NB: Just another PSA to say that the previous chapter had messed up. If any of you read it got confused and didn't come back to it after I fixed it, I'd recommend doing so. Thanks for reading and enjoy.

I awoke startled, in a cold sweat. I had dreamt about that horrific spider creature again. I rubbed my neck. It felt as though the spider had bitten me as it had done in my dream. I looked out to see that the sun had only just risen. I fumbled for a cigarette and a lighter. I went outside for a smoke. That damned thing was so realistic. Smoking the cigarette helped me to draw the line between the nightmare and reality. I stopped shaking as I finished the cigarette and went back inside. No signs of anybody else being awake yet. I rubbed my eyes and looked up to see Rei. Her hair looked a bit disheveled.

"You scared me for a moment. You're totally silent!" I said, recovering from the momentary heart attack she had practically induced in me. She still didn't say anything.

"I don't see why you're still being silent." I said. I passed her in the hallway and took the notebook and pen from my room and came back to her.

"Your turn." I said, smiling as I handed them to her. She smiled back.

"I couldn't get anything new down without a guitar. I'm going into the city today, I'll get one if I can. But only if you promise me you'll start talking again when we get back." Rei sighed, rolled her eyes and nodded reluctantly.

"Why are you up this early?" She ripped a blank page out of the notebook and wrote down

"You need to take watch now. It'll be a while before anyone else is up. I've been on watch for most of the night. We change shifts at sunrise. I'm going to bed."

"Oh, I had no idea. Lucky you didn't have to wake me up mute."

"I have my ways." She wrote with a wink. I smiled.

"I don't understand you sometimes. Goodnight... Or morning or whatever." She giggled quietly.

I grabbed Tsai's shotgun and loaded it. I slung it over my back with the strap and stood outside the dojo. I scanned the horizon to see three of Them shuffling up the lower part of the hill. I ran back inside and grabbed my katana before rushing back out again. There weren't many of Them and I could test if carrying the shotgun would weigh me down in combat now. I unsheathed the blade and walked down to meet Them. One of Them noticed me, locked its empty gaze on me and groaned. I got to the foot of the hill and took a swing. The blade passed through one of Them with almost no resistance. I cut off the head of the closest one and sliced at the next one, taking its arm. The cut was the cleanest I'd ever seen; even through the bone. I stabbed through its head with even more ease than the cut. I launched myself at the last one, driving the sword through its chin and seeing the blade come out of the top of its skull. In death it became more limp than it had been in undeath. I removed the sword. The shotgun hadn't weighed me down at all. I would ensure to keep my pistol with me in future for backup. Using the katana sent a sharp pain down my arm, that didn't distract me, but drove me to fight even harder.

I waited out the next few hours alone with my thoughts. We had no more company for the rest of my watch. I saw one or two more stumble past the foot of the hill, but it seemed like the three from earlier had only approached out of chance. I went back inside as I saw everyone getting up. I threw my hoodie and cap on and took my pistol and fitted the holster to my waist. Kohta emerged carrying Alice.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

"Way ahead of you." I said. He grinned.

"I'm looking forward to this."

"Me too."

Takashi appeared too.

"Ready."

"Ok. Let's say our goodbyes and get moving when you want to." Kohta said.

"Yeah. Might be good to get what we need and bring it back before we do anything else." Takashi suggested.

"Good idea." I agreed. Out of nowhere, Saeko threw herself at me. I hugged her tightly.

"Be careful." She said.

"I will." Takashi gave me a jealous look. She kissed my cheek.

"I'll see you tonight." She smiled.

"We're coming back with supplies first. I'll see you then." Kohta put Alice down and she hugged him and Takashi. Saeko pulled away, she seemed in high spirits.

"Bye!" She called, waving to Kohta and Takashi. Alice looked at me, seemingly unsure of what to do. I crouched down and hugged her. She didn't react.

"I'm so sorry for what I did, but I'd do it again. I did it to protect you. I hope you can forgive me." I said, quietly. She sniffed and hugged me back. I felt her heave as she sobbed.

"It's ok. Be happy. We'll get back tonight and everything will be fine, yeah?"

"Yeah." She said. I let go and stood up. Rei, Shizuka and Saya all met us in the hallway and hugged each of us. We set off in higher spirits than we were before leaving.

