10

Last Alarm

Chapter Ten

"A House Divided"

Location: Tokonosu City

Southeast section of Tokonosu City

Time: Morning

Spring 2013

Z-Day

On a lonely stretch of road winding down the side of a very large hill, a small bus sped with its pitifully small cargo of frightened survivors desperately fleeing the scene of one grotesque horror, to an as yet unknown disaster awaiting them, that none of the passengers on board were yet aware of.

With the exception of one of their number, that is.

And in his quiet thoughts the mysterious foreigner knew that what the small band of survivors traveled towards would be an even greater nightmare than the one they had just barely escaped with their lives from, just a short time ago.

The interior of the bus was quiet, save for the few whispered words of relief spoken by the young students grateful to be alive and by all appearances, safe from the clutches of the ravenous monsters which earlier that same day, had once been their close friends and schoolmates.

Now, all that remained had been left behind, shuffling in all directions with unseeing eyes, mere husks of their former selves. Now no longer human, but a vicious evil that the remaining survivors now had to avoid… or destroy, in order to survive.

The life the survivors huddled together in the small bus had known just a few hours ago that morning was without their fully realizing it yet was now gone,…possibly forever.

For now though, as it is with most people who have just escaped the clutches of death, the sweet joy of being alive was what occupied their minds right now, and such distant thoughts and bleak outlooks were not yet on their minds.

However, with some people that still continue to walk this earth, to have survived death and still live, is not enough to make them content.

Even after escaping death twice in the same day, there was one amongst them that unlike the rest, was not happy with the prospect of just being alive.

Rather, in his dark thoughts, the only thing the man rejoiced about, was the fact that he had survived long enough to be able to end the life of another.

Long before the Outbreak, the Infected had not been the only monsters in this world.

Nor would they be the only ones to come out of it either.

"How DARE HE!" Shido thought to himself in the back of his fevered mind, as he stared at the back of the American's head as the man was sitting in the front passenger seat of the bus next to the school nurse.

"HOW DARE HE!" Shido screamed in his mind, over and over again, the hatred he had for the American boiling over in his mind and in his heart to the point of nearly threatening to explode.

And as his hate continued to brew, Koichi Shido ground his teeth in anger, desperately wanted to explode in front of everyone around him and challenge the American openly as to what right he had to push him around the way he did back on the school grounds.

"ME….!" Shido thought as he ground his teeth. "HOW DARE he manhandle me and bark at me as if I were some weakling he could just push around!"

"WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?!" Shido thought as the veins in his head began to pop out on his head.

"F_CKING GAIJIN…..!" The voice in Koichi Shido's mind kept shrieking.

"I'm the REAL authority and protector of these students, I'm the REAL…." Shido mentally screamed as he continued his hate-filled mental rant as a sudden thought entered his clouded mind, and gave reason for Shido to pause for a moment.

And then as the small thought began to formulate itself into a plan, an evil smile began to form on Shido's lips.

Throughout mankind's history, some of the greatest inventions, plans, schemes and conquests have started from simple origins.

Sometimes unintentionally entering the minds of those men considered geniuses or madmen depending on the reward or calamity such things have affected mankind after they reached fruition.

Sometimes these brilliant thoughts entered the person's mind with the quickness and clarity of a lightning bolt through a cloudy sky, or sometimes gradually taking shape over time appearing first as a murky vision eventually taking shape like a small glowing light growing stronger and stronger in a clouded dream.

Some of these idealists push their new thoughts forward with a hope to benefit mankind, and share in the joy of their new idea.

But as history has shown sadly, some only do so with a desire to benefit themselves, and as in this case, use their knowledge and efforts to bring an end to the life of those that have somehow offended them.

Like those who have done so before in the past, and so it was at this particular moment, when rage had reached its peak and the darkest hate had filled his heart to overflowing.

Somewhere within those dark thoughts that clouded his mind searching to satiate his lust for revenge against the man who had threatened his life and humiliated him in front of all his students.

It was then, that an idea formed in Shido's mind, shining like a white light in a void of darkness, growing bigger and gaining strength, then gradually shining brighter as a simple thought turned into a plan, and then the plan itself started to unfold in his mind.

And in the humble beginnings of that dark plan, things would now begin to go into effect on the American and those he was trying to protect, in a way that none of them could have possibly imagined.

It had come to his mind rather easily, Shido would later reflect. It had all started with a distant memory from another man that Shido hated with all his heart, his father.

And it was such a simple little phrase that his father said to him one night in a drunken stupor, as his mother wept upstairs after an exceptionally loud argument his parents had over his father's frequent late bouts at the bar.

Most days back then would often find Shido's father arriving home late, drunk, and angry, raising such a clamor that all the neighbors could hear.

On one particular night after an exceptionally brutal drunken tirade, his father had collapsed in a heap on the living area, refusing to go upstairs to bed and instead chose to lie on the floor, the smell of alcohol and stale vomit on his clothes.

"Hearts and minds." His father had said, slurring his words as if he were drowning as he lay on the floor in his own vomit.

"Hearts and minds, boy." Shido's thoroughly drunk father repeated.

"Win their hearts and minds, boy. And every one of those naive fools will do whatever you want." His father had said just before he passed out.

How ironic that the man he hated so vehemently, the man who had broken his mother's heart and led her down the long winding road to depression and then suicide, would be the one to offer him the only worthwhile advice he would ever give to his own son that was ever worth anything.

A drunken bit of advice from a miserable old fool that right now offered a simple solution to the annoying problem at hand, and offered the greatest opportunity to end the life of a man that right now, Shido hated even more than the beast who had raised him as Shido looked at the foreigner sitting in the front and pondered his dark thoughts.

It was foolish to try to wait for an opportunity to catch the American off guard and kill him with his own hands.

The man was too big, too well armed, and from the looks of it, too well trained as well to attempt such a suicidal move.

"No…." Shido thought, as he looked at the American, and tented his fingers beneath his chin. "Direct assault is stupid, and reckless, and… beneath me."

"No, the best way to destroy this man, was not a direct physical attack… or at least, not yet." Shido thought to himself as he studied the American the same way a hawk studies it's prey before swooping down upon it.

"No…" Shido reasoned finally. "The best way to destroy this man, body and soul, is for him to be betrayed by those he believes he's protecting."

The thought of the man's demise at the very hands of the children he was worried about under the direction of Shido's hand, brought such glee to Shido's mind, that he licked his lips in the anticipation of implementing his brilliant plan.

The question was however, when would the opportunity present itself to be able to turn everyone against the American, now that the fool had yelled loud enough for the whole world to hear of his assault on the boy earlier as they had tried to escape?

"How….?" Shido wondered. "How will I be able to convince the others that I am not a murderer, but I am their real protector and not the gaijin?"

Without the other occupants in the bus being fully convinced that it was the American that was the threat, Shido realized, his plan would fail before it could even start.

But as it turned out, Shido had nothing to worry about, as far as that was concerned.

"Sensei…?" One of the young female students in his track team asked, interrupting his thoughts as he turned to face her.

"Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" Yuki asked, her face a mask of worry and concern as Shido suddenly became overjoyed at the golden opportunity that had suddenly presented itself to put his plan into motion, and was quick to pounce upon the chance to redeem himself in front of his students.

Miraculously it seemed, the children in his charge had decided that their loyalties lay in his hands after all, a man they already knew and trusted.

And if that were indeed the case, the hard part of his plan had already been accomplished.

Shido wanted to burst out laughing at how providence had so easily turned the tables in his favor.

The stupid American had already set the stage for his own doom by his actions earlier at the school. His attempt to protect the ones in his care had succeeded only in frightening the students further and had only pushed them closer into the "safety" of Shido's arms.

It had all been too easy, and now the man's doom was already sealed.

"I'm fine my dear." Shido said in his sweetest voice and flashing his brightest smile. "The man didn't hurt me, although I believe, he will eventually hurt someone if he continues to lose control like that."

"Is it true what he said…..Sensei?" Whispered one of the boys asking from across the bus where he sat. "About you kicking that other boy and leaving him?"

"Sadly, yes. It was an unfortunate act on my part that I'm very ashamed of." Shido answered, letting his face fall and putting on an air of great regret before them.

"But the boy had been bitten, and I would have surely perished if I had continued to let him clutch me like that." Shido said his voice practically wailing with grief.

"Still, I regret I acted so hastily….." Shido said as tears fell from his face as he beat his chest with his fist."I will never forgive myself for such a disgraceful act."

"Perhaps the American should have killed me after all." Shido said indicating the man sitting silently in the front seat.

"SENSEI!" The girls said in the seat behind them, putting their hands on his shoulders in an attempt to comfort their teacher.

"PLEASE, don't say such things! It wasn't your fault! Please! Don't blame yourself." The girls said with tears streaming down their faces.

"Ah, my sweet children…." Shido said wiping the tears from their cheeks.

