Chapter 11: A DEAD last stand
"Oh! Someone! Give me your phone!" Yells out Shizuka, just as we're about to bid Takashi farewell. We all turn to her with confusion.
"Um. Okay…" Says Kohta as he holds out his phone to her. I would, but I shut mine down. Shizuka snatches his phone and starts counting. Yes, counting.
"There's the 1 and the 2…and the 3 and the 4…Yup. All the numbers are where they're supposed to be." She says cheerfully. Kohta just looks at her.
"Do you want me to press it for you?" He asks her.
"You're going to mess me up. So don't interrupt me. K?" She asks. A few seconds later, she holds the phone up to her ear. As she's waiting she explains to us what she's doing. "I remembered my friend's phone number! She's in the SAT. The Special Assault Team. So she has to be alive!" Suddenly we hear the phone being picked up and a voice.
"Hello?" Asks a female voice.
"Rikaaa." Answers Shizuka. "Oh thank god you're alive." She says cheerfully. We all smile at this.
"I'm happy for you." Says Alice.
"A lot of things have happened to me. But-" Suddenly she's interrupted.
"Cut to the chase will you? Where are you right now?" Asks Rika on the other end. "My place?" She asks.
"No. That place isn't good anymore. Oh! We borrowed some of your guns and stuff." She tells Rika.
"That's alright. Just tell me where you are right n-" Before she can finish, the phone in Shizuka's hand sparks. Then it starts smoking. Not a second later the sky lights up like a white Christmas tree.
"Oh, no way." Said Saya. "Miyamoto! Check the gun sight!" She yelled at Rei.
'Shit. If she's right and that's what I think it was…' I don't finish the thought. Rei look down the sight at Saya, whom promptly jumps out of the way.
"Well? Do you see the dot?" She asks. Rei lowers the gun.
"There's nothing there." She says. Saya looks down at the ground.
"I knew it." She says. Takashi steps towards her.
"Takagi. What's going on?" He asks. She looks back up at him.
"An H.A.N.E just went off." She says. Takashi gets a confused look on his face.
"An H.A.N.E?" He asks.
"High Altitude Nuclear Explosion." She replies. "The explosion of a nuclear warhead in the upper atmosphere creates Compton electrons. Gamma rays then scatter these electrons from the atmospheric molecule. The scattered electrons accelerate and spiral along the earth's magnetic field." They all just stare at her with a 'huh?' face. I sigh and step forwards.
"Basically they just set off an EMP. So now nothing electronic will work." Rei steps forwards.
"So, we won't be able to use phones anymore?" She asks.
"Not just phones. Computers won't work. And neither will cars with computers." Saya answers her. "Neither will power plants. Unless they were implementing EMP measures. But I know only a small portion of the self-defense forces and the government agencies are using these sorts of measures." At this point, men are running around placing candles besides the walkways to create light. Then I see Mr. Takagi coming towards us on the stairs.
"Is there a way to fix it?" He asks. Causing Saya to turn around.
"Daddy." She gasps out. We're all silent for a few moments before Saya breaks it by answering his question. "Some cars could work if we replace the fried parts. And we might be able to find undamaged ones as well. Which have sustained fewer effects of Electro Magnetic Waves." She says.
"That's right." I say. "If they don't have computer chips in them they should work." Mr. Takagi turns to one of his men.
"Go check it out right away." He tells him.
"Right away sir!" The man replies before running off.
"Saya." Says Mr. Takagi. Making Saya turn to him.
"Y-yes sir?" She asks.
"I must say I'm impressed by how you stayed calm and rational during this situation. You deserve my praise." He tells her. Saya stops breathing for a second before responding.
"Daddy…" But before she can say anything else, a gunshot echoes out across the clearing. We all turn towards the barricade in time to see someone turn around and shoot at an oncoming group of 'them'. Then he turns around and tries to run. But two grab onto him and shove him to the ground. Then they start to feast. The guy's screams can be heard from where we're standing. Mr. Takagi steps forwards.
"Close the gates." He tells the men forcefully. One of them turns around to face him.
