AN: Welcome back to both you and me.
Now I know what you're thinking, either A you haven't read this story when it was originally published and if you apply to it then this will not apply to you but for those that were following this story when I was actually updating it then I share your question you're most likely asking.
How the hell did it take you over 12 months to update this?
And I share that. Thing is, work, writer's block, other projects etc. have taken over to the point where I almost forgot to update this. To be fair I have been making small additions to this chapter over the last 12 months but not enough to literally sit down and get this one out for you guys.
That being said, I have been thinking of keep things fresh, that now we're back mainly on the linear story, chapters should be easier to write but I have been thinking of creating a 'What happened if the zeds didn't happen?' story which would involve the same characters. To keep the main attention on this story the chapters would be roughly 2.5k words in size. Just a thought but let me know if you would be interested in that kind of thing.
Anyway, all of the moans and groans out of the way. Here is the longest chapter of the story so far, hope it is well worth the wait.
I don't own any of the H.O.T.D franchise. Except for the OC's of course.
"Dad?, I'm ready." James spoke into the receiver in clear english.
"Good, I'm pinging your location now. I suppose you've given your group the slip then?" Chris's voice came through the phone.
"They're safe at one their parent's houses. Had to dispatch a horde before slipping away as engaging them as a group would result in casualties." James explained.
"Indeed the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. At least you listened all these years eh?" Chris laughed.
"Anyway I have your location. Interesting, you're not far from a politician's residence. Then again I expect as much since you mostly likely have his daughter in your group." Chris continued.
James at this time was scanning the area to see if his voice was attracting any of the them, he noticed two stragglers from the horde from earlier that were burnt slightly but still able to move.
"Hold on, switching you to the wireless mic." James quickly whispered as he grabbed a wireless headset from his jacket pocket and placed it on his left ear.
"Ok. I got to keep moving and how do you know I have Lord Takagi's daughter with me?" James queried as he started moving at a jogging pace making sure not cause at much noise at possible.
"I had considered sending you there when I was getting the assignment ready for you but the was some 'complications' so I chose to send you to where you went." Chris told him.
"Fine, can you give me directions to that cache before I walk away from it. I have around an hour left of sunlight." James stated as he rolled his eyes.
"Good point, I'll keep this connection live so I can give you directions as you go but I can't stay on the line forever, we're about an hour till we start to descend." Chris replied.
"Sure so where is this thing anyway?" James asked as he continued down the street.
"Its an old boarded up pub that was bought out by one of our close friends in Japan. We managed to convince him to not redecorate the place so we can use the cellar for storage of equipment. The only entrance is through the roof so you're going to have to enter through a locked door. We have several of these kinds of places all over the world." Chris explained.
"Ok at least once I'm inside I'll be safe. Let's have some directions." James asked once more.
"Ok. Just keep going, I'll update you as you go." Chris spoke as James continued down the road.
Meanwhile at the Takagi mansion.
Saeko awoke with a start in a bedroom. She looked around frantically for any other people in the room with her. Once she realised she was alone, she tried to gather what was the last moments before waking up ending up here.
(Flashback)
60 minutes previously
James had given commands to all of the members of the group and a nagging thought in Saeko's mind cropped up. Hoping it wasn't the case she walked up to his side.
"And what about you?" Saeko asked with a hint of worry on her face.
"I'm going to buy everyone time to get through to Takagi-san's place where you will be safe for the time being." James turned to face the horde.
"You mean WE, James-san." Saeko argued back taking a step closer to him.
"This is not up for debate Saeko-san." James debated as Saeko stepped to his left side.
"You remember your word to my father, James-san. I promised to keep you out of trouble remember." Saeko argued once more.
James sighed as he took his left hand and placed it on her left shoulder.
"Your right Saeko-san, and for that reason. I'm sorry.." James spoke as finished he used his left hand to strike a specific spot on her neck and everything went black.
End of flashback.
"James-san." Saeko spoke out as she rose quickly and raced for the door to find it locked.
Saeko then turned to see that the room she was in had a window which was not big enough for her to climb out of. With no other exits, Saeko turned and punched the door.