We made our way down the hill. I put a cigarette in my mouth and handed one to Takashi. I used the lighter to light both of our cigarettes. Kohta looked a little surprised, but not judgmentally. We took drags and headed towards the ruined city. As we got closer out of our secluded paradise, we saw more evidence of others. Bloodstains, bullet casings and even dents in the concrete from gunshot impact were common. We passed a man who had shot himself in the head while resting against a tree trunk. The man had carved the words "Remember me" into the bark above the remains of his head. We carried on, seeing deserted cars and twisted bicycle frames. I couldn't stand it. We passed a convenience store and saw that it had been picked apart completely. The glass was shattered and bloodstained. Some idiot must have cut themselves on the glass as I had done in the museum. I saw a small number of candy bars and snacks left on the shelves still. We went in and looked at the stock. Most of it was out of date or useless. We grabbed a few small bits of food.

"Of course! We should check the stockroom. The stuff that's in date will be in there if no-one's taken it." I said.

"Good idea." Takashi said, taking a drag from his cigarette. He didn't cough this time.

"Hey, you're getting better at that." I remarked. He smiled proudly. Kohta shook his head.

"What?" I asked.

"I just think it's stupid."

"There are bigger threats than lung cancer out there, especially now."

"Maybe, but suppose you did get it. We've got no medicine to ease the pain and no way of knowing if you had it."

"That's fair enough. But even these will run dry soon. I give it a year. I'm quitting without having to even try!" I said.

"That's fair enough, I suppose." Kohta said.

"Anyway, let's get this stock cupboard open. The key's probably with the owner. We'll have to try it the old fashioned way." I pressed my weight against the wooden door. It felt feeble enough for us to get through. I swung the stock of my shotgun at the door with as much force as I could gather with my aching arm. I felt it budge, but it stayed shut.

"Fuck. That hurt." I said through gritted teeth.

"Let's try it together, yeah?" Takashi suggested. I nodded and steeled myself to give another blow to the door. I stepped back and waited for Takashi to signal. He did so and we both struck the door with our weapons. It rattled and loosened from the hinges, but didn't break. I threw a kick at the door in frustration. It swung open as the shock ran through my leg. I grimaced at my own stupidity.

"Not my best idea." I said, grasping my leg tightly as it felt ready to buckle.

"Hey, it got us in."

"I wasn't expecting it to. My arm can't take much more punishment right now." I said, flexing my left hand, the bandages covering the deep cut from the museum made it feel stiff. We couldn't see much in the stock cupboard, but there were more candy bars and a couple of foods that might help sustain us a little more, still mostly snacks. Although there was also lighter fluid and cheap plastic lighters and some cigarettes. I took the lighter fluid a couple of lighters and two packs of cigarettes.

"Almost wasn't worth it." I remarked, still frustrated.

"Hey, it's better than nothing." Kohta said.

"True. I just wish there was more. It's not enough to keep going really." I said as I threw a pack of cigarettes and one of the lighters to Takashi.

"We've got enough for now." Kohta reasoned.

"True, but if this is all that's left in other places like this..."

"Can't we just stay positive for one fucking day?" Takashi snapped.

"Ok. I'll drop it." I apologised.

"Thank you. What else do we need?"

"I need back medicine. Relying on morphine won't end well. I told Rei I'd get a guitar in exchange for her to start talking again. Maybe just whatever ammo, food and water we can find elsewhere. Mainly water. We're out of running water in the dojo at least." I said. Takashi nodded.

"Anything else you can think of?" He asked.

"Maybe any useful luxuries we can find, the group's in low spirits right now. Anything we can have some fun with really. Oh, and any form of transport that could get us to Hokkaido." I added.

"Kohta, any suggestions?"

"Uhh, maybe some silencers if we can find any. Moving silently is going to be key if we're getting to Hokkaido. I can't imagine we're the only ones with that idea."