"You are so kind to show such mercy on someone so undeserving such as I." Shido said in a syrupy voice. "I can only hope that from now on, I can do a better job of protecting your young lives and not repeat my failure at trying to save that one poor lad that I couldn't."

"Sensei…." The girls gushed, as their teacher smiled upon them.

"And now…." Shido said, looking towards the front of the bus.

"It seems I must protect you all from the monsters within our midst, as well as those outside." Shido said as he felt the grip of Yuki's hands on his shoulder as her voice quivered.

"Sensei, please don't go near him. He's crazy. He'll hurt you!" Yuki said tightening her grip, her eyes filled with fear as Shido patted her hand gently.

"Don't worry about me my dear…" Replied in a comforting voice.

"Your lives are more important than my own, and what man would I be if I didn't try to protect the students I've always cared for so much?" Shido said as he turned his head back to gaze upon the frightened faces of his students in the back of the bus and then smiled warmly at them.

"Do not worry, my students. I will do everything in my power including giving up my own life, to make sure your safe…." Shido said pausing dramatically as he then glanced over his shoulder towards the front of the bus.

"From all enemies." Shido finished, the mask falling from his face as a sudden look of fury took its place momentarily as Shido glared at his new enemy, the man who was already so close to being crushed beneath his feet, and didn't even know it yet.

"Patience though….." Shido thought to himself trying to compose himself.

"Patience….." Shido thought as he calmed himself. "I must know all I can about my enemy, and I must further increase the pain of his betrayal before I crush him completely."

"Hearts and minds…." The words of Shido's father repeated themselves in the back of his mind. "Win their hearts and minds boy, and those naïve fools will do whatever you say."

"Indeed….father." Shido thought as the smile on his face began to grow with delight. "And whose heart and mind is easier to win…..than that of a frightened child?"

"I am such an idiot…." I thought to myself as we drove down the winding hill.

I had removed the clip off the empty magazines I had used and replaced them with fresh ones from my vest, and clipped them all together.

I then put the empties away in my left trouser pocket, and counted up my remaining inventory in my head.

I had used up 60 rounds of .223 ammo, and I now had 540 rounds left. Plus, I still had 100 rounds of .308 ammo for my M24 rifle and six full 18 round magazines for my Sig Navy pistol and two boxes of 9mm ammo left.

Not bad, considering the fight we just came from. Still, I couldn't afford to be wasteful, so no more full-auto stunts for me again as I slapped the double magazine set-up in the well of my carbine and pressed the bolt catch.

The snap of the bolt sliding forward made Shizuka and everyone sitting close by jump at the sound. And again I was reminded of how badly I had royally screwed up everyone's trust in me with my little stunt with the teacher outside of the bus earlier.

"Sorry guys." I said looking around at everyone.

"And not just for the noise, either…." I thought to myself, the weight of the guilt I felt within me, started to crush me like a load of concrete being poured from a cement trunk.

Although I've never tried to be some some wishy-washy, second-guessing wussy that changes his mind and his moods in every direction like a leaf in the wind, I still felt bad about what had happened, even though I did what I felt I had to, in order to get everyone on the bus safely.

And I had seen a potential threat to everyone's life when I saw what that teacher had done to that young boy, and I was only trying to look out for everyone's safety when I prevented him from getting onboard until I got some answers from him. Even though I admit, I let my emotions get away from me.

I couldn't help but want to tear that weaseling coward in the back of the bus apart, limb from limb for what he did to that boy, even if what he had said was indeed true, and the boy had been infected.

What he did was an extremely brutal act however, no matter what the reason. So no, I wasn't having second thoughts that maybe I had jumped to conclusions about the teacher intentionally kicking a helpless boy in the face to die horribly.

No way. There was no mistake about this guy.

The expression on his face after the deed had been done, was not that of a person experiencing fear or regret for having to kick that boy away from him, because he feared for his life.

No…..the truth was that guy enjoyed what he did to that boy, and seeing him do that, had brought out the very worst in me.

Unfortunately, everyone else had seen the capabilities of my anger too, and the only thing I had succeeded in doing, was making things worse.

I could have handled the whole situation better. I could have gotten to the bottom of things discreetly later, quietly.

Instead, I did something I've never done, not once before, ever, in my life towards another human being.

I had threatened a man's life, roughly manhandled him, and then came within a hair's breadth of ending his life.

And worse, I had begun to enjoy it.

I can't imagine what goes through the mind of a policeman or a combat vet when he sees injustice and tragedy unfold before him and he is powerless to do anything about it.

The situation of being helpless in the presence of injustice is no stranger to any of us in whatever Service we are, but while our fields are related, our worlds are still very much a part in many ways.

For me as a firefighter/paramedic for 25 years of my life, I had to put away the anger and grief I felt at some of the cruel things I witnessed, and help the victim involved and restrain myself from saying or doing anything no matter what the situation.

It's harder than you know to try to keep your composure when you're putting a sling on the broken arm of a young child whose father has just broken it in a fit of rage, and is yelling while the police are arresting him and the child is screaming in pain for his daddy not to be taken away.

Or for the woman covered in bruises apologizing to us for being a bother when her husband is standing right over you saying there is nothing is wrong with her, while he tells everyone what a klutz she is and an embarrassment to him.

Or responding to a call for the elderly gentleman and his wife covered in bed sores and sick with a high fever, living in a dirty shed in the backyard while their children live in the main house and refuse to allow their parents to be taken to the hospital for medical care.

I could go on and on about the horrors people are fully capable of doing to others weaker than themselves. But that would truly be pointless.

There's just too much to describe, and I'm not the only one who has seen it.

But the way I reacted to it today, truly frightened me.

For 25 years I had trained myself and trained others to be reserved, in control, and focus on being able to deal with tragedy and treat victims with kindness, compassion, and caring, and not react in anger or grief at the horrors we saw.

Well, at least for the most part, I had my bad days like everyone else.

And even then, somehow, I still managed to treat the victims and their tormentors the same way, with the same compassion as I always did with everyone's call for help that I ever responded to, for more than 25 years.

And then today, I almost killed a man.

And if not for the desperate pleas of a young girl, I might just very well have pulled that trigger. In fact, I'm very sure of it.

The shock and horror of what I had almost done came rushing back to me, and the impact on my conscience was like a knife being twisted in my gut.

"How could I have been so stupid?" I thought, shaking my head.

"What the hell was I even thinking when I did that?"

I sunk back in my seat, closed my eyes and sighed.

At the moment, I didn't know what else to do.

Saeko gazed at the man sitting in the front seat of the bus and felt saddened at the sight of the troubled man sitting there, her heart conflicted towards him, both with worry and with concern.

In a short span of time, she had seen him change from a man filled with warmth and compassion for those around him.

And then just as quickly she saw the most terrifying rage overcome the man's gentle face and had nearly watched him end the life of one of their teachers that the American believed had assaulted a young student back at the school and had left him to die.

But what Saeko also found disturbing was the fact that Rei Miyamoto was also screaming for the teacher's blood as well, which caused a huge uproar in the bus between the students that had arrived with Shido-sensei, and Saeko's friends that were already aboard, making it all the more difficult for Saeko to try to calm the explosive situation down.

When the man finally threatened to shoot the teacher and was getting ready to do so, Saeko had been desperate to stop him, and it appeared that her efforts to stop him from committing cold-blooded murder were going to be in vain.

Out of sheer desperation, for reasons even she did not even comprehend, she had appealed to him with an outpouring of her heart, calling him "uncle" in a last desperate attempt to reach the man through his fury.

And to her amazement, the man had been miraculously stopped by her words, and although he had still treated the teacher rather roughly afterwards and all but threw him onboard the bus, the man's fury had been defused, and they were now traveling outside the gates of the school, on their way towards the city.

Saeko sighed and then pulled an oiled rag from one of the pockets in her skirt, and began to wipe down the length of her bokken with it.

It was a two-fold ritual, one of maintenance of her treasured weapon and one that she performed whenever her mind was stressed and she wished to relieve the clouded thoughts of her mind.

As she rubbed the fine wood, she allowed herself to relax. And as her troubled thoughts drifted away, her senses were once again finely tuned to her surroundings and as she let her senses drift, her ears picked up the conversation between the teacher and the students seated in the back with him, and a frown formed on her brow at the things she was hearing.

The voices stopped suddenly, and Saeko became aware of the teacher's presence standing almost beside her, which for some reason, immediately put her on edge, and the voice of the last person she wished to talk to in the world, least of all right now, spoke into her ear.

And the sound of that voice sent a very familiar shiver up her spine.

"Neh, Busujima-san, your friend is a very…"unique" character isn't he?" She heard the voice of the track coach Shido-sensei inquiring of her from behind her seat. "Who is he, might I ask?"

"He is not a friend, and we know absolutely nothing about him." Saeko replied cautiously as she continued to polish her bokken.