"Busujima-san? Are you alright in there?" A voice spoke through the door.
"Who is it? and why is this door locked?" Saeko asked with a hint of annoyance at her somewhat confinement.
"It's Shizuka, the door is locked for your own protection." Shizuka's calm but dreamy voice responded.
"On whose authority does that belong to Shizuka-sensei?" Saeko asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Well. Takagi-sama had you placed in here whilst you were unconscious. However, we were told to keep you safe from Carter-san." Shizuka explained.
"Oh and where is he?" Saeko asked quickly but she was fearing the worst.
"He...He left after he knocked you out. He told us to keep you from doing anything 'stupid' until he gets back." Shizuka continued confirmed his fears.
Saeko looked down at her hands as her mind flashed images of her last memories of James.
"He...left me." Saeko quietly spoke as tears were starting to form in her eyes.
Clenching her fists and tensing herself up she walked straight for the door.
"Open this door!" Saeko smashed the side of her fist into the door.
"Busujima-san..." Shizuka managed to get out as she backed away from the door.
"Let me out!" Saeko screamed as started losing all composure by banging the door repeatedly.
"That's enough!" a different voice sounded both in the hallway and inside the room which caused both Shizuka and Saeko to fall silent.
"I have been informed of your apparent connection to this Carter-san and what happened earlier but trust me this. Going out there at this point would be suicide. I think this Carter-san would be displeased if he found out you ran out after him." the voice continued speaking with authority.
"Have you had any updates yet Takagi-san?" Shizuka asked the newcomer.
'That's not the voice of Saya Takagi.' Saeko thought as she listened through the door.
Yuriko Takagi had quite the surprise and joy as well when her daughter Saya turned up alive and well at the gate. She had anticipated the worst when the world went to hell and back but she couldn't go and get her like any parent would. Not only would it have been impossible to travel on foot or by vehicle at that time but she had the lives of her husband's retainers to keep safe as well as the lives that were keeping the cities power supply in check as well. Of course her daughter was very happy to her mother alive when the two were finally reunited as was Yuriko but after the feeling wore down they had to deal with an unconscious Saeko Busujima and an missing James Carter.
She had been informed of the situation by the two retainers who had accompanied the group along with a version of events from one Takashi Komuro. Naturally she inclined to believe her retainers story more than Komuro's even though the retainers spoke highly of the boy leading the horde away from the mansion and how it potentially kept them all safe.
It was at that time she looked up and saw the smoke coming from a fire which originated from the direction the group travelled from and assumed it was from the boy's attempt of distracting or destroying the horde. Either way she had the group go inside and place the unconscious form of Saeko Busujima in a guest room whilst being informed of the wishes of the boy that risked it all to get them here.
"It is currently too dangerous to look for Carter-san right now as there is little light left and I would rather not risk the lives of my retainers for one boy. We will look first thing tomorrow morning. Like the rest of group, I implore you to get some rest." Yuriko stated before turning her back on Shizuka.
"Besides, would Carter-san want you to risk your own lives for him?" Yuriko asked as she started to walk down the hallway.
'Although, it took all of them some calming down before they saw sense. Especially my own daughter.' Yuriko thought as she continued on.
Meanwhile, Shizuka turned to Saeko's door and took a breath before speaking.
"Takagi-sama is right. Going out there now is too dangerous." Shizuka spoke through the door only to hear nothing come through the other end.
"We may not have liked his decision, but we understand why." Shizuka finished and she walked slowly away from the door to retire for the night.
Meanwhile, in the room, Saeko who had her back to the door had listened to Shizuka's footsteps move further away from the door. After she could no longer hear the nurse's footsteps she sank to the floor holding her legs and placing her head between them.
"He...left me." Saeko sobbed.
Meanwhile
"Just the next right and it will be 200 metres on the left hand side on the corner of the next crossroads." Chris' voice sounded through James ear piece as the latter continued run through the now darkened streets.
James had made good ground over the last hour. He had been fortunate not to come across any large groups of zombies yet since the blaze he started not too long ago.