We left the convenience store and roamed the mostly empty streets of the city for anything we could. We encountered a few of Them as we approached a drugstore. I unsheathed my katana. My arm was pretty sore from the combat while I was on watch and attempting to knock the door down. Kohta and Takashi both knew this and covered my sides closely. I sliced through the air and took an arm off of one of Them. I spun and sliced into its head. I pulled the katana out and took to another one, stabbing its eye as Takashi and Kohta clubbed at some others that came at them. Takashi went to town on one of their heads, repeatedly smashing until the gore was ground into the concrete. Kohta put his rifle into one of their mouths. It flailed its arms, unable to reach him. He fired twice and brain matter splattered the brick house behind them. I held my katana to my side, breathing heavily. My arm was aching a little, but I knew the painkillers I'd take in the store would help. We entered the store and my eyes first fell upon a man hyperventilating against the counter. The shelves were mostly empty, but the pharmacy section was untouched as far as I could tell. I approached the man.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Blood thinner." He said, weakly.

"Cardiac problems?"

He nodded, clutching his chest.

"Do you know the name of what you take?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Do you know where the key is?" He opened his hand to show the small silver key. I grabbed it and rounded the counter. I unlocked all of the drawers and took any blood thinners I could find.

"Any of these look familiar?" I asked, displaying a packet of each. He nodded and pointed at one of the packets.

"Water." He gasped as I handed him the pill. I took the lid off of the bottle of water I was carrying and handed it to him. He took a sip and swallowed the pill.

"You know your stuff." Takashi remarked.

"Yeah, how do you know all that?" Kohta asked.

"Hyun was a pharmacist and I had a weekend job at a place like this for a while." I said. As I said it, memories of sitting at the dinner table and talking to my dad about the various drugs I had to dispense and what it helped with flooded back. I pushed the memory away and took the medication I needed for my back, both painkillers and ointment. I had enough to last a few months. I threw it into a carrier bag and took a few more empty bags for anything else we might find. I grabbed a lot of deodorant and put it in another bag. I got looks from Takashi and Kohta.

"No running water anymore. We need some way to smell passable, right?" I said. They nodded and grabbed even more and some women's cans for the girls.

I picked up some insulin and almost put it in a bag.

"Why do we need that?" Takashi asked. I stared at the insulin in my hands for a moment, before my sense returned and I put it back.

"We don't. Li was diabetic." I choked, thinking of my sister. I remembered one night when Li woke up late and came into my room, distressed.

"Why are you still up?" I asked blearily.

"Can't sleep."

"Why not?"

"I'm scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Of something bad happening." I got up and hugged her close.

"Nothing bad's going to happen to you. You're seven years old. You don't need to worry. That's what mom and dad are here for."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do."

"How?"

"Because I'm your brother, and I'll never let anything bad happen to you."

"You can't say that. You don't control everything."

"That's true, but being a big brother gives you a power, sort of like being a superhero."

"What kind of power?"

"The power to do everything I can to protect you, no matter what. That's what I can guarantee. I'll always do whatever I can to keep you safe."

I hadn't been truthful with myself recently, losing my family had hurt me more than I could possibly know and instead of acknowledging this, I had been acting cold and distant. I had lost myself in attempting to deny that any of this was real by being detached. I acted like I was through all of the desperation and grief already, but I wasn't. I returned to my senses and helped the man to his feet.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"No need for names, I have to go now."

"Do you have a group to get back to?"

"Yes, my family is barricaded in a house not too far from here."

"Do you think you could make it there alone?"

He nodded.

"I'm well armed and it's not very far."

"I'll come out and cover you, just in case."

"Thank you."

I rested my hand on the grip of my pistol and walked outside with the mystery man.

"It's all clear. We're just down there." He said, pointing a few houses down from the store.

"Ok, stay safe."

"You too." He smiled before he turned his back and walked to the house. I came back into the store.

"Have we got everything we need?" I asked.

"Yeah." Takashi said, slipping a box of condoms into his pocket subtly. I saw but didn't mention it. But Kohta saw it too and called him out on it.

"You need some protection?" Kohta asked with a wink. Takashi turned red and stuttered.

"I-I... It was for... You never know..." He blundered. I took pity on him.

"We can give him shit for it when he's able to speak again." I said, giving Kohta a high five and grinning.

"I suppose it's only fair." Kohta agreed. Takashi looked frustrated with himself.

"Alright, let's get out of here." I said, grabbing the bags and stepping out of the store. Takashi and Kohta followed.

"Hey, you never answered us earlier. Who do you think looked best in their swimsuit?" Takashi prompted, beginning to return to a more normal skin tone.

"Hmm. Probably Saeko."

"Come on, you're really going to give that answer. You're obviously into her. What about Saya?" Kohta asked.