While her outside demeanor seemed indifferent to the teacher's question, on the inside however, Saeko was extremely tense at the man's presence.

It was a feeling she had felt before, and it haunted her still. And now in the presence of this man, all of her senses screamed for her to be cautious.

"He wandered into the school and helped us to escape, and has revealed nothing about himself to us at all." Saeko added as she casually wiped down her bokken. "Other than being a foreigner, and obviously being well armed, we have no idea who he is."

"Ohhhh…" The teacher said his voice velvety soft. "So he is not the leader of your group then, Busujima-san?"

"No…. he is most certainly not our leader, Shido-sensei." Saeko said wishing the teacher would return to his seat.

"You were able to prevent him from committing a most serious crime with your bravery Busujima-san. I am deeply grateful for your intervention." The teacher continued.

"And if not for you, who knows what that…man may have done to me." Shido said in his syrupy voice.

"I did nothing more than ask him to stop what he was doing." Saeko said, her pulse starting to rise.

"Perhaps, but you spoke out bravely for him to stop although he could have easily vented his rage on you, and even threatened your life as well for trying to save mine, Busujima-san." Shido said as Saeko felt another cold shiver going up her spine.

"Your courageous actions were those of a true leader, and most commendable." Shido added as Saeko smiled and nodded politely at the teachers compliment, although in truth, she felt nauseated listening to the man speak.

"You are not perhaps then the true leader of this group then Busujima-san?" Shido asked, his question causing every alarm in Saeko's mind to ring.

"There is no one like that here at all." Saeko said, keeping her composure. "We merely work together to survive."

"That is not good…." Shido said, his voice taking on a distinctly different tone now.

"We definitely need a leader here. A leader who bears everything. And protects everyone from….all dangers." Shido said as he glared angrily at Americn sitting at the front of the bus.

Rei and Takashi had been quietly listening to the exchange between Saeko and the teacher, but it was Rei's words that frightened Takashi when she spoke.

"You'll regret this." Rei said, her face a mask of anger as she glared at Takashi.

"You are going to regret ever helping him." She whispered angrily. "And you are going to wish that the American had killed him before this is all over."

"And he is going to regret it too." Rei thought to herself as she stared at the American sitting next to Shizuka.

"*Machi ga!" One of the students yelled in the back seat, as everyone turned their heads to stare in horror at the unimaginable scene before them.

(* Japanese for – The City!)

It was the first time the kids had seen the city since they had gone to school this morning I guess, and I was pretty sure they were overwhelmed by the horror of the devastation they were seeing and all that they knew collapsing upon itself as the Contagion spread across the city that they had known all their young lives.

I had already been in the thick of it this morning and I had a better idea of the horrors that we were going to face, and I knew it had gotten even worse since then.

So unfortunately, I knew these kids were in for an even greater shock once we got in the midst of all that.

I knew of no words of comfort that I could say, although I desperately wanted to say something comforting.

But in the face of all this calamity, there were no words, or inspiring speeches that I could come up with at the time. And a hug sure wasn't going to cut it either.

I was a stranger in a strange land, with a bus load full of young teens, a very sweet-hearted woman who didn't let anything bother her that I could see, and a cold-blooded coward who I firmly believed had just murdered a boy.

I was a little overwhelmed myself at the time to be honest, so I said nothing till I figured that I had something worth saying later. At the moment, I was trying to figure out what our next move would be.

We were a small, untrained, barely armed, band of refugees looking for safety, and we had an entire city to cross with most of them Infected and trying to kill us.

And the rest of those not Infected, would probably try to harm or kill us just because of blind panic, or temporary insanity from the horror going on around them.

Believe me, being in the middle of a panicked crowd is the last place you want to be because people will trample you into a paste just like cattle in a stampede, and nothing will stop them.

To be honest, when we finally drove off the hill, I was more than a little surprised to see the streets as empty as they were.

Actually, make that extremely surprised.

It seemed like the entire city, in less than a few hours, was now completely dead.

Not it felt very much like we were walking into one of those video games, like "Silent Hill," where all the citizens have mysteriously disappeared and the town itself stands as silent as a tomb, waiting for you to come and then snatch you away screaming into the darkness to vanish like the rest.

It was eerie, to say the least.

"I guess everyone's either fled to the other side of the city, or possibly locked themselves in their homes." I said aloud, although there was no reply from anyone at my words.

Shizuka had slowed down the bus a bit as we drove through this section of the town, just in case we came across another hapless refugee, although we never saw anyone on the streets.

And as we left the downtown area and switched to a road running along the shore, she sped up, probably wanting to get as far away from the ugly scene more so than the rest of us.

And as I was looking ahead at the road in front of us I happened to notice a huge sign on our left as we were coming up around a bend.

At this point, I was absolutely dying for a cup of coffee and something to eat as well, and now seemed like a good idea to pull over and let everyone take a pee break and stock up on supplies for the rest of our journey.

A cup of coffee and a doughnut would definitely hit the spot right about now, if they even had such things inside that store.

My luck so far, green tea and soy buns might be the only thing waiting for me in there.

Heck, even that sounded good right about now.

The kids had already started to get a little rowdy after we had driven through the town, and it seemed that a couple of the boys in the back were getting a little louder with each passing mile.

So I figured a little break would probably be a good idea and help everyone quiet down as well, once they had something in their stomachs and emptied their bladders.

"Shizuka-san….?" I asked the school nurse tiredly. "Would you mind pulling over to that store on the left?"

"Shizuka-san?" I said looking at her as it seemed that she had actually accelerated instead of slowing down. I looked at her face and then hesitated a moment.

The look that was now present on the woman's face was something I had not seen since I had first met the young school nurse.

The warm, sweet, bubbly personality that I had seen before was now completely gone from her face and was replaced by the look of a woman who was growing extremely pissed off about something.

And my best guess that the source of her irritation had something to do with the loud arguing from the teens in the back of the bus, whose voices were already starting to get on my nerves as well, I have to admit.

"Shizuka-san?" I repeated growing a little more concerned with the fact that school nurse seemed on the verge of exploding in anger.

And while I could certainly understand her frustration, the fact that she was driving at a high rate of speed along a winding stretch of road right next to the coastline had me extremely worried about chances of survival if she did decide to go postal.

With visions of all of us slamming into the guardrail at high speed and careening off the freeway as the screams of everyone inside the bus rent the air before we plunged into the ocean. I was about to repeat Shizuka's name a little louder and try to break her out of her spell when the school nurse suddenly slammed on the accelerator.

As I was pushed back in my chair from the sudden surge in speed, I happened to look out the front windshield and get a brief view of some Infected guy that was shuffling across the road wearing a straw hat, probably some local fisherman or whatever.

And then before I could react, there was a loud thud as the bus hit him head on, and he disappeared underneath our wheels without Shizuka ever slowing down.

"Oh shit… never mind." I said out loud as I glanced over at Shizuka and flinched at the look of rage on the young woman's face.

"Note to self…." I thought to myself as I saw the look in her eyes "Do not piss off this woman."

Guess a potty break, coffee and snacks would have to wait a while.

I've always wanted to find a loving wife and have a family of my own, but sometimes life is harsh, and the things we want in life, just do not work out.

But in some ways though, being single is a mixed blessing.

And one of those mixed blessings is not having to live with a woman who is extremely pissed off and ready to explode, as soon as you open your mouth.

Even though relationships for me have been few and far between, I have been on the receiving end of a woman's wrath before.

And if there's anything that I've learned, is that I know better than to open my mouth and say something stupid while her anger was brewing, especially if her anger is directed at you.

The boys in the back though, were about to learn the hard way, and of course, the rest of us had to suffer as well, seeing as how we were all traveling together.

At least my seat belt was buckled though.

Suddenly, without warning the bus came to a sudden screeching halt as Shizuka slammed on the brake and everyone was lurched forward from their seats to smack the seat in front of them, as the sound of a lot of "Ow's!" coming from the back of the bus ,once we finally came to a stop.

"Gaaaaa….!" I gasped as I was nearly strangled by the sudden tightening of the seat belt as it automatically reeled in the slack in response to Shizuka's sudden braking of the bus.

Shizuka got up from her seat and turning around, said some pretty angry words to the kids telling them to shut up apparently as most of them immediately stopped chattering.

Well, almost everyone shut their mouths with the exception of one teenage boy who was bigger than all the rest and apparently, didn't like anyone telling him what to do.

Rather than argue with Shizuka though, which the kid did show a little good sense there, he decided to focus his rage on Takashi for some reason, who was just as stunned and dazed from slamming against the seats as the rest of us.

The kid was saying some pretty ugly things from the sound of it, and I have to say, I was pretty proud of Takashi for keeping his cool.

Most teenage boys where I'm from would already be talking smack in a similar situation or even worse, begin pulling out a handgun and start spraying down the bus.

And no, I'm not kidding.