"But commander. We still have some of our men on the other side." He tells him. Mr. Takagi turns and faces him.
"We'll lose everything if we don't close the gate now. Do it!" he replies. The man doesn't look happy, but he turns around and complies. People rush to get the gates close, and end up blocking out the growing mob. But one finds its way inside.
"One of them got in!" Yells out one of the guards. Suddenly I hear the sound of a gun being loaded and the safety being flipped off. I turn to see Kohta has the A110 aimed at the shuffling thing.
"Inside the pocket…" He says. Then he pulls the trigger and shoots the thing right between the eyes. "That's one for the home team." He says, lifting the gun on one shoulder, while giving a thumbs up with his other hand. One of the guards turns and stares at Kohta.
"Sorry kid… I was wrong about you." He says.
'Must have been one of the guys who were trying to take away Kohta's guns. That'll show him.' I think to myself. Then I see one of the guardsmen walk up to Ms. Takagi with a briefcase.
"Commander. Madam. I brought this at your request." He tells her. Suddenly she unlocks the briefcase, throws away the towel that she had, and rips part of her skirt so that she can run easier. Saya puts a hand in front of my face to block my view. But by then I already have a goofy smile on my face.
"Mama…" I say. While everyone else's response is just, 'what…?' Then she hands Saya some sort of gun.
"Use it Saya." Is all she says. Suddenly Kohta is regular gun otaku and smiling at the gun in her hands.
"That's-that's a Lugar PO8 Holland Colonial Model! Holy crap! They…" His voice drones on as Saya just stares at her mom.
"But I don't even know how to use it!" She exclaims. "And wait, what are you even doing with a gun?" She asks.
"When I was working on Walls street, I was taking the executive self-defense course. Actually, I might be a better shooter than your father." She replies. At this we all think of her in front of an undercover cop car, holding a handgun and dressed in white button up shirt, and grey jeans. Then I snap out of it and step forwards.
{Wait. So you've been to America?} I ask her in English. She turns towards me.
{Yes.} She replies.
{Well.} Is all I say. Then she turns to Kohta.
"You will show her how to use it? Won't you Hirano?" He suddenly goes 2D with his hand in the air. "Yes Ma'am!" He yells out. Then we hear the gate start to creak. We all run down the stairs and stand in the courtyard. Facing the gate as we see it start to bend inwards a little. The number of 'them' has grown. And it looks like there are hundreds pressing against the gate. I'm surprised that with that many pressing against it, that it's lasted this long.
"We-we're screwed man." Says the guy who turned to Kohta earlier. "They-they're getting in…" Suddenly a blood spurt from one of 'them' gets onto his cheek. Then, seconds later, 'they' break down the gate. "Master! Run! Ruuuuuunnnnn! Ggaaaahhhhhhhhh!" He yells out as some of 'them' start to feast on him. All the while, more and more of 'them' come walking through the gates. Some of them knock down the candles, and soon there's a giant fire roaring around the estate.
"Everybody get back!" Yells out Takashi. I turn towards Kohta.
"Kohta, give me a minute! I gotta grab some stuff that can help us from my room!" I yell over my shoulder as I rush into the house. He nods his head. I rush in and run as fast as I can up the stairs, and then run to my room. Then I sling my backpack over my shoulder, and grab the SledgeSaw. I rush back out of the house to see Saeko running around and slicing heads off 'them'. Takashi is running around with his shotgun and blasting crowds of 'them'.
Kohta is sniping from behind the railing on the stairs. Then, when he runs out of bullets, Alice runs out from behind a hiding place and gives him a new magazine. "Kohta here!" She yells out as he grabs the new magazine and slides it into the gun. Saeko and Takashi are making their way up the stairs with Rei.
"This shit never ends!" Yells out Takashi. Rei turns to him.
"It just gets worse as time goes on!" She yells back. I step forwards.
"The EMP knocked out anything else that could make a sound. So all of 'them' that are in the city are being attracted here because the gunshots and crackling of fire is the only sound here." Everyone turns to me with fear on their features when I tell them this. While Kohta keeps shooting.