"Screw that, what about Rei?" Takashi argued. I put my face in my hands and shook my head.

"All of the girls looked good. But the answer is always going to be completely biased." I said.

"What?" Kohta asked.

"You're clearly into Saya, so you said she looked the best. Takashi's in whatever it is that's going on with him and Rei, so he obviously chose her." I stated.

"Fine. It was Saeko." Takashi confessed.

"Hey, make your mind up. You can't have it both ways." I said.

"He wishes he could..." Kohta teased.

"That's why he took those condoms!" I joked. Kohta laughed, but it seemed to get on Takashi's nerves.

"I'm just attracted to her. There's nothing else between us." He said, embarrassed again.

"Well, you don't need to tell us that. Tell her. She's pretty confused right now." I said. Takashi's eyes widened.

"I had no idea."

"Come on, it's pretty obvious."

"I thought she liked you..."

"So did she, until all of this."

"I really don't need some kind of stupid love triangle right now." He groaned.

"None of us do, that crap can stay in the movies. She might still need to sort her thoughts out, but you telling her will probably help." He smiled and nodded.

"Sorry, I didn't want to put you in a strange position."

"Don't worry, I've been in worse. Besides, it's not your fault." I said.

"So... What's going on? I don't get it." Kohta said, scratching his head to emphasize his confusion.

"It's pretty confusing. Rei and Takashi have... Whatever it is they've got going on, but Saeko isn't sure how she feels about me or Takashi, because she saw things differently." I tried to explain.

"I think I get it. I thought she liked you though?" Kohta enquired.

"Apparently she did before everything went down. I hadn't worked my own feelings out then, but she'd never told me anyway."

We found a relatively small store belonging to some supermarket chain as we discussed this.

"I bet there'll be more in the way of food and water in here." I said. I looked onto the window to see lots of Them stumbling through the aisles mindlessly. There was an eerie quality to the stillness as they bumbled through the store. One of Them was unintentionally pushing a cart. I pointed at it.

"See, they're brainwashing us with all these products." I said, sarcastically impersonating a conspiracy theorist. The creature moaned, almost as if punctuating my joke. Kohta and Takashi sniggered. I drew my katana once again.

"There's way too many to kill. We just knock Them over and keep moving, grab as much as we can and run. I'll go for water, Takashi, you and Kohta get as much food as you can." I said. Kohta and Takashi agreed. I led as we stormed into the store. I knocked the first one of Them I came across into the shelf it was stood next to. The sound got the attention of the others. I threw a kick to the chest of another one while striking another with my katana to knock it over. I was clear to grab as many bottles of water as I possibly could, throwing the bottles into a bag while I looked over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't taken by surprise. I heard Takashi clubbing some of Them with his shotgun as Kohta took any useful food he could find. I couldn't see where they were and the shelf was now fairly short on water, having taken as much as I could possibly carry. I felt like it was good that I was unable to take everything, meaning that other survivor groups might have a chance to take what they needed too. I was carrying two plastic carrier bags full of water. The bags were pretty heavy and I saw more of Them closing in on me. I had dropped my guard by losing myself in thought. I switched one of the carrier bags to my left hand so that my right was free to use the katana. I tried to knock Them back as best I could, but with only one hand behind my swings they proved far weaker. I knocked a few of Them back before I was pinned by one. Its warm breath hit me right in my face, smelling of dead meat while its rubbery, greying skin slipped against the polished floor as it tried to grab me. I scrambled for my pistol, put it in the creature's mouth and fired. There was a momentary silence as I realised I had just guaranteed my own death and more of Them began to approach, groaning. I pushed the thing off of me, the hole in its head leaking a stream of thick, and dark red blood. I threw the limp body into one of the shelves and put all of my weight behind it. The shelf wobbled and I threw myself into it. It fell and I clambered onto it, I saw Takashi and Kohta bolting for the exit as Kohta looked down the scope of his rifle, trying to find me. I summoned as much energy as I could and got out of the door just behind them. We kept running until we got what we considered a safe distance away from the store. Kohta was hunched over and panting heavily.

"Sorry. I got pinned." I said.

"Don't worry about it. But don't... don't expect me to do that again any time soon." Kohta said, taking pauses between words to breathe. I slapped him on the back.

"Did you get enough?" I asked.

"More than enough. You?" Takashi said, brandishing carrier bags fit to burst with food.

