the kitchen.
The kitchen was working with what they could, taking advantage of the gas kitchen that they have that could work without electricity. The blonde boy had snatched several sandwiches from the kitchen and delivered them to the members of the pack; and Shizuka-sensei, who was taking care of Alice and Zeke; keeping all the beer that he has managed to stole from the cabinets of the kitchen.
"I will miss the food", sighed Morita and chugged a bit more of his beer, "and the beer". Added after ending his drink.
"That will be the two of us", said Kohta nibbling in his sandwich. "But it was something that has to happen, people are already scared of Them, Takashi just made them realize the nightmare that we are living".
"Bunch of idiots if you ask me", leaned Morita on the stairs. "Those wonderful bastards hold the line, otherwise, we all will be screwed by now; make it double after the whatever that blew up in the sky and screwed all tech all the ways to Sunday".
"People is scared", shrugged Kohta, "and will only see what they want to see, hardly something new in Japan, heck, in the rest of the world".
"And that fucker of Shido", growled Yuuki from a nearby bench, alongside Shizuka-sensei and the sleeping Alice. The poor little girl was scared and the events of the day and the confusing adults drained her completely. "I should have made sure that I killed him for good".
None of the pack added nothing to that statement, to be honest, it was hardly her, the one that wanted Shido six feet under and sure as hell, Takashi was going to rip him a new one when he found the former sensei. Alas, the news of Yuuki stabbing Shido has not sat well among the people in the state. Yuuki, with Magnus around to prevent any idiocies, has already explained to Takagi father that Shido practically ran a bully crew on Fujimi and that she and other girls had to swallow; quite literally sometimes; or be on the bad end of the shaft.
Rei was the one that knew better than anyone how Shido has indirectly threatened her father by forcing her to repeat a year, despite her good academics. All of that was in order to send a message to her father; a police officer, to do not continue investigating who knows what. That was another nail of the coffin of Shido, but at this point, the man was already a dead man walking, this last bit of knowledge was just crying over spilled milk.
"Those assholes", Saya all but growled, staring like the red dot of a missile launcher in the general direction where the hall of the state was. "That bunch of wankers has been mooching my parents and doing nothing but whine and swept their feet around and when someone defended them, they cry and whine and protest about how dangerous Takashi is, for fuck sake, without our favorite furries taking the brunt of Them, they all would be dead by now".
Now that Alice was sleeping, the teenager felt free to unleash a few their swearing words that they have been holding back for the little girl sake, enough traumatized she was already.
"Speaking of furries", Yuuki raised an eyebrow at the already sleeping Shizuka too, the woman was unique for sure. "Where is the bear-man? I don't think that he would left Marikawa-sensei like that, not if he had a relationship like yours Saeko".
Saeko nodded; she and Yuuki had a conversation earlier that was a bit enlightening about some things that have been running around in her head for a while. To be honest, Saeko was not entirely convinced, but she will admit that Yuuki has presented a compelling and very solid case about how, why and whom.
Frankly, Saeko was a bit lost and completely flabbergasted that she was discussing the possibility of a harem of sorts?.
"Minami-san must be involved somehow", said Saeko enjoying her food as well. She was hungry after how long the day has been and how she had to let Takashi go. She wanted Takashi with her, being apart was not pleasant. She blamed the hormones and how ungodly good he made her felt. "That is if she had a relationship akin to Takashi and I have. Magnus-san has not explained us entirely much about the Therianthropes and the packs and the Alphas, its a lot of material to go about".
"I will be dammed", chuckled Morita, "even in the apocalypse, we still suffered from the bane of all teenagers".
"And that will be?", Saya raised an eyebrow. She will never say it out loud, but the hormonal boy was actually a pretty solid and reliable companion, with feet on the ground and a rooted perspective in the real world that a lot of teenagers did not have.
"Homework", deadpanned Morita and the entire pack chuckled. Morita was right after all.
"There will be a lot of work in the future, that´s for sure", commented Kohta. "Without electricity, things are going to be hard".
"Hear, hear", nodded Yuuki. "Winter is going to be hard, that´s why we should move to a place of our own, bunk up and see if either we are rescued by whatever is left of the government or made a living of our own".
"Those are pretty the resume of the situation, yes", sighed Saya. "My parents tried to convince me to go with them, and I understood some of the reasoning, but I will be dammed if I abandon any of you, I owe you my life way too many times to simply say, ey its was funny but goodbye and good luck surviving on your own".
"I take that your parents want us far from their little bunch of survivors and soldiers", raised Kohta his head after ending his sandwich; he would have gladly eaten another and it was hardly the time to start a diet, but beggars can not be choosers. "I will be lying if I say that I did not expect that, but with Magnus around, I hope that his presence would have soothed the tension with your father", Kohta look at Saya.
"That was unexpected", confessed Saya, "I did not expect Magnus to actually know my parents, but any questions have been put on hold due to all the shit that has fallen upon us in less than twenty-four hours".
"Hear, hear", chorused Morita, "it has been a long day".