"We'll run out of bullets soon!" He yells at us. We're all silent so that all we can hear are the sounds of 'them', and gunshots from the guardsmen. Suddenly we hear Mr. Takagi yell out. We make our way towards him as he tells everyone what to do.
"We'll rip through the enemies, and then make our way next door! Come if you're a man and ready to battle! As for the women and children, stay close behind! Immediately! If you wish to survive!" Saya turns towards him.
"Dad why don't we just barricade ourselves in the house?!" She asks him. I step towards her.
"They broke through the gate Saya. It would take them even less time to get into the house. And once that happens… Well, we'll be trapped inside and they'll just kill us off one by one." She turns to me. Anger clear in her eyes. Then Mr. Takagi turns to Takashi.
"I thought that you were going to go look for your families?" He asks. Takashi stays silent. "Then you better get going." Mr. Takagi continues. Takashi nods.
"Yes sir." He says. Then Mr. Takagi turns toward Kohta.
"Hirano. Take care of my daughter." He tells him. Kohta nods his head in response. Then Saya starts towards her father once more.
"Dad what do you mean by tha-" She's cut off when her mother grabs her by the wrist, turns her around, and bitch slaps her. Saya grabs her cheek and turns towards her mother.
"Mom…" She says. Saya's mother gives her a steely look.
"Stop acting like a child. Your father and I have work to do. Deal with it. I've left you many times during your life and I am sorry for that. But this time, I'm not leaving you because I want to. I'm leaving you because I have to." She tells her. Saya just continues to stare at her.
"Mommy…" She says. Then I see Alice come out from behind a pillar and walk over to Ms. Takagi. But I don't hear what they talk about because suddenly Mr. Takagi is standing in front of me.
"Mr. X." He says. I stare up at him.
"Sir?" I ask. He fixes me with a glare that on the inside makes me cower in fear, but on the outside I don't show it.
"If I find out that you hurt my daughter in any way. Nothing will stop me from coming after you and killing you. Not the dead. And not your little group of friends." He tells me. I nod my head in response.
"Of course sir. I would never even dream of hurting Saya in any way." I respond. At this, he actually gives me a small smirk. Then he goes back to his poker face and steps away. When he steps back, Ms. Takagi steps forwards.
"Now get out of here! All of you!" She yells out. I see Saya start to tear up, then go running off.
"I love you both!" She yells out as everyone start to run. I stay there for a few more seconds, and then bow to both of them. After that, I go running after the others. But over my shoulder I'm pretty sure that I can hear Ms. Takagi say something like, 'he seems like a nice man for her.' But then I'm running down the stairs after the others. And I don't hear anything else except for Mr. Takagi yelling out 'Throw the Dynamite!' a few seconds later. Then explosions rock the ground. And more gunshots follow.
I catch up with the others in front of the garage that the Humvee was parked in during our stay. I run in to hear someone start talking as they get out from under the car. "You're lucky Lady Saya. This here is an Anti-Electro Magnetic Pulse Humvee. It's triple copper plated." A plump repairman tells her. "The owner of this must be hardcore." He finishes.
'Well, she's in the SAT. I'd suppose that counts as being hardcore.' I think to myself with a smirk.
"So you're saying that the car can still drive?!" Shizuka yells out cheerfully. He nods in response.
"Yup. But it needs some repair because it's been damaged. It's gonna take a while." The repairman replies. Takashi nods and turns around.
"So this is where we take a stand." He says. I walk up next to him, SledgeSaw in hand.
"Sort of like Left 4 Dead? Huh?" I ask him. He chuckles and faces the oncoming hoard.
"Yup. And just like in Left 4 Dead, they're gonna be drawn to the noise." He replies. I nod and turn to face it with him. "Here they come!" Takashi yells out, and then shoots a few in the head. Saeko then proceeds to run out into the crowd, and stab 'them' through the head, or decapitate them. Rei opts to shoot at them with her M14, or stab them with the bayonet. Kohta uses the A110 and gets a headshot with every shot he takes. While I rush out into the crowd and bash in 'their' heads, or slice them open.
A few minutes later, I see a familiar red sword in the crowd. 'Huh. Guess Ginger decided to join the party.' I think to myself as I see heads flying off in all directions, and occasionally I see Brutus' tail. Though most of the time, my view of them is blocked by the hoard of 'them'.
At one point, I see one sneak up behind Shizuka, but before anyone else can do anything, Alice picks up a tire and rolls it forwards, knocking the thing back. Then Saya runs forwards with the Lugar, and aims at its head. She looks away before pulling the trigger, and splattering her dress with the things blood. She stands back up and Shizuka says, "That's so cool." Saya turns around at that.
"You're such a ditz." She tells her. Shizuka twiddles her thumbs.
"Well that is my character after all." She replies. Saya just gives a *Humph*, and goes to push her towards the Humvee.
"Just get in the car!" She yells at her.
"O-okay." Replies Shizuka. Then I turn around when I hear Zeke barking and find that the rest of us have been pushed back towards the garage door.
"This is just like the Alamo!" Yells out Kohta, shooting more of 'them' in the head. Takashi takes another shot before replying.
"That's not very encouraging." He says.
"Tell me about it!" I yell out, bashing in another one of 'their' heads, and effectively covering my jacket and shirt with more blood. Suddenly we hear Rei scream, and turn to see one of 'them' trying to drag her over the tops of boxes by her gun.
"Rei!" Yells out Takashi. He runs towards her, and then smashes the things hand with the back of the shotgun. Then he turns it around and shoots the things head off. Splattering the wall behind it with its blood. Then he turns towards her. "You okay?" he asks. She nods her head in response. "Okay. Let's go!" he yells, taking her hand and dragging her over to the garage. Suddenly I hear the Humvee start up.
"Everyone get back here!" Yells out Shizuka. We all rush in and climb into the Humvee. Saya looks out the window.
"Mr. Matsudo! Get in the car!" She yells out. The repairman turns around, holding onto a wrench
"I'm afraid I can't leave with you. My true love is here and I'm not leaving without her." He tells us. "Lady Saya." He begins, bowing. "Please take care." Then Shizuka turns and looks out the front windshield, and gasps.
"Here we go." She says, before pushing down on the gas and causing the Humvee to drive into the hoard of 'them'. We drive along the path until we get near the entrance. When we pass by Ginger, I give him a two finger salute. Then we jump a bit off the ground using some bushes. We jump past Mr. Takagi who's fighting a group of 'them'. Saya turns and yells out 'Daddy!' as we go by, then we're riding out of the gates.
"Which way do we go now?!" yells out Rei. Saeko's on top of the roof and staring straight ahead.
"You're looking at it." I look out the front window and see the reason for the giant hoards of 'them'. A bus has slammed into the makeshift barricades that were blocking the street. Causing part of it to break and allowing 'them' to get through. Then I look closer and notice something.
'Hey. That's the bus that he was on!' I notice that no one is on the bus, and the front windshield is broken. 'That son of a bitch crashed into the barricade, then ran off!' I think to myself. A second later I hear Rei yelling.
"But that's too narrow!" Suddenly, don't ask me how this happened, the Humvee start to tip onto its side. Its two wheels on the right, just barely keeping traction with the ground. Saeko leans out of the top of the Humvee, which is now facing almost 90 degrees right, and her head is nearly sliding against the ground. Then as we get nearer, I notice that she's going to smash her head against the side of the barricade.
Kohta must notice this too. Because suddenly he leans towards her, yells out "Saeko!", and pulls her in just as the roof skeds against the barricade and the tires knock the open door off the bus. Then the Humvee straightens out and we continue down the road. Not a single one of 'them' in sight. After a few minutes, Rei looks out the window.
"It's okay, for now I guess." She says. Then turns and looks at Saya. Who's in the seat in front of her. We're situated just like we were when we were driving to Saya's house. Except that now Rei and Takashi are also in the back-back with Saeko and Kohta. And Alice is in the front with Shizuka and Zeke, while Saya is next to me in the back.
"Please don't say anything. Just don't…" Saya responds. I know exactly how she feels. Like the entire world has just been pulled out from under you. How now nothing seems like it's worth living. But I didn't have anyone to help me through my tough times. I will not let her feel the same. So I do the thing that I feel is best in the situation. I move over slightly, and wrap her up in a hug.
At first she stiffens up. Then, after a few seconds, she gives in and hugs me back. Crying lightly into my shoulder. I tighten my grip to let her know that I'm there for her. That I'll always be there for her. Then, after a few minutes, we let go of each other. Then the engine starts to sputter. "I hate to say it, but the engine sounds strange." Saya says.
"Yeah, I kind of think that there's something wrong with the car. Can I stop driving soon?" Shizuka asks. Suddenly Takashi pipes up from the back of the car.
"No keep driving. Sorry, but we can't stop until Rei and I both find our parents. After that, we'll look for your friend too, okay?" He says.
"O-okay." Replies Shizuka, before Saeko leans forwards and points to a ramp.
"There's a highway there! Take it!" She yells out. Shizuka turns onto the ramp and starts to go up it. We get onto the suspended highway and drive along for a few minutes. Passing by broken down cars. Then we stop. In front of us, the highway is completely overrun with 'them'. Alice and Shizuka looked out the front windshield.
"There's so many of them." Alice says. We sit still for a few seconds before Saya turns and looks at us.
"Ehem!" She says. Me and Takashi sigh and gets out of the top. I peck Saya on the cheek, then get out and stand next to Saeko with Kohta kneeling next to me with his A110, and Takashi poking his head out of the top with his shotgun.
"Let's end this road trip." Begins Takashi. I smile
"With a f*ckin' bang!" I finish. Then Takashi shoots at the crowd of them with his shotgun.
AN: From here on out, I am writing down ideas that I have. So it will no longer go with the Anime, or the Manga. So if you don't want to read that, then go ahead and stop reading. For those of you that don't care… Carry on. But know that these may or may not be moved to a later chapter when the Anime comes back and I continue writing the actual story. Anyway, on with the Fanfiction!
This draws the attention of all the ones around us. Me and Saeko leap of the top and charge into the crowd. Bashing in heads and slicing 'them' open. Takashi and Kohta stayed on top of the Humvee and shot at any of 'them' that got close to the Humvee. After a few minutes of the grueling task of clearing out a path, me and Saeko jumped back into the Humvee. "Gogogogogogogo!" I yelled out at Shizuka. She then proceeded to stamp on the gas and caused us to plow through the remainder of the hoard in front of us.
As we drove along, we talked about what the hell we were going to do next. Of course, everyone turned to me. I sat there, stroking my non-existent beard, and thought. After a few seconds I turned back to them. "We're going to need to find a place that can be easily barricaded. I would prefer it if we had some sort of fence as well. Then we could-" Suddenly I notice something to my right outside the window. I lean forwards quickly. "Take this off ramp!" I tell Shizuka. She takes the ramp and starts down the street. "Now left!" I shout out. She turns left and gets onto a street that has shops on either side. There's only one building that isn't a shop on the street.
"A f*cking hotel!" Yells out Takashi, who I then proceed to lean into the back and smack upside the head. "Ow! What was that for?!" He yells out at me. I just glare at him.
"Language." Is all I say before gesturing to Alice. Then I look around. "Now, who has the swear jar?" I ask with a smirk. For a second, everyone just stares at me. Then they all burst out laughing. This causes me to join in, and soon enough we're all trying to catch our breath. Then I look up at everyone. "On a more serious note, yes. I saw the hotel and figured that it would have an elevator. So we can go to one of the different floors, clear it out, then each get a separate room and stay for at least the night. Takashi?" I ask, turning to him for confirmation.
He just stares at me incredulously. Surprised that I'm asking him. Then he sighs and nods his head. I turn around and tell Shizuka to park right outside the entrance. She parks it next to a parking meter and goes to get out along with everyone else. But I stop them. "Stay here for a second." I tell them. Then I grab the SledgeSaw and climb out. I walk up to the hotel doors and try to pull them open to no avail. Then I try to push them, and the doors open. I smile and make my way over to the Humvee. I get in and close the door to see everyone staring at me. I just smile and turn to Shizuka.
"Ms. Shizuka, could you please drive the Humvee right in front of the doors please?" She looks at me with confusion before doing so. I push open the door to the Humvee, which pushes open the hotel door. Then I motion for everyone to come inside. They do so, bringing all our supplies with them, and then I tell Shizuka to lock the Humvee. After all that's done I turn to the group. I see everyone is looking at me with confusion clear on their faces. Everyone except Saya that is.
"Of course!" She exclaims. "We needed something to block the doors. And since they opened inwards, we could use something on the outside! And none of 'them' can break into the Humvee." She says. I nod at her.
"Exactly. And the reason I had Ms. Shizuka lock the car was because of the possibility of people stealing it. And also because in the number of fanfictions that I've read that include zombies, and the number of movies I watched, one zombie always accidentally ends up bumping into the door and opening it, crawling in, opening the other door, and getting into the survivors sanctuary, I didn't want that happening to us." They nod their heads in agreement. Especially Takashi. He had been with me for most of the zombie movies I had watched.
We all made our way over to the elevators. There were two and our entire group wouldn't be able to fit in one, so we split off. Saeko, Saya, Kohta, Alice, and Shizuka would go into one, while me and Takashi would go into the other one. But before that… "What floor are we going to?" Asks Kohta.
"Well… We should take one of the higher up ones." I say. They all nod.
"How about… The eighth?" Suggests Takashi. Suddenly I stiffen up. The group notices this and they turn towards me. "What is it John?" Asks Takashi. I just stare at him.
"No." I say in a whisper. He looks at me with confusion.
"Why not?" He asks. I just continue to stare at him.
"No… Not the eighth floor… That's where…That's where it happened." I tell them. They all stare at me with confusion. Then Saya seems to get it.
"Wait… You don't mean…" She trails off. I nod my head.
"Yeah… That's where… My parents were killed… At the hotel we stayed at…" I finish and stare at the ground. They all just stand there in silence. Then Alice walks up to me and hugs me around the waist. I look down at her and smile a little. She always knows how to make me feel better. "How about the sixth?" I ask them, looking back up at the group. They all just nod their heads in response. Then we split up into the different elevators and press the 6 button. Our elevator starts to rise. But then suddenly when it reaches the number 5, it shudders, and then stops.
Me and Takashi share a look, and then he starts to press the 6 button repeatedly. The elevator shudders, but doesn't do move. I look up to see if there's a hatch, but only see lights. I look at Takashi, and then press on the button that opens the elevators door. The door opens slowly, and we see that the elevator had risen just above the actual floor. We have to crawl under the ceiling and drop down onto the ground. Then I turn to Takashi. "So. I guess we're going to have to find another way to them." He nods his head.
"Yeah, wonder what's going on with the others right now." He replies. I shrug.
"Well. Seeing as their elevator door isn't opening, I'm going to assume that their elevator got to the sixth floor. Although… we could just sit here and wait for them to come looking for us." He nods his head in agreement and we sit down, leaning against the wall waiting for the others to come and pick us up.
*Authors Note*
Alright. So now I'm officially out of material to go by. So updates will most likely be less frequent seeing as now I'm going to need to actually think about what's going to happen. But know this! When the Anime comes back *Cough* hopefully this fall *Cough* then these chapters that I make up will most likely be used afterwards. So enjoy these while you can. Before I get rid of them until a later date.
What else…? Ummm. I don't really think that I need to mention anything else…Oh! The rising chance of Lemons! The only reason for this is because there are no actual Lemons in the Anime so I wasn't going to implement them during the actual story. Well, that and they make me uncomfortable. But if I get a lot of people asking me for Lemons, then I might do some.
So yeah. I think that's all I really need to cover. So see you next time! And thanks for reading!