"Luckily I got everything I could before I got pinned." I said, showing the two plastic bags full of water. Takashi laughed, happily.

"Let's take this stuff back and have some fun." Takashi grinned.

"I've got to grab a guitar first. You ready to move yet?" I asked Kohta.

"Just one more minute..." He said. He took a few more breaths and straightened up again. I handed him a bottle of water and took one for myself, offering one to Takashi. Takashi took it too.

"I haven't had anything to drink in so long..." He said. My throat felt like it was constricting itself and it was completely dry and barren. Gulping the water greedily, the discomfort gradually lessened. I gasped as I took the bottle away from my mouth for a moment to breathe. I took a few more controlled sips before I put the cap back on. There was an empty music shop just around the corner, a small unassuming place that was probably a converted house. It seemed relatively untouched by the chaos outside. I smashed the window with my shotgun and grabbed a black acoustic guitar with a strap and slung it over my shoulder. Nothing. Strangely silent. I came back out, smiling.

"Alright. Let's go." I said.

We silently began to move back to the dojo. I stared into the horizon, not lost in thought or in my surroundings. The area around us passed my vision as a blur. I was frustrated at myself for letting my guard down in the store again, as I had done in the alley on the way to the hospital. I carried on, gazing past everything. We approached the hill and I shook myself out of my trance. I became present again, feeling the spring breeze brush across me. We got into the dojo, my leg was still giving me trouble from breaking the door to the stock cupboard. I opened the container of painkillers for my back and took one with a sip of water. I put the carrier bags down, taking the packets of cigarettes and dividing them equally between Takashi and me. I kept some of the cheap lighters in my pocket and grabbed a couple of deodorant cans from my stash. Takashi looked at me knowingly. I grinned in anticipation of our upcoming rampage through the city. I knocked on the door to Rei's room. There was no answer. I slid the door open and knocked again, still no answer. I looked inside for a place to rest the guitar where she would see it and looked up to see her in matching peach coloured underwear. I walked out of the room.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed. She came to the door, now fully clothed. I showed her the guitar.

"Will you start talking now?" I asked.

"Fine." She sighed.

"Ok. I'm really sorry about that. I did knock. I thought you weren't in."

"It's ok. I guess I didn't hear you. Sorry you had to see that."

"I'm not complaining. Consider it payback for when I woke up." I said, sheepishly. She blushed.

"Well, I got that guitar for you. We can write some music together when we get back tonight if you want." I suggested with a shrug.

"That sounds great."

"Good. I know you have a lot on your mind. You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm going to talk to the others and get going now." I said, hugging her.

"Take care." I left her room and saw Takashi talking to Saeko, it seemed they were talking about something pretty serious. I looked on and Alice dashed past me, giggling as Kohta waddled after her making monster-like sounds. Saya approached me, smiling at the sight.

"What's up?" Saya said.

"Nothing. I'm just kind of distracted." I said, trying to put the image of Rei out of my mind.

"Distracted by what?"

"I'm not sure. I'll figure it out." I lied.

"You'd better. I don't want you going out there again like this." She said.

"Since when have you cared?" I teased.

"Since the beginning. Just because I act cold doesn't mean I am." She said. I gave a bitter laugh.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing. It's just that I feel the exact opposite way sometimes." I said.

"There's something I wanted to ask you. Your group at the mall, what happened? You seemed to feel guilty for it."

"There was another small group that came to us just after the EMP. They were from the school too. They begged to join us. It went to a vote. I was the decider and I chose to let them in because I knew some of them. A teacher who seized control and the group descended into chaos within a day or two was leading them. People got paranoid trying to kill this teacher. It just spread through the group and this teacher was brainwashing anyone who would listen. Their group took off with new converts and left us all for dead. I was lucky to fight through to the end. I lost a lot of good friends." I said, reliving everything as I explained it.

"What was the teacher's name?" Saya asked, worriedly.

"Mr. Shido." I said, haunted by the scum's name. Saya gasped.

"What's wrong?"

"We left him and his group early on. We had the chance to kill him, but we gave him mercy. Twice." She said, looking guilty. I closed my eyes and breathed heavily. My mind was back in the moment just after I had killed the last of the group. I had screamed and sobbed all I could before I checked the chamber of my pistol. One last bullet.