"Good, its getting too dark out here and I suspect the zombies to start grouping up more as sound travel easier during the night." James spoke out as he turned around the corner taking a wide line.
James looked down the road and sure enough the old pub not too far from his position, it looked out of place as it was the only building that was boarded up in the entire street. Unfortunately for James though, crowded next to though...
"Oh me and my big mouth." James groaned at the sight in front of him.
"What is it?" Chris asked.
"Of course there would be a horde of zombies in that crossroad where I need to go." James explained as he stood there to take in his surroundings.
"Well damn, I wish I could help you but unfortunately the plane is about to go over American land so this is where I must go. You've got your jobs, and I've got mine." Chris sighed whilst telling his son.
"Oh don't worry about me, I'll just kill all of these by myself." James pouted with sarcasm.
"Well I can't kill them for you now can I? Take care now." Chris told him before hanging up.
"Great." James took his ear piece off and stuffed it in his pocket.
James looked at the small horde that stood between him and safety for the night. Already the sun had set and the only light was through the street lights above him concealing anything that was not in the light from view.
'Okay, around 30 or so zombies plus any hiding in alleyways and in houses along this street. Sounds are amplified during the night so more can be attracted from a larger radius. Have to either sneak past or draw them away as killing them would take too long.' James thought as he continuously looked around.
A few seconds later, James noticed a car parked at the side of the road 20 metres behind him.
'That's perfect.' James thought as he turned to face the car.
'I'm pretty sure that car has some kind of alarm on it for security. Now I need way of avoid the horde as they move towards the sound. Obviously through and below is out so question so...' James kept thinking as he looked around for an way to get higher ground.
Fortunately opposite the car was an alleyway, after peering down it for a couple of seconds James noticed a ladder going all the way to the roof.
'Great, so I jump from building to building. Just like the games.' James chuckled to himself as he drew out his remaining throwing knives.
'Three knives left. I need to smash the window to be guaranteed to set the alarms. One alone will not break the window and shooting it will cause the closest zombies to go for me instead. So two will do, one to weaken the window the other to break it, need to both be next to each other though.' James took aim with his first knife.
The first one stuck itself in the passenger window of the car cracking the window which immediately set off the alarm.
'Just one was enough then.' James thought as a sudden sound came from the alleyway behind.
James turned to see two zombies with 10 yards approaching him. Taking his remaining two knives and placing one in each hand, he threw them into the darkness in which he heard two quick screeches and two thud sounds of them both hitting the floor in a heap each with a knife in their forehead. After hearing both of their corpses hit the floor, James reacted quickly and ran for the ladder and ascended as fast as he could.
After less than half a minutes worth of climbing. James finally reached the roof of the building after which he moved to the edge of building facing back out onto the street where he came from.
'Good, the sounds are luring them away from my destination.' James thought as he looked up the road and noticed the movement of the horde was focusing more on the source of the alarms ringing out on the street.
'Now to actually get over there. Makes me feel like I'm in game of some sorts.' James went on thinking as he turned and walked over to the side of the building facing the direction he needed to go.
James looked mainly for the gaps in between buildings and any climbs or drops he would have to do. He noticed the buildings were thankfully had level roofs. However, there was a metres or so gap between each building to signify the now dark alleyways separating each building.
'Shouldn't be too hard even with my additional weight.' James turned once again to give himself some space between himself and the edge.
James started to move as he ran straight for the edge of the building, he waited until the last possible step before jumping off the ground whilst gripping his sword tightly to make sure it would not fall off whilst he was moving at his current speed. He cleared the first gap without difficulty and whilst keeping his momentum of speed he jumped across the second gap with ease. This continued three more times before James reached the last building which was opposite his destination where he finally stopped to survey his next move.
'Now to get over there. No ladder on this side, no piping going down the side of the building and no rooftop entrance into the building. Great.' James thought to himself as he looked for possible ways to get back to ground level.
'Looks like this might be a climb down using the windows for handholds. I better not miss any of the ledges I need to grab.' James went on thinking whilst looking over the edge for possible ledges to grab onto.
James carefully turned around and placed himself so he was hanging over the edge. He decided not to drop his sword to the ground below as it would potentially attract any zombies that were still making their way over to the source of the alarm which had just now stopped. James dropped and caught the first window and steadied himself. After doing this a few more times, James hit the ground and broke out into a run to get to the pub before anything could get in his way.
"Straight up the building. Use the boards as the handholds." James told himself as he grabbed the first board and started climbing as fast as he could.
After a minute of climbing up the building including some time checking for better routes up. James reached the stop of the pub and under complete darkness quickly found the locked door.
James drew out his hidden blade and attempted to pick the lock with some difficulty as there was no light to guide him, so instead he was relying on sound to see if he cracks the lock. Surprisingly, the lock broke instantly.
'Must be an old lock to break like that.' James thought as he removed the lock and opened the door and proceeded inside.
As James enter he received a text from his father.
'I've landed. Will be taking alternate transportation to the exchange. Fuse box is located behind the bar on the ground floor. I'm sure you can guess where the cache is? Will text again when I have the target. -C' The text read.
"Good, I'll use the phone's light as a small light source till I find a power source." James said to himself as held the phone in his right hand and held his pistol in a left hand crossing his arms together.
Taking things slowly, making sure to check every corner of every room he entered. James did a full sweep of the building, taking great care not to make too much noise when near the windows on the building. After some time clearing each room, James eventually reached the ground floor, the 'bar' was empty as the furniture had been removed previously, James approached the bar which had accumulated a fair amount of dust since the last time someone ventured in here. He slipped underneath the opening and using his light, he searched for the fuse box to ease his lack of visibility. After a good minute, he found the fuse box in question, it was old fashioned and well out of date with the current times.
'I think it doesn't carry a lot of power either, I think a few of the fuses in here need replacing as well.' James inspected the box before flicking on the switches he guessed were the ones that powered the bar's lamps directly above him and the lights came on rather dimly but enough for James not to use his phone for a primary light source anymore which he stuffed it back into his pocket.
'Now, the cache must be in the cellar, I might have to force my way into it as if it was powered by the fuse box then any squatter would get into it.' James thought as he walked to the door to the building's basement.
The doors were metal and looked quite thick from James' point of view, there was no keyhole or any kind of lock on the door at all. James crouched down and felt the door, trying to feel any structural weaknesses he could exploit, that was until he accidently pressed down one the of nails on edges of the door. The door itself sprang open like a trapdoor revealing a ladder to the basement.
'So its like a bunker.' James thought as positioned himself to climb down the ladder.
After climbing down into the darkness, James reached the bottom of the ladder where the doors leading outside closed above him and the room he was in lit up immediately revealing its contents. At first glance, all James could do was smirk.
Whilst the room itself was long and narrow the walls were filled with guns of every assortment and age. Ranging from those used in the first and second world wars to the more recent times, there were also different kinds of weapons from sniper rifles to melee weapons. Along with all of that there was a desk at the other end of the room against the wall.
'Where can I claim my winnings? As I hit the jackpot.' James laughed to himself as he set about what equipment was going to be useful to him.
In America
Chris currently in a helicopter making his way towards the second safe zone he encountered today.
After James' somewhat close warning, word was spread to as many governments as their family has connections to. Of course the British government was first on the list, and they listened quickly. With their backing, America followed suit but their larger population caused problems so on the current president final orders, all states military were to create safe zones in strategic locations to save as many people as they could. As a result, fifty zones were in place. When Chris landed at his first destination in Louisiana he asked the commanding officer whilst waiting for his transport to be ready. Turned out 32 remained. Many fell to the horde, human error allowed for survivors who were already bitten to enter the zone and destroy it from the inside when they turned. Others were raided by small groups of militia who worked for their own survival. Regardless a large number of the population were wiped out around the world and now it fell to those capable to rebuild the world.
Of course Chris knew that it had to be rebuilt with the right mind doing so. Its why his family were there in the first place, to bring balance to the world, to have humanity rise from the ashes like a phoenix reborn stronger than ever.
The second safe zone he would enter contained a team of US Marines that would escort him with a small convoy to the meeting place and back to base to ensure nothing would go wrong.
The helicopter touched down on the helipad to which Chris picked up his gear.
Despite this being a exchange operation, Chris wasn't taking any chances with what they could potentially encounter. He carried a Browning BDM pistol in his left holster on his thigh, whilst James prefer using heavier pistols with attachments, Chris on the other hand liked to carry lighter pistols so they do not tax the arms as much. He was wearing a long trench coat which on the inside contained two holsters which housed his short swords, these allow for quick and simple short range combat. He had a M14 with a detachable scope for long range but he decided he would leave it in one of the vehicles when the exchange takes place as he wouldn't want to look too menacing in front of his contact.
After leaving the helicopter, he was approached by what it looked like to him the Commanding Officer of the base, the man saluted him before speaking.
"Morning Sir, I'm Captain Travis, CO of the Eastern Texas safe zone." The captain introduced himself as he shook hands with Chris.
"Good Morning Captain, have you been debriefed on the situation?" Chris replied.
"The order came in from the top a couple of hours ago, I know you're on a tight schedule so I took the time to set up the convoy for you but I got to say though if it weren't for your government warning ours we may all be raw meat right now." The captain responded.
"Indeed, how big's the convoy?" Chris asked once more whilst continuing to walk with the Captain.
"A total of four vehicles, one supply truck containing the supplies you requested, two standard jeeps housing four marines each and your vehicle which is one of our more quicker vehicles in our arsenal and you'll have one marine with you in the car as you'll need the space for your 'package'." the Captain explained.
"Good, anything else I should know about?" Chris questioned.
"I'm leaving command of the convoy to you. I know of your talents with the British forces so just bring them back in one piece as right now we need all the help we can get as we have little supplies coming in from the more secure zones." the Captain answered.
"Thank you Captain, I'll bring them back in once piece." Chris shook his hand and then saluted him which was given the same in return after which he walked off to the convoy which came into view whilst they were talking.
Chris approached the convoy which was already surrounded by almost a dozen military personnel. Chris went the person he believed to be the highest rank who saw him coming and hailed the rest of them to meet him. All of them got into a line and saluted before the 'ranking officer' of the group spoke up.
"I'm Corporal Davis and I'll be your second in command for this operation, Sir." The corporal introduced himself after shaking Chris' hand.
"Good, has the preparations been made Corporal? I would prefer to get there as soon as possible to scope out the location." Chris replied.
"Yes Sir, we have the vehicles prepared and the boys are all ready to go but before we do Sir, shall we run though the plan whilst we are here? Some of the boys are quite new and still learning the ropes." the Corporal explained as they walked to the convoy.
"'sigh' I suppose I can go over this, but if you have some rookies in your group then make sure you keep an eye on them. I don't want any hesitation if we encounter any trouble out there." Chris answered after sighing.
"Will do Sir, I'll introduce you to the boys and then after that, you'll take command." Corporal Davis spoke as they finally reached the group.
Two hours later
Chris along with the rest of the convoy were driving towards the arranged meeting point where the exchange would take place. Even though this wasn't a hostage situation, at these times anything can happen and Chris was not taking any chances in this extraction. The vehicle in front of him was serving as the perimeter car, their job was to form a perimeter so the other vehicles can get into position safely. The vehicle at the rear of the convoy was the support vehicle where they help with the transfer of goods between parties. Chris' vehicle was slightly different than the two military style jeeps and the goods vehicle in the convoy. Chris' vehicle has one empty seat in it which would be filled by the 'package' as the Americans would call it. His vehicle was loaded with his rifle and his short swords as they would only get in the way in any potential CQB situations.
They reached the agreed location for the exchange 15 minutes before the start time. The soldiers exited their vehicles and formed a perimeter as planned with the scouts on top of the vehicles keeping a lookout for any abnormal movement.
Chris exited his vehicle and was approached by Corporal Davis.
"Everyone's in position sir." the Corporal informed.
"Good, keep me posted on any movement in range but for now we wait." Chris nodded as he leant on the bonnet of his vehicle.
'20 minutes later'
"Sir, convoy approaching us from the west. Range is over 500 meters and closing." one of the Privates called from the scouting position on top of one of the humvee.
"That'll be them, don't lower your stances till I give the word. Corporal, take one the Privates and be the welcoming party." Chris called out to the group.
The Corporal in question signed to one of the Privates and made their way to the area of the convoy where the approaching vehicle would get to first.
When the vehicles arrived the Corporal signed them to a stop and with the Private they approached the drivers window. After a minutes worth of talking and checks, the Corporal signed to the rest of group the 'clear' sign.
"At ease people, let them through and continue looking out for anything else out there." Chris once again called to the rest of his convoy whereas the other convoy came to a stop a few meters in front of Chris.
The leader of the other convoy got out of the lead vehicle and slowly walked towards Chris. The leader was a man in his late 50's, around 6"2 with a decent build wearing a light military uniform.
"You're late. What kept you?" Chris asked as he too walked slowly to the man.
"We had to avoid a small horde of zeds in a town a couple of miles back. Think a group of survivors went through here not too long ago. Its been a while Chris, last time I saw you was in Santa Cruz during the earthquake in '89 back when I was still in the military." The man replied as he held his arm out which Chris shook it.
"Indeed it has been too long Dale. If what you've just said is true though, I'd rather get this over with." Chris responded as he beckon to the Corporal who handed him a clipboard.
"Here is an inventory of what we can exchange for picking him up for us. Take what you need and I'll have a couple of the guys help you load up." Chris continued.
"Okay, this won't take too long. I'll signal the boys to start loading of the items we need." The man called Dale signalled to the other people inside the vehicles.
"Speak with Corporal Davis here, he'll help you with the goods, in the meantime, I would like to have a chat with 'our' part of the deal." Chris replied.
"Of course, take this and get what we need." Dale handed the clipboard to a member of his group before walking with Chris to their convoy.
"We couldn't get much out of him, the man speaks very little English, and the only person in our group who knows any sort of Japanese words is an anime enthusiast." Dale explained as they reached the car.
"I'll do the talking then." Chris said as he opened the door.
Inside the vehicle was the man he was looking for. Kage Busujima, the father of Saeko Busujima. He looked a little roughened up but he had no physical injuries. Kage looked at Chris before the latter started to speak.
"Morning Busujima-san, are you feeling well?" Chris spoke in clear Japanese to the man.
"Ah I am well knowing that finally I can speak to someone who can speak my home language properly." Kage smiled as he turned to face Chris.
"Good to know, the boys here have given custody of you over to me so I can extract you to a safe place and then you are free to do as you please." Chris explained.
"Safe?, what is safe nowadays?" Kage chuckled to himself.
"Where we're going we will be safe as this world now deems it. So hop on out and get this thing over with." Chris answered and moved so Kage could exit the vehicle.
When Kage left the vehicle he turned to Dale and bowed to him.
"Thank you for taking care of me. I am in your debt." Kage said forgetting that Dale couldn't understand Japanese.
"He said 'Thank you for saving him'." Chris translated.
"Oh no, thank you for helping us over the last few days." Dale extended his hand out which Kage shook which Chris translated back to Japanese so Kage could understand.
The two walked towards Chris' vehicle where they were approached by Corporal Davis.
"Status Corporal?" Chris asked.
"We're ready to start the moving the goods between vehicles sir, we need around 10 minutes or so before we finish so we can move out." Corporal Davis told Chris whilst pointing out the vehicles in which the cargo was being transferred into.
"Good, keep me posted Corporal." Chris nodded in response.
"Sir. We've got company, range 1km and closing." one of the scout group shouted.
Chris turned to where the noise was coming from and bolted towards the forward vehicle. Chris then climbed the rear of the vehicle so that he could be level with the Privates on scout duty. The Private who shouted handed his binoculars without hesitation in which Chris looked in the direction the Private pointed out to him.
"Tch, around half a dozen vehicles and they dont look too friendly, the vehicles has been modified to stop zombies getting in and deflecting small arms fire. A somewhat large force that are sent to potentially scavenge what they can find by forcing us to retreat or by killing us." Chris pointed out the features on the vehicles before handing the binoculars back to the Private and turned to the rest of the convoy.
"We've got company, everyone to defensive positions but do not fire until my command, Corporal Davis, double time it with those goods and make sure that they are safely moved, after 5 minutes we'll move out." Chris barked before jumping off the vehicle and made for Dale and Kage.
"Dale will you and your group help us buy time for your goods to be moved into your vehicles?" Chris asked.
"Of course but my boys are not soldiers." Dale replied.
"Half of the boys in my group aren't soldiers either but in times like these we have to take what we can get." Chris explained to Dale which was met by a nod.
"I'll get the boys together, but we've only have enough men to protect what we have." Dale answered.
"Then have your men protect your vehicles and those that are moving the cargo. We'll deal with the main front." Chris said and Dale moved away from the group. Chris then turned to Kage who had been standing there the whole time.
"Considering the circumstances, I'd have to place you in my vehicle for now as close quarters combat simply won't happen. So follow me." Chris motioned for Kage to follow him to Chris' vehicle.
Chris opened the back door and the vehicle's rear doors which housed his rifle. Chris took the rifle out of its slot and picked up a spare side arm that was placed in a spare compartment and handed it to Kage after taking the safety off.
"I know you prefer swords to this and if I'm honest, so am I but take it for your own protection Busujima-san. Careful though, safety's off." Chris told Kage in which the man reluctantly looked at the side arm.
"Just a standard American M9 Busujima-san, clip has 15 rounds in it, just point and shoot." Chris continued.
"I am aware of how to fire a weapon such as this." Kage bluntly told Chris.
"Good to know, it would be better if you were in the backseat of this vehicle as this will only take a couple minutes before we leave and we'll be leaving pretty sharpish. Now if you'll excuse me." Chris continued as he turned and headed to the front of the convoy at a quick pace.
"ETA on their arrival." Chris called out.
"About 30 seconds from now." one of the Private answered back.
"No-one do anything until my word." Chris signalled to rest of the group.
The approaching convoy stopped around 200 metres away from the perimeter forming a line on the south side of the convoy. The occupants of the vehicles, all of whom are males between the ages of 20-50 stepped out and placed themselves behind the vehicles with their guns raised and pointed towards the convoy. The leader of the convoy raised his megaphone to address the convoy.
"Alright, drop your weapons and step away from the supply truck and no-one has to die today." the leader's voice boomed.
Chris looked at the group, gazing at each one of the group looking for indication of their nature and their feelings.
'It seems that from some of the them that are fidgeting with their weapons, they don't like pointing them at us but if we become the aggressors then they look like they are ready to defend themselves. I have to be aware of any undead approaching us from the sound of our voices and potential weapons fire. ' Chris thought as he was handed the radio microphone of one of the vehicles.
Looking at Dale before replying "Now, let's talk about this like men. Supplies are not infinite during these difficult times. There is a safe zone not too far from here, I'm sure that if you follow us there, maybe you can barter for supplies." Chris reason as he tried a diplomatic approach.
"We are only interested in your supplies and ammunition, so drop your weapons and no-one gets hurt." the leader spoke once more.
Chris was about to respond when he was approached by Dale who had tapped him on the shoulder.
"We have everything that we can carry loaded already. We also found these." Dale spoke as he showed half a dozen smoke grenades.
Chris brandished a smile as an idea formed in his head.
"Pass these out to those on the front line of the perimeter and on my signal throw them in the direction of the opposing convoy. After that we part ways and lose them before they can react." Chris told the other man of his plan of escape.
"I'll relay this to both mine and your boys then." Dale replied as he walked away to hand out the grenades discreetly.
Chris on the other hand turned back to the other convoy before resuming the talk.
"I will hand you over to my logistics officer who will handle the transfer of supplies." Chris told the other convoy over the microