Authors Note: Well it's about time! Lol it took sooo long for me to have been able to write again. Well now I did! :) Anyway, I wonder what's gonna happen to Haru? But first, let's see what the others are doing.
Heavy crates were passed from pickup trucks and onto wheelbarrows inside the fenced parking lot. From of a myriad of medicine to canned food and artillery weapons, men and women hauled the load inside the lobby of the hospital. There, other able bodied people would organize and distribute the supplies into different rooms, where they would be used later on. A load this large would normally call for celebration, usually honorable mentions and a toast. However, tonight wouldn't be the case.
The end of a life shouldn't call for celebration. He was a young man by the name of Yamato Hiyori. A dedicated family man and supply runner. His life was cut short after a sprained ankle made him easy target for the undead. There would be a candle lit vigil and ceremony led by those closest to him that night. This would be the 17th casualty since the hospital was found.
This was the heavy burden the former Samezuka swim captain. Seijurou led the entire establishment along with three other supporters. However, as of that moment, he had two supporters. With dozens of mouths to feed and more people coming in every week, he was too occupied to mourn the losses. Even more so to find missing members. Yet with all the work piled up on his cluttered desk, he managed to find time to call in Nitori for some personal concerns.
"How's Gou-kun?" He asked.
The blue eyed teen shrugged. "I don't know. No one's seen her leave her room at all." It had been days, weeks even, since they've heard of the redhead. She had locked herself in her room one day and cut off communication with the others. The reason was to obvious.
"We all know she's going through hard times. We all have. But she can't waste her life away isolated in misery in her room. Do you think you can talk to her? Tell her that a few minutes outside wouldn't kill her."
Nitori obligated.
"Thanks," he smiled. He opened one of his desk drawers and threw a golden key at the teen. "She listens to you more."
With that, Nitori left Seijurou to take note on the rations. As he exited the room and onto the bright hallway, he saw two women, one in a nurse and the other in a police uniform, wheel a coughing old man in a wheelchair down the hall. The aged man reminded him of a certain man who delivers presents on Christmas. He followed the two as they headed toward the room at the very end. He couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation. Nitori heard the nurse chatter about how the herb garden in her balcony had begun to die from the approaching winter season. He climbed the concrete steps to the third floor and walked to the third door on his left. He knocked on the door.
"Excuse me Gou-san. Am I allowed inside?" He asked. "Gou-san?"
No answer. He pressed his ear against the door and heard heavy grunts. It sounded like someone counting. 62... 63...
"Gou-san, I'm coming in." He inserted the key, turned the knob and opened the door.
A strong scent of sweat and must took him aback. Dirty, stained shirts laid scattered across the floor. Curtains were drawn and the bed was undone. He saw the petite woman doing pushups on the floor in only her black brazier and red underwear. Gou's long, red hair was kept above her hair in a bun, a hairstyle she preferred if she knew she was going to exercise. Her toned arms stretched straight as she faced the teen. Her face drenched in sweat. "I don't remember giving you permission to enter!" She barked.
The flustered boy quickly covered his face with the collar of his shirt. "S-S-Sorry G-Gou-san!" He stuttered. "The others and I were w-worried about you."
Gou pushed herself up and grabbed a pink shirt from the floor. As she put on her shirt, she said, "Worried about what? I'm doing just fine. See?" She flexed her right arm.
Nitori let go of his collar. He was impressed and dumbfound. Like the others, he thought Gou had been a deep rut of depression and had wallowed in her own melancholy. He thought he would have seen her emaciated body laying in her own bodily fluids. She seemed to be the complete opposite. "I see that you've done fine on your own. Even so, you haven't eaten much and you barely go outside. You don't talk to us anymore."
Gou wiped the sweat from her forehead with the collar of her shirt. "All for a reason, Nitori-san. I've locked myself in for so long so I could be stronger. And I think the results are effective."
"I see that Gou-san, but what you're doing isn't healthy! This isn't the right way to grieve."
"Then what did you expect me to do? Shut myself out of the world? Cut my wrists? Cry every fucking night because my brother could be dead?"
A shot of silence spilled across the room. Neither of them wanted to believe the inevitability of the Rin's demise. But with each passing day, the chance of him and the others ever returning to them alive grew slim.
Gou walked toward her bed and sat on the mattress. She lowered her head and rested her arms on her thighs. In a low voice, she said, "There's not a day that passes by when I'm not worried about my oniisan and the others. I know that "
"Momo-kun and I are going out soon to pick some more berries before they dry up. It'd be nice if you could come and help us with picking?"
Gou shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling the picking mood right now."
Nitori sighed. "Please, we insist that you come. You brother wouldn't have wanted you to stay locked in here forever." Nitori waited for an answer. Just as he was about to close the door, he heard a soft mutter.
"I'll get changed."
...
It was one of those bright, sunny days in autumn where the fall sun would stay high above the horizon for hours on end. The three strayed from the road and strolled into the woods. Momotarou swung his basket as he complained about his workload and how he would rather be on the patrol tower than drying laundry. Towering trees stretched as high as the sky, orange and brown leaves blanked the earth. Nitori often caught an occasional glimpse behind him of the redhead behind them. Gou's silent and reserved behavior had worried them both. They had hoped the fresh air and open space would lighter her mood. Even if only for a while.
Momotarou led the two to a large gathering of bushes. The amber eyed teen manage to push away the leaves and exposed the floor of wild berries. Sun rays beamed down on the berries like curtains. Dirt particles shimmered in the sunshine. Hues of blue, purple and deep red covered the dirt floor. They had spread out close to one another and plucked berries from their stems. Most of them had dried out or had been eaten by the forest animals.
"Hey guys, did you hear about the rumor about another camp?" Momotarou blurted.
"What camp?" Nitori asked.
"I overheard it from a conversation the nurse had with her girlfriend. Apparently the scouters had seen people inside a warehouse. And not dead ones. But actual people!"
"Seriously?
"Yeah! And it's not far from here either."
"Woah. Do you think the Captain's would allow both camps to merge with one?"
"Dunno. But I think we're fine on our own. We're all pretty strong, right Gou-san?"
Gou had been mesmerized from plucking the berries. She had gone into her own world again and ignored the teen. "Huh?"
Momotarou explained himself again. "What are your thoughts?" He asked.
She continued to pluck berries as she thought about the idea of increasing the camp. "It seems like a relatively good idea, but there are huge risk's that come along with it." She explained that there could be a chance where they could end up having a scarcity of resources, or that betrayal among groups could occur. How there could be weary humans still coping with the new world. Mentally unstable humans in a law-less society with access to any weapon imaginable seem scarier than the undead.
"We can't stay shut in forever, Gou-san." Nitori added. "One way or another, we'll need each other to help get us through the difficult times. That's how we thrive. How we survive."
"With so many bodies comes disorder. People would be left behind. Killed. Slaughtered without notice. Irrational decisions would be made, and, in the end, we would all have to fend for our selves." Gou said no other word about the topic.
The group continued to gather fruits into their baskets in silence.
Once they've plucked the last of the berries they could find, they exited the shrub and made their way toward the road. The blue sky had change to a faint, bright orange. On their way, they heard rustling a few steps ahead of them in the bushes. Their bodies froze as fear consumed them. Nitori and Momotarou had failed to bring a weapon. Gou, on the other hand, carried a small, pocket sized gun in her pocket. She slowly pulled it out of her pocket. Her throat clenched with anticipation. When the creature finally emerged, her eyes fell onto deep darkness. Gou lowered her gun with relief. When she told the guys there was nothing to worry about, they saw what had followed them and laughed nervously. Gou grabbed a few berries and handed the basket to Nitori.
"C'mere Bambi. I won't hurt you." Her voice was as smooth as honey. She inched closer to the deer, her arm extended with the berries in hand. The deer had stuck out it's tongue and nibbled on the berries on her palm.
Finally, the teenagers had caught a glimpse of Gou's long awaited happiness. A true rarity in these times. A smile. A genuine smile.
Suddenly, a loud bang exploded from the silence as if it were a strike a thunder, only without the storm. It was in that moment where their hearts skipped a beat. The incident occured in less than a second. Gou's hand fell to her side, the berries slipped between her fingers. The center of the back of her pink shirt darkened. She and the deer had fallen to their sides.
Terror and dismay restrained the teen's from uttering a single word. A red pool began to ooze from her side and spread across the stones and dirt. Nitori had dropped the baskets and fallen onto his posterior. His knees and lips trembled at the sight. Momorarou slapped his hands against the side of his head and had begun to cry. He dropped to his knee's and starred at her motionless body.
"No-No-No-No," he repeated to himself in a low mutter.
"G... Gou... san?" Nitori quickly crawled toward her body and shook her shoulder. No response. He shook her harder. He felt a warm, think liquid wet his knee's. His tears dropped onto her colorless cheeks. Nitori's head had begun to ache as his vision fogged from his tears.
Her eyes remained shut.
"Gou-san!"