"And tomorrow is not going to be better", sighed Saya. "Tomorrow, it will start the evacuation; my parents want to move to an electric factory on the outside, near a military outpost where they could be more people fortified and with luck, someone that is preparing for an evacuation, the radio cracked when my parents were talking with the floating airport, there was an evacuation there".
"Oh, but with the EMP getting to the airport or anywhere for that matter, is going to be quite the Odyssey". Muttered Saeko, she was as worried as the rest of the pack, but as the Alpha female, she was a rock that would never waver. Saeko had Takashi for those moments of vulnerability and vice-versa.
"Its quite the walk to the shore and then a boat to the airport", mumbled Morita looking in the direction of the streets. "Even if anyone managed to never collide with any bunch of Them, it's at the other side of the city; in other circumstances, I would have said taking the tube, but I don't even want to think about what kind of horrors are the metro tunnels now".
That was a very unpleasant thought. Metros in Japan, or trains for that matter, were always overcrowded with workers of all kind when Them fell upon the meat cans that are the wagons, the butchery would be nightmarish, add the lack of electricity and gallivanting inside those dark tunnels mus the be the fuel of nightmares.
Saeko was eager to add something else to the conversation, but almost by instinct, she moved her head to one of the walls of the state. Something told her that Takashi was on his way or nearby, and she was right on the money, not a second later, the wolf form of Takashi jumped over the wall and landed in the back yard of the manor.
The entire pack was happy to see him, even Shizuka and Alice that have woken up due to the noises of Takashi landing heavily after jumping a fence. However, most of the pack realized that Takashi was carrying a scared shitless blue haired policewoman that has to hang from her dear life to the fur of Takashi. It was amusing, yet the confusing picture, however, it was not as unusual for the pack to actually see something strange. Therianthrope packs walk with the impossible daily after all, so they just run with the flow and get close to Takashi, still in wolf form, to see what this was all about.
Thanks to the "telepathy-thingy", Morita´s words, by the way, Saeko could translate most of what was going on but it was clear that she was keeping a lot of the tale of Takashi for themselves, focusing in the matter of the package that the terrified blue-haired woman was carried, that had the medicines that Marikawa-sensei needed to perform a better treatment of Hayashi-sensei´s head.
Hayashi-sensei hugged Takashi and ran with the supplies back to the infirmary, followed by Saya who tried to keep the sometimes clumsy nurse on track and prevent her falling on something along those lines, that was a plot twist that Saya would not need right now. Kohta took care of the sleeping Alice, the small girl was drained by the events of the day and Kohta will mover her to a bed and do maintenance of the weapons. If they move tomorrow, the gear must be in top shape.
Morita was the one that accompanied the totally confused and out of her depth policewoman, pretty sure that whatever she had to say would be of interest for the Takagis, also, the woman was in a desperate need of a drink and Morita knew where was the booze.
Yuuki, Saeko, and Takashi were the ones left in the yard and Saeko was nuzzling herself against the side of the head of Takashi, making the wolf close his eyes and rub himself back, happily enjoying the sensation of his Alpha female at his side. Whenever a couple of Alphas were far of each other, their minds and souls felt the absence, it was not a pleasant sensation, so, when they are reunited, emotions, positive emotions, run high.
"Wow, you look directly from a romance novel", chuckled Yuuki and the love-birds, love-wolves? Could be said, separated from each other. Saeko was blushing completely and the fur over Takashi´s face had taken a darker tone.
"Wolfie, can you turn back into a human?", Yuuki said, scratching the underside of the head of Takashi, in the connection between the chest and the neck, there was a spot of fur there that was very fluffy.
Takashi enjoyed the ministrations of Yuuki but stared at Saeko once to convey the message.
"Yuuki", now that surprised Takashi a bit, he didn't know that Saeko and Yuuki were already on a first name basis. The girls were a bit of an opposite of the other. "Takashi is always naked whenever he gets back into his human form".
"And?", raised an eyebrow Yuuki without really seeing the problem. The yummy and dreamy Takashi naked?, all for her?, after the full blushing tale of what they did in the temple before they reunited with the rest of the pack, the desire of Yuuki to lay with Takashi grow tenfold.
However, Yuuki was not stupid, trying to steal Takashi from Saeko would be a dick move of epic proportions and a fool´s errand. They were in love as they could be, something that Yuuki kind of envied a little. Yuuki always had difficulties to had solid, good relationships; one-nighter was good and all that, but deep, real, emotional connection was something that Yuuki has not experimented a lot in her life.
"Yuuki..." sighed Saeko.
"Girl, I thought that we have already talked about this". Sighed Yuuki in tandem.
Takashi blinked, look at them alternatively and hoofed weakly, not understanding anything about what the hell was going on.
Yuuki grabbed a bit of his fur to call his attention back to her and when Takashi turned his head to look at her, she grabbed the sides of his muzzle and staring at his eyes, she proclaimed with all the determination of the world:
"You are going to have a threesome tonight".
Of course, that words led to a has crashed moment, leaving the eight feet tall wolf, mute and confused but howling to the moon at the same time.
Fade to threesome?. Oh, hell yeah!.