Takashi however, just stood up and calmly asked the boy what was his problem apparently, from what little Japanese I could understand.

Problem is with bullies, especially ones who are humiliated by their own stupidity, there's just no reasoning with them no matter how hard you try.

Sometimes it takes a neutral party or mature adult to step in and break up a teenage hissy fit, so I unbuckled myself from my seat and started walking over to separate the two boys.

Of course, the other teen was in no mood to wait for me to peacefully break up their little spat without trying to vent his frustrations on Takashi while everyone was watching, and he swung his fist trying to land a blow, just to boost his ego I guess.

Before I could step in to stop him, Rei had decided to intervene herself and handle the matter for me.

Sometimes the best way to get through to a man who doesn't have the good sense to behave himself is the stern look and calm words of a mature woman to set him straight.

And if that doesn't work, then the raging fury and vicious strength of a really pissed off woman will do just as well. Sometimes, even better.

Never underestimate the power of an angry woman protecting what's hers.

The most vicious thing in nature is a mother protecting her cubs, but the next most vicious force in nature would be a woman fighting with someone over the man she has claimed as her property.

With a quick sweep of her make-shift yari, Rei landed a vicious strike to the boy's mid-section, hitting him so hard he doubled over and vomited from the impact. Rei then added insult to his injury and finished him off with a sweep of his legs and he landed heavily on the floor, where he lay, gasping and choking in his own puke.

"Yup, there's a real winner there." I said looking at the gasping teen. "Guess I better do something before it gets any worse."

Before I could though, it seems the teacher who couldn't speak so well a while ago ( well, THIS time I wasn't sticking a gun in his face, truth be told) decided to open up and handle the situation himself.

And boy, was he grandstanding too.

Everyone onboard the bus stared in shock after watching the teenage boy being beaten to the floor by the much smaller girl, as the sudden sound of hands clapping echoed throughout the bus as everyone looked up to see the teacher Shido walking up between the aisle and then stopped over the fallen boy to speak.

"Well done. Great teamwork from the both of you, Komuro-kun and Miyamoto-san." Shido said smiling as he stood over the still, gasping boy on the floor. "Both of you certainly handled that situation well."

"Still, this little display proves my point exactly. We need a strong leader to prevent this sort of thing. We really do." Shido said.

"And I guess we only have one nominee?" Saya asked, the sarcasm thick in her voice.

Not to be deterred, Shido leaned down next to her seat, to which she, repulsed by his presence so close to her, looked away from him as he spoke.

"I'm a teacher, Takagi-san, and all of you are students."Shido responded smiling wickedly.

"And he..." Shido said, indicating the American, is a foreigner and I imagine, not familiar with our ways."

Shido then stood up to full height, and then turned around to face everyone seated in the back of the bus, and opened his arms in a grand gesture.

"That alone makes it very clear who is more qualified." He continued. " And as your leader, I can make sure we don't run into any problems. OR, that any of you are harmed by anything,…or anyone."

"Just like earlier when you were crying like a little girl when you had a gun in your face, and thought you were going to die." Saya thought with disgust.

"I'm not sure what this windbag was saying. But it sure looked like he had most of the kids eating out of his hands, from the look of things." I thought, watching the guy take a grandiose bow in front of everyone as they all clapped and smiled in approval at whatever garbage he had been sputtering.

His speech must have been pretty good, because now all the kids in the back of the bus were looking at him with all the love in the world.

Geez, that was quick.

"Must have majored in politics or theater." I said disgustedly. "Great, now I got to deal with a murderer AND a self-proclaimed savior too."

Guess none of those kids had heard our little exchange about their new savior killing one of their schoolmates to save himself. That or they just didn't care, so long as this guy kept sweet-talking them with whatever it was they wanted to hear.

People are funny like that, especially when they're afraid and whenever someone offers them some sort of solution no matter how far-fetched. If you tickle their ears enough with whatever they want to hear, eventually they'll do whatever you ask, even murder.

Guess I was gonna have to start sleeping with one eye open at all times watching every one of them now.

"Gotta give this little weenie credit," I thought to myself. "Stir the kids up and have them eating out of his hand, and soon I'll be powerless to do anything about whatever crap he tries, given enough time."

"Shoulda just shot the little prick." I grumbled as I stood there looking at the show, not realizing just how much my own words would come back to haunt me later.

For some reason though, Rei was a wee bit more pissed off about the whole affair than I was, apparently.

And immediately after the teacher had taken a grandiose bow in front of everyone, Rei in the blink of an eye, turned on her heel and rushed over to the front passenger door and threw it open, before jumping out into the street.

"REI!" Takashi shouted horrified at her bounding off like that, as the teacher said something at seeing her go, which pissed off Takashi something fierce and then HE bounced right after her.

"Oh yeah, this just keeps getting better and better." I grumbled in disgust.

"Watch my stuff, Shizuka-san wouldya please?" I asked the school nurse as I headed towards the side door of the bus after the kids, not wanting that geek anywhere near my stuff, especially near my M24.

"Of course." She said, glaring angrily at Shido.

"When I get back, I'm gonna kick your ass, you little shit!" I said, pointing at the male teacher as I stepped off the bus, and walked over to Rei and Takashi arguing amongst themselves.

I did a quick scan of the area and seeing no visible threats nearby, I walked up to where the kids were arguing with each other, as they immediately stopped talking as soon as I stepped in front of them.

"I don't know what that little prick said to piss you off hon….. "I said to Rei." But you should know better than to jump out of the bus and run out here where it's unsafe."

"Oh, man." I thought to myself at the irony of my words. "I'm beginning to sound like my parents."

Rei was still pretty pissed off, and I don't know if my words hadn't reached her, or she was just too pissed to care what I had said, because she didn't reply to me and then started yelling at Takashi.

She didn't get to say too much though, because at that time the sound of a very loud horn and a very loud diesel motor revving at high speed coming straight at us took our attention away from our present topic of conversation, and started a whole new change of venue.

"MOVE!" I yelled as a commuter bus came barreling down at us full speed with blood splashed across all the windows, which meant that even if there was anyone alive on that bus, there was no way they could know we were in their path.

People say that time seems to sort of halt when you experience a traumatic event and everything slows down and moves in slow motion and so forth.

Well, truth is, time does no such thing.

The real reason for that is the shock of the event being recorded in your brain which causes the illusion of slowing down due to the brain being so overloaded with signals, which it takes a bit longer to respond while it struggles to catch up and make the body start to physically move in response to the danger.

Some of us react to it better than others I suppose, because while I ran a few steps and hurled my old butt to the ground on the right, I heard Saeko yell something to Shizuka who was too slow to react apparently, as the mini-bus stayed rock still, while the bigger commuter bus streaked towards us like an Exocet missile.

Not that there was much time for her to react anyway.

As I painfully slammed my hip onto the pavement, the bus impacted with another parked vehicle and then turned over in a lazy arc, slamming into the tunnel that the kids and I had been standing at nearby.

I got up quickly from the ground and winced at the pain coming from my hip, and turned in horror to see the bus in flames behind me and the two teens nowhere in sight.

My heart sank at the thought that the two kids had been crushed to death by the wrecked bus. I was already screaming inside my head that I should have grabbed them and pushed them out of the way, instead of running and diving for cover, when Saeko jumped out of the bus.

"KOMURO!" Saeko yelled as she ran towards the burning bus as I got up from off the ground and was about to grab her to keep her from going near the bus when I heard the sound of Takashi's voice coming from somewhere inside the tunnel.

"Aww, crap!" I said, seeing Takashi and Rei's anxious faces peeking from a small space between the tunnel and the burning bus.

"How are we gonna get them out of there?" I thought to myself as the heat from the fire began to grow in intensity.

"Komuro!" Saeko yelled again upon seeing Takashi as she ran up to the bus.

There was a brief exchange of words between the two, and I guess they finally agreed on some plan of action, because Takashi and Rei then started running down through the tunnel, as Saeko backed away.

But just before we could head back to the mini-bus, we started having problems of our own as Infected people from inside the bus started untangling themselves from the burning wreckage of their bus and began approaching me and Saeko, all of them completely engulfed in flame.

Saeko, true to her Samurai heritage, took a Chudan no Kamae stance and readied herself for combat with the crispy critters as I raised my carbine and settled the holo-sight on the head of the nearest Infected.

But just as I was about to squeeze the trigger and even the odds a bit, the walking torches finally became overcome by the flames and started to drop heavily to the ground.

"Come on, hon." I said, grabbing Saeko by her arm. "Let's drive around on the other side and pick them up."

"No!' Saeko said, as she looked up at me.

"Komuro-san said to meet him at East Precinct Police Station, instead!" Saeko said as she then began running towards the mini-bus, as I took one last look at the burning bus behind us and then climbed into the mini-bus as well, shutting the door behind me.

Saeko had apparently told Shizuka where the other two teens were headed, because she then put the bus in gear again, and we started heading down the road as the burning bus suddenly exploded behind us.

Frustrated with losing two of the teens in my care, I sat down in the front passenger seat and fought the desire to punch the dashboard as we turned a corner, headed for another region of the city.

It was the exact scenario that I had hoped wouldn't happen, and now unfortunately despite my best efforts, it had.

Two of my kids were now separated from the rest of us, lost, unarmed, and helpless in a city full of bloodthirsty monsters.

And there was nothing I could do about it.

Now, all I could do was hope and pray they would keep safe and be there to meet us at this East Precinct Police Station, wherever it was.

Frustrated with this sudden dilemma, I looked away from the road ahead and glanced up in the reflection of the visor mirror as I noticed the male teacher sitting quietly in his seat, an indifferent look on his face and I ground my teeth as I met his eye in the reflection.

I was so angry at the little prick right now, that I wanted to kick the dashboard in frustration and get up from my seat and jerk him out of his seat and curse him out till my throat was raw from yelling.

And then after I couldn't scream anymore, I wanted to throw him back in his seat and then walk back to my seat and pull my SCUBA/DEMO knife out of its sheath that was strapped to my right calf and begin making a big show of sharpening it with sharpening steel as we drove down the street.

I wanted to do all that, and anything else I could think of just to make him squirm and have him be just as miserable as I was right now, and there would be no mistaking about the meaning why I was doing any of that either, because everyone on board the bus would know why.

But I did none of those things.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't, because I had already let my emotions get the best of me already once today.

And because of that, when I had given into the rage that I had felt at seeing a young boy murdered by a coward just a short time ago, I had nearly lost control and had almost become a murderer myself.

I may be a rookie mercenary, but I was no kid straight out of high school or fresh out of the Fire Academy either.

I was a 25 year veteran of Fire/EMS, and I needed to start acting like it.

I was still pissed off at the sawed-off little runt though.

"Something happens to those kids, and you'll be the next one that disappears on this bus pal, I promise you." I said under my breath as I whacked the visor with my hand flipping it up so I couldn't see his face any longer.

It took a few moments for me to calm down as we raced down the narrow streets, but after a while, I finally reached for the waterproof map case that hung from my belt just to take my mind off my frustration.

The map case I had was a waterproof fabric and plastic envelope made by a company called Maxpedition, that some people in the military use to keep their maps safe and handy when out in the field.

I unfolded the map case and looked at my copy of Tokonosu City that had all the kid's houses marked on it, and studied it for a few moments before I gave up and I then looked over at Shizuka.

What can I say? I'm a guy, and as all women in the world know, we guys hate asking for directions.

"Shizuka-san?" I asked pulling the map out of the case along with a small pencil that I also kept in it.

"Hai?" Shizuka replied looking over at me as she drove. We could start to see some moving vehicles and crowds of people in the distance finally, and she had slowed down a bit to avoid hitting any possible refugees that were starting to dart in and out from between the long alleyways.

"Where is this East Police station? I heard Saeko mention it outside."

"Ah,…. it's right here." Shizuka said, slowing the bus down to a crawl to point the location on the map for me.

"Thanks Shizuka-san." I said smiling at her, trying to appear as friendly and as non-threatening as I could. Talk about damage control.

If I kept popping off the way I did earlier, I wouldn't have any friends left, and I might find myself under the wheels of this bus just like that fisherman a while ago.

Glad she was still friendly towards me at least.

"You're welcome." Shizuka said cheerfully as she turned her attention back to the road, humming cheerfully to herself.

Shizuka was indeed a very cheerful person, and one might think her a bit of a ditz at their first impression of her, and I even had thought the same as well I admit.

But first impressions aren't everything, and I hoped that as we all traveled together, we'd all get to know each other better and more importantly, trust one another.

And that would become even more important now because the road ahead had just gotten a whole lot more difficult than we had expected when we first made our plans to escape from that school office just a little over an hour ago.

Now, we had another group of kids on board with us under the leadership of a psycho murderer, and two young people that had escaped with us were somewhere lost in the city, fighting for their lives if they weren't dead already.

I sighed in frustration at the day's developments and stared at the map trying to figure out what to do next now that things had gone to hell so quickly.

The East Precinct police station was way past the area were the kids lived, and was the halfway point between the last house marked on the map, and the middle school were Takashi's mom worked.

In truth, it really wasn't all that far away actually, but the big problem besides the wacko in the rear seat that I'd have to watch till we found a great place to dump him and his entourage, was the fact that everything was on the other side of one of the many large rivers that split the city into multiple separate sections.

Trying to cross a bridge with a sea of people trying to cross it all at once was going to be next to impossible, and then there was also the fact that we were going to have to try to navigate between a city full of panicked civilians fleeing for their lives, and a horde of Infected chasing them every step of the way.

And then last but not least, there would be the military and civil authorities who even in the middle of this crisis, would just love to toss my butt in the nearest cell if they didn't just shoot me on sight.

The journey ahead was going to be a rough one, to put it mildly.

As Shizuka finally reached the flow of humanity headed away from the deadly horde hunting them down, and did her best to negotiate around the mass of humanity and merge with the flow of vehicles, I paused to look out at the hundreds of frightened men, women, and children.

And as I looked at all of them, I wondered just how many of those faces I was looking at would be alive to tell of this horror tomorrow, and how many would be chasing us moaning with outstretched arms and gaping mouths.

The day had certainly been a long one, and the fatigue from my being up since that first attack at the airport, my running all over the city trying to evade capture by the police and the Infected, and then everything else since then was starting to catch up to me a lot around midnight after we had been sitting in traffic for about six hours and had only moved maybe a mile.

Regardless of how tired I was, there was no way I wanted to fall asleep with that psycho in the back just waiting for me to pass out so he could finally have his revenge.

I didn't doubt for one second that the guy wouldn't take advantage of the situation the moment I let my guard down.

And to be safe, even though I couldn't stand the sight of the guy, I had lowered the visor mirror down again just so I could make sure no one would be sneaking up behind me.

Still, despite what precautions you take, when the body is tired enough, it will shut itself down no matter how hard you try to keep awake.

You can train yourself to postpone sleep for a while by moving around, drinking gallons of coffee or energy drinks and take mouthfuls of stimulants and whatever, but eventually, your body will shut down regardless of what you do.

I've had lots of years of practice with sleep deprivation on the job, although not by choice, and I can do without sleep for a while depending on the situation.

The last time I stayed up the longest was almost forty-eight hours straight, back when I was still a firefighter, and the longest I've ever gone without sleep was a 96 hour shift with about a couple hours nap in there somewhere, so it really wasn't 96 hours straight with no sleep.

But man, it was the longest shift I ever worked and by the end of it, I was in la-la land.

That was back in 1987 when I was eighteen and new to the job. I wasn't too sure I could pull that off again and by about 2:00 AM, my body agreed with that assessment, and I konked right out.

Although to be honest, it wasn't just the killer zombies, and all the running and shooting and fighting that did me in.

Ironically, it was because no matter how hard I tried, I could only only take so much of Shizuka's conversation about the cute things her cat did the other day before my brain said," Ok, I'm out of here." and my body just shut down on its own.

Shizuka looked over at the American dozing in the seat next to her and smiled. The man had tried to converse with her as they waited in traffic, talking in low voices so as not to disturb everyone in the back who had all already fallen asleep.

The American had done little in the way of talking himself, and had been mostly listening to her as Shizuka had freely discussed her likes, dislikes, hobbies, her family, her friends especially Rika, and other points of interest that Shizuka thought the American would enjoy hearing.

Oh, and the cute things her cat would always do when she got home from work. Eventually however, Shizuka had noticed that the man had stopped shaking his head in agreement as she was talking and then eventually, she heard the tell-tale sound of the man's breathing rising and falling as he slept.

"Poor dear." Shizuka thought to herself as she gazed at the sleeping man.

"He's trying so hard to do everything to help us. I hope he'll be all right with a little sleep." She thought as she yawned loudly herself and stretched.

The night was going to be a long one indeed.

Shido awoke from his troubled sleep and casually glanced at the American sitting in the front of the bus and was astounded by what he saw.

The American had fallen asleep.

The sight of the American sound asleep in the reflection of the mirror on the visor instantly awakened all of Shido's senses and he bolted up right in his seat, and watched the man more intensely, to see if the foreigner had truly had made the fatal error of falling asleep.

As Shido watched quietly for a few more moments, he was overjoyed to see that indeed, the big man had indeed fallen fast asleep, and that the opportunity to be able to take his revenge on the man who had humiliated him so, was now set before him.

Remarkably, the opportunity to exact revenge had arrived much more quickly and would be so much easier than Shido had thought it possible as he glanced over by the side door and cast his eyes towards the man's pack with the butt of a rifle protruding from it.

It was so close, and taking it would be mere child's play now.

Shido was beside himself with glee at the image forming in his mind of the gaijin staring up at him in horror, as the last thing the man would see would be Shido's smiling face as he pulled the trigger while everyone in the bus that the American had been so worried about protecting, would be gathered around Shido, the man they had chosen as their real protector.

Their real savior.

"It would be such a beautiful sight…." Shido thought to himself with a grin.

"Yes, it would be the ultimate betrayal." Shido thought as he reveled in the seemingly endless scenarios that filled his mind, each one more enticing than the next.

"Perhaps," Shido thought, "Perhaps I could even keep him alive for a while and let him know what it means to be afraid of me."

"I could also hand him over to the authorities, and everyone would know that it was I, who had saved all these helpless children from a deadly foreigner. Then they would all hail me as a hero."

As Shido reveled in his gleeful thoughts of capturing and further humiliating the sleeping man, the desire to carry out his plan proved too much a temptation to pass up.

And so quietly, so as not to stir the sleeping teens around him from their slumber, Shido arose from his seat, preparing to stealthily make his way to the front of the bus and quietly seize the man's rifle.

He watched the sleeping man as he crouched in the aisle of the bus, and not seeing any reaction from the man, he took a couple of steps gingerly forward.

There was still no sign of his movements having aroused the man at all, and feeling brave, Shido prepared to move towards the rifle.

It was so close now, just barely over two meters away.

Revenge would be all his in a matter of three quick steps…..

A sudden "WHOOSH" of something cutting the air in front of him reached Shido's ears and the shape of Saeko's bokken appeared directly in front of him, blocking his path.

The move had been so sudden, so unexpected, that Shido had nearly screamed in terror at the sight of the wooden sword suspended mere inches from his face as a loud gasp escaped his lips..

Nearly frightened out of his wits, he looked over at the wielder of the bokken and was startled to see the young teenage girl wielding it was wide awake and staring coldly right at him.

"Don't." Saeko said her voice cold, and without emotion as Shido gazed upon her face and a cold chill ran up his spine as he looked into her eyes.

Her eyes, like her voice, were cold, emotionless.

The eyes of a killer.

"B-B-Busujima-san, what are you doing?" Shido said, his voice quavering a bit.

The girl's actions had startled him well enough, but the way she looked at him now, was nerve-wracking.

"Do not attempt to disarm him, Shido-sensei….." The young girl said, her face an emotionless mask.

"If you insist on trying to do so, you will not survive this night." Saeko said as the young girl's threat enraged Shido beyond belief.

"This young girl is actually protecting the barbarian?" Shido thought to himself, the rage he felt about to explode.

All his plans of revenge had hinged upon the students turning against the gaijin, but now it seemed, the man had allies amongst the students after all.

The betrayal had been reversed, and now it was he who was betrayed, and not the man who had humiliated him, as the hate in Shido's heart threatened to boil over.

"So the man is your leader after all neh, Busujima-san? " Shido asked gritting his teeth.

"Seeing as how you are protecting him, I assume your loyalties indeed lie with him then, do they not?" Shido asked, the fury in his voice barely under control.

"As I said before, the man is most certainly not our leader, Sensei." The young teen said as the cold, emotionless look on her face suddenly melted into a shy smile, and her eyes warmed.

"However, the man is a trained killer, and he has already threatened your life once." Saeko said as Shido reacted in surprise to the change in the girl's demeanor.

"I am only a student….." Saeko continued. "And if I could feel your presence near me, Sensei, then a man in his profession would surely know a person whom he sees as an enemy was nearby and kill you without hesitation."

"Please Shido-sensei, do not go near him." Saeko said, her eyes pleading.

"You are the only teacher left, and we have no one else to turn to."Saeko said as Shido stood there stunned at her words, and then sighed inwardly with great relief.

"So my plans had not failed after all….." Shido thought to himself.

This girl had merely stopped him only because she feared for his life, and not from any loyalty to the foreigner.

"This is just too perfect." Shido thought to himself. "This young girl with her skills would prove to be a most useful asset against the American, although I must be careful, however."

"Your quite right, my dear…." Shido said, quickly regaining his composure. "My sincerest apologies for my hasty words."

"I was afraid the gaijin had perhaps deceived you as well into thinking he was a friend, and not the criminal he really is."

"There is nothing to apologize for Sensei." Saeko said, bowing her head. "Please forgive me for startling you. I saw no other way to stop you without waking the big oaf."

"No, it is I who owes you my apologies and my thanks Busujima-san." Shido said, his voice dripping with false concern.

" If not for your brave act, I might very well have been killed by that brute." Shido said, looking at the sleeping man, his eyes filled with hate.

"Please, go back to sleep, my child." Shido said looking away from the American and gazing into Saeko's face, smiling pleasantly.

"Judgment for criminals like him will come soon enough." Shido added. "We will just have to wait for a better opportunity to protect ourselves from this beast."

"Hai, Sensei." Saeko said, bowing her head and laying her bokken on her lap.

Shido returned the bow, and quietly returned to his seat.

Fortunately, the sleeping man had not been disturbed by the exchange between Shido and the student, and it would seem, Shido thought, that fate indeed was on his side as he clasped his hands, and stared at the American as the first dull glow of the morning sun began to appear in the sky.

"Your time is coming sooner than you think my friend." Shido said, licking his lips." Your friends have ALL turned on you, and when your blood is pouring on the ground, it will be me standing amongst them, and laughing."

As Shido returned to his seat, Saeko closed her eyes and smiled after the teacher had settled in, relieved to no longer be in the man's presence.

It had been all she could do to prevent herself from striking Shido down with her bokken when he had attempted to grab the American's rifle and take him prisoner, sensing that the teacher would attempt something soon, yet not having anticipated that the teacher would have tried such a bold attempt so quickly.

"He is desperate to exact his revenge no matter what." Saeko thought." He is more dangerous than I imagined, which means none of us are safe as long as he remains among us."

Saeko had not witnessed the American's claims that Shido had attacked the boy and left him for dead, and the only thing that had made her believe the foreigner's outrageous claims were her instincts screaming at her that the schoolteacher was not only hiding something, but also planning something murderous against the man who had proven that he was only trying to help Saeko and her friends since they had first met him.

Saeko, like everyone else, had been disturbed by the American's fury at the teacher, and especially after the American had come so close to almost murdering him.

However, the man's demeanor up until that point had been one of kindness and warmth, and the fury had only showed itself when a boy's life had been snuffed allegedly by the teacher's hand, and also when the American had thought that their lives were in danger from the teacher as well.

Up until that moment, the foreigner had been acting more like a father trying to protect, and if necessary at times, discipline his children to keep them safe from harm.

But he had most certainly not tried to lord over them and definitely did not try to threaten them in any way. The man was not unlike her father in that respect, although he was certainly more laid back, acting more like one of her uncles than her father.

Perhaps that was why calling him "uncle" earlier had slipped from her lips when she had tried to reach the heart of the kind man lost beneath the rage.

Saeko looked over at the sleeping man and smiled.

"Ojisan, hmmm…?" Saeko thought to herself as she closed her eyes and stood guard as the man slept.

I awoke with a start, to find the first glowing rays of the sun starting to blot out the stars in the sky. Horrified that I had fallen asleep, I quickly checked to make sure I was still armed and then I quickly checked the visor mirror to make sure that the slime ball hadn't tried to sneak up on me while I had slept.

I blew a breath of relief that my weapons were still safe in my hands, and that the teacher was sitting quietly in his seat in the back, still snoozing.

"Geez, I'm an idiot." I said cursing myself for my stupidity.

I had made a serious tactical error by falling asleep while an enemy just waiting to slit my throat at any given moment sat not more than a dozen feet away.

It was an error that would have gotten me killed, my friends killed, and if I had been in the military or back with the rest of the guys on GREEN team, I would have been kicked out in disgrace if I had survived their wrath at all.

"Some mercenary I am." I thought to myself shaking my head,

"Ohayo Gozaimasu." The silver bell sounding voice of Shizuka said in a friendly greeting.

"Did you sleep well?" Shizuka asked smiling.

"Jim, you really are an idiot." I said under my breath as I looked over at her, my face beet red with embarrassment.

"Um, yes, thank you." I stammered, blinking my eyes and trying to apologize for my goof. "I'm so sorry, about that, I didn't mean to fall asleep while you were speaking."

"Oh that's all right." Shizuka said,her smile unchanged. "Rika-chan does that all the time when I'm talking to her. I guess she works too hard too."

"Man, this woman doesn't let a whole lot bother her does she?" I thought, still feeling like an idiot as I then asked her if she wished me to take over driving for a while so she could nap.

"Oh, thank you!" Shizuka said quite grateful for the break, as we switched seats.

Shizuka reclined the back of the chair down and settled down for her nap as I took off my combat vest, and hid both it and my carbine away from the view of the huge crowds of human traffic walking on both sides of the road.

No need to have some local cop or frightened civilian freak out seeing me with all that hardware while I was busy driving a school bus full of children around town although the people on foot were doing better than we were, which was no real surprise there.

Still, I was crestfallen to see that we had maybe traveled only a half mile since the time I had knocked out.

At this rate, our chances of linking up with Takashi and Rei at the appointed place and time were beginning to not look very good.

"I really hope those two are all right." I thought as I engaged the clutch and moved the bus forward about five more feet.

I could hear the rest of the kids stirring in the back, especially Saya , who was already being grouchy and yelling at Kouta. I settled into the driver's seat and then focused on trying to drive a vehicle with the steering on the right-hand side.

As Shizuka slept, I reflected on yesterday's events and then on what our next move should be.

While I was resolved to get the kids and Shizuka to safety, I owed absolutely nothing to that teacher in the back seat as far as I was concerned, except for a serious butt kicking, and I couldn't do that without looking like a psycho myself no matter how justified I felt in doing so.

And if the kids that had come aboard with him wished to follow him, then I felt no regrets towards that either. If they wished to follow a madman, that was their choice.

And as if to help me reaffirm my resolve to drop them like a hot potato the first chance I got, their self-appointed leader was already up and inspiring them with a rousing early morning sermon, complete with dramatic posturing.

"Geez, at least allow the kids to fill their stomach's with food, before you fill their head full of crap." I thought to myself, as I had Saya break out the protein bars out of my pack and distribute them amongst everyone.

Yup, we had a regular cult leader with us, and I was really starting to believe walking outside with the Infected would be a more pleasant experience than having to listen to this jerk wax philosophical crapoli.

And by the afternoon hours of listening to this guy talk all day without let up, and progressing only one mile in bumper-to-bumper traffic with no air conditioning and NO FREAKIN' COFFEE, I was beginning to think that maybe it really wasn't such a bad idea for us all to abandon the bus and take our chances outdoors.

I was pretty fried mentally about this time, but apparently; I wasn't the only one either.

About this time, Shizuka had awakened from her nap and had switched back into the driver's seat, and as I returned to the passenger seat, I turned it almost completely around so I could view the back of the bus and keep my eye on my favorite windbag.

While all the teens in the back of the bus were still engrossed on his every word. Saya, Kouta and Saeko had left their seats and come up front to sit with me and Shizuka having apparently reached a decision of their own about our present situation as well.

"We're leaving." Saya said, bluntly.

"Come again pumpkin?" I replied, not quite believing what I had heard.

"Haven't you been listening to him at all today?" Saya asked me as if I were the dumbest person on earth.

"All he's been doing is talking about how everyone in the bus is the "new future" and he wants to help us build a "new world", and that we need to cut off all ties with our families and start anew." Saya said scowling at me.

"I don't speak fluid Japanese, Pumpkin." I said shaking my head. "And even if I did, I've been pretty much ignoring that idiot since yesterday."

"If he's that much in love with himself, he can talk all he wants…." I added shrugging my shoulders. " So long as he leaves the rest of us alone."

"That's just it!" Saya said sounding a little exasperated. "He's talking about turning on you,….baka."

The last part, Saya had said under her breath, but nowadays, there aren't many Americans under the age of fifty who aren't familiar with the Japanese word for "idiot" now that anime and Japanese culture has become so mainstream.

It was also one of the first words I ever learned back in my otaku days, I must admit.

"Takagi-san is right, Jimu-san…." Saeko said looking at me with a very serious look on her face.

"We must leave, if we wish to meet up with Komuro-kun and Miyamoto-san at 7:00 at the rendezvous point." Saeko continued. "At this rate, we will never reach them in time, unless we go on foot."

"That may be, sweetie…." I said with a sigh. "But it's more dangerous out there than any of ya'll realize."

"No more risky than staying here Jimu-san." Saeko said. "Shido-sensei means to kill you."

Well, that was no surprise, but I have to admit, I was a little taken back to hear it anyway.

"He can try." I said smiling as I pulled my carbine from underneath the dashboard, and set it near me.

"But he'll get a little argument from me first before I go down." I chuckled.

"It is no joking matter Ojisan." Saeko said grabbing my arm and looking into my eyes.

I was a little surprised to hear her call me that again. Calling a perfect stranger "Uncle" is no small thing in any country or culture.

And even though I kept calling them "kids", these teens were not preschoolers', so she wasn't calling me that the way a tot would.

Teens don't give their trust to adults easily and without good reason. And while Saeko had called me "uncle" yesterday, I had believed that it was just purely out of desperation to stop me from killing that idiot.

Now however, she seemed like she really cared for me as a real family member and was really worried about me getting hurt or killed.

"He tried to take your rifle from your pack last night." Saeko said gripping my arm tighter. "And I truly believe that he wanted to kill you, more so than try to take you prisoner."

"OH CRAP." I thought in horror. I had thought that I had dodged a bullet purely by dumb luck or that maybe the guy just didn't have it in him to try something so daring.

I had been way off.

Not only had he tried, he had almost succeeded too.

However, he had failed, and now I was beginning to understand the reason why he had failed. But I wanted to hear it for myself.

"So why didn't he?" I asked looking at Saeko in the eye.

"I-I…. stopped him." Saeko said looking down at the floor.

I was astonished at what had nearly happened because I had stupidly given an opening to a madman by falling asleep. And by all rights, I should be dead, if not for this young girl protecting me as I was at my most vulnerable.

And all along I had assumed I was the one protecting them.

I was mortified at her words nonetheless. Last night I was a hair-breadth's away from nearly being taken prisoner or more likely, killed if not for the brave actions of this young girl.

I had been so worried that because of the way I had acted yesterday, that perhaps their trust in me had been shattered. Instead, they were all risking their lives to protect me from an enemy determined to kill me and anyone who stood in his way.

I was moved beyond words to say the least, but now was not the time to get mushy. The kids were putting their faith in me to help them find their friends and get them home.

And because of their trust in me, there was no way was I going to disappoint them.

I put my hand on her shoulder, and the words I said came straight from the heart.

"Saeko-chan, I can never thank you enough for what you have done for me." I said as she looked at me. "And if you don't stop being so nice to me, I'm going to steal you away from your dad and adopt you as my own."

Everyone laughed at my mushy words, even Saeko.

But at that moment, I had meant those words more than any of them would ever know.

"All right then, Pumpkin." I said looking at Saya. "What's your plan?"

Shido had been speaking for hours without let-up, and as his own words and the admiring stares of his loyal followers filled him with rapturous confidence, he had become so engrossed in his speech, that he had failed to notice that not all of the young people in the bus were listening to his every word.

Noticing that a few of his new flock were nowhere around, he glanced around the confines of the bus and to his dismay, the three remaining teens and the school nurse were engaged in a quiet conversation with the hated foreigner as they studied what looked like a map encased in a cloth-bound clear plastic envelope in his hands.

Curious as to why they seemed to be more interested in what the gaijin was doing, instead of listening to his glorious plans for their bright future.

Had they not also been frightened by the foreigner's actions yesterday?

"And Busujima-san?" Shido thought to himself as a scowl formed on his face." What was she doing over there with him?"

"Had she not proven her loyalty to me last night?" Shido wondered stiffly as the alarms in Shido's head suddenly began to shriek loudly as everyone in the front of the bus began to gather their things, especially the American, who had donned his combat vest and was now reaching for his rifle.

"WHAT, ARE THEY ALL DOING?!" Shido thought in horror." Are they actually LEAVING?!"

"Excuse me everyone?" Shido asked aloud, trying to keep his voice under control, as they all turned to face him. "We were discussing our next plan of action, won't you join us?"

"No thank you, Shido-sensei…." Saya replied as a big grin formed on her face.

"We have our own plans, and since we're not on a field trip, we don't have to answer to you…... ja, ne!" Saya said, waving as she stepped towards the door and opened it, as Shido could barely contain his surprise or his fury at the sudden turn of events.

"They have all betrayed me after all, including that brat Busujima." Shido thought angrily, as he stared at her with hate-filled eyes. She had fooled him completely, and now she was looking at him with that same contemptible look as the American was.

"Both of you will suffer greatly before you die, I PROMISE YOU!" Shido screamed in his mind.

His voice however, betrayed none of the fury he felt, and he spoke as eloquently as before feigning surprise at their choice to leave.

"Oh?" Shido said calmly as he tented his fingers.

"Well then, Takagi-san, Japan is a free country after all and all of you are free to do as you wish, so by all means if you wish to leave, I can't stop you,….however." He said evilly as he looked towards Shizuka and licked his lips.

"You however, Marikawa-sensei, cannot leave." Shido said as Shizuka gasped in surprise and fear at the teacher's words.

While I didn't know what the jerk was saying, there was no doubt it wasn't very pleasant from the way the guy was looking at Shizuka and from the way she reacted.

I'm guessing the man's own words had made him feel so untouchable, so bigger than life that he felt he could do anything and no harm would come to him, because he continued to talk in that same creepy voice of his and then started walking towards us.

I started to raise my carbine and was seriously hoping this guy would do something stupid, because then I'd have good reason for what I'd be doing next.

Gotta hand it to Kouta though, the boy is pretty fast on the draw when he wants to be.

John Wayne and Roy Rogers would have been proud.

There was a small familiar "pop", that echoed in the confines of the mini-bus, and a small, bloody scratch formed on the creep's face taking all the fire out of him as Kouta pointed his improvised nail gun-rifle at him.

Kouta had some pretty harsh words for the jerk, and I have to say, if I had been his papa, I'd have been proud of the way he stood up for Shizuka in the face of that jerk.

The teacher couldn't back up fast enough, and just like that, the debate was over.

We were leaving and nobody dared stop us.

Kouta said something to Saeko, and she threw the door open and stepped outside smiling at him as she stepped out.

"Way to go kid." I thought. "Keep making points with the ladies like that and Saya's going to realize what a stud you really are."

Shizuka and Saya hopped out as well, and I waited for Kouta to head out before I turned tail myself.

Problem was, Kouta wasn't moving.

And as a few uncomfortable moments passed, I realized that he wasn't going to move at all either, not until he finished what he had started.

It was like looking at a mirror reflection of myself.

And now, I was really beginning to see things the way the kid's had seen me yesterday from their perspective, and I needed to do something quick, or this boy was going to make the same horrible mistake I had nearly made yesterday.

"Kouta, stop." I said trying to sound calm and not startle him so that he wouldn't accidentally pull the trigger.

Kouta did not move, but I could hear his breathing becoming more rapid.

"Kouta, don't do this son, he's not worth it buddy." I said still keeping my voice calm.

Tears were starting to fall from his face now, more so from rage than anything, and the boy was a heartbeat away from killing the teacher, and now I knew what Saeko must have felt yesterday after seeing me about to pull the trigger on this idiot.

As evil as he was, I didn't want this boy living the rest of his life with the guilt of having murdered the man, no matter how much I felt the world was better off without the psycho around.

Kouta was going to shoot, no doubt about it now, and I had only one chance to stop him and only one way I thought I could reach him, the same way that Saeko had reached me as my finger was squeezing the trigger.

It was a hell of a gamble though,…

I raised my carbine to my shoulder and pointed it at the teacher, once again pressing the button on the laser unit and settling the red dot on the teacher's chest.

"HIRANO…..!" I barked. "Stand down, fall back and secure the women…. NOW!"

Kouta was startled by my words and I winced at seeing him almost squeeze the trigger as he reacted.

Time to get the kid out of here before it was too late.

"You've just been given a direct order by your team leader, son." I said trying to sound authoritive. "Fall back and secure the women outside and I'll cover you…. NOW MOVE!"

"Yes, Sir!" Kouta replied, suddenly pointing the muzzle of his makeshift rifle in the air and turning around smartly as he ran out the door.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and lowered my carbine watching Kouta join the others and then keeping watch like he had been ordered.

That had been way too close, and I was definitely going to be a lot more careful about the example I set in front of these kids from now on.

"Jimu-san, please… let's go!" Saeko said from outside the bus as she, Shizuka and Saya started to head for a flight of stairs leading up to an upper level walkway.

"Hang on sweetie, I'll be along in a moment." I replied as Saeko watched me from outside, probably thinking I was going to finish off the teacher once and for all.

I wasn't, but I was sure tempted, I have to admit, as I glanced over at the teacher who from all appearances, any pretense of civilized behavior was now gone from the man's face.

All that was there now was blind hate.

"You know," I began, trying to keep my voice calm." All you had to do was help that boy to his feet and bring him to the bus. I would have protected both of you."

But despite my efforts to be civil, the man was obviously in no mood for pleasantries whatsoever, and any thoughts I might have had that the man might have even a little remorse over anything that had happened were now about to be shot down.

"PROTECT ME?" The teacher said in perfect English with scorn heavy on his voice and in his face." You protect me?"

That is such a laughable thought that I would need anything from the likes of you gaijin." The man spat.

"Pretty good English….." I said not completely surprised that he could speak English which in Japan is about as common as speaking English and Spanish back home in Texas. "I knew you were full of it back there at the school, when you acted like you didn't know what I was saying."

"So why didn't you shoot me then, my gaijin friend?" The man said scornfully.

"Simple, I'm not one who takes pleasure in killing innocent civilians, especially children…." I retorted, keeping calm despite the urge I had to shoot the guy.

"Although, you appear to have no problem with that." I spat as the teacher smiled thinly as the kids in the back of the bus were all terrified, staring at the teacher and myself.

But from the looks on their faces though, none of them wished to leave his side, which meant they believed his innocence no matter what I said, and trying to convince them otherwise was a lost cause.

"The boy was bitten, I have already mentioned that, did I not?" The teacher said adjusting his glasses as he then looked at me with a real smug look on his face.

I didn't reply any further in response to his denial of having murdered the boy back at the school, not that I really expected him to confess anyway.

The man was on a path of evil and he was taking those kids with him and there was nothing I could do about it.

I could only hope that somewhere down the line, justice would catch up with this man.

Not one of our lives was worth getting hurt or killed for this psycho, and now I had people depending on me to get them home.

So screw him and all who followed him.

"Whatever bub, that's B.S. and we both know it." I said staring him directly in the eye.

"And since we both know I can't prove it, let me just say this…" I said as I pointed my carbine at him and switched on the laser at him for effect.

"I see you following us, or even catch a glimpse of you anywhere near us, I'm not going to even give a warning….." I said as I settled the red dot of the laser on my carbine on the man's sternum and his eyes went wide.

"I'm just gonna pull the trigger." I said as I switched off the laser and lowered my carbine as I grabbed my pack and prepared to step out of the bus.

There really was no reasoning with this man, not that I really wanted to.

I just wanted to hear from his own lips the kind of man he really was, and I had found out, as I took a step towards the door when the teacher spoke again.

'Your name is Jimu is it not?" The teacher said feigning politeness.

"To my friends, yes…." I replied as I put the straps of my pack on my shoulders and buckled the waist belt.

"You ain't though, pal." I said with a not-so-friendly smirk.

"Very well, my gaijin friend, a thought for you to ponder as you and your friends make your break to "safety," such as it is." The teacher said grinning evilly.

"Yup?" I asked, waiting for him to start monologuing.

"You and I have unfinished business, and Japan is an island after all." The teacher began. "And you also have no way to return to your homeland so long as you and the rest of your mercenary friends remain an enemy of the state from the news report I heard on the radio, after your little fiasco at the airport yesterday morning."

"I have no doubt that the authorities will try to capture you for questioning…. "The teacher said in a bored tone."

"But more than likely…" The teacher said licking his lips. "You and your friends will be shot on sight as enemies of the State."

"Either way, I'm truly looking forward to that day….." The teacher said as he then waved his hand as if he were shooing me away.

Despite the man's arrogance, I have to admit, his words hit me like a brick.

He was right, I was still a wanted man, and with the Outbreak going on, the chances were good I would not be arrested by the police, but shot on sight as a terrorist.

It would seem that this conniving weenie was going to have the last laugh no matter what I did, or where I went.

Still, if I really was a dead man, then the thought that I really hated worse right now more than anything was the idea of letting him have the last word.

"You know something,bub….?" I said, acting as if I were seriously pondering his words.

"You're absolutely right." I said shrugging my shoulders." There is nowhere for me to run and nowhere for me to hide, so you know what cabron'? I'm not even gonna try."

"Oh?" The teacher said cocking an eyebrow.

"Naw, what I'm going to do is get these kids safely to their homes and family." I said calmly as I cinched the straps on my pack and then grabbed my carbine.

"And then when I'm done with that, since I'm a dead man anyway, I'm just going to take particular delight in hunting you down." I said changing the tone of my voice to sheer contempt.

"And like you say, since Japan is an island, there's nowhere you can hide either, pendejo…." I said with a smirk. "And so I know I'll eventually find you too, no matter how long it takes."

"You know, I wouldn't have even thought about doing that till you mentioned it…." I said giving him my biggest shit-eating grin. "Thanks for the great idea, bubba. Now I have a real purpose in life."

"See you in hell, asshole." I said in disgust as I then stepped off the bus and slammed the door as hard as I could.

"Sensei…?" One of the teenage girls in the back of the bus asked Shido, worried that the teacher had not said anything since the foreigner had slammed the door several moments before.

In truth, there was no reason for Shido to speak.

The betrayal had been complete, only it had been in their favor, and the hated enemy that Shido had planned the perfect revenge for, had simply slipped through his fingers.

His perfect plan had all fallen apart, and once again, he had been humiliated in front of everyone.

There were no words to say, as Koichi Shido could only grind his teeth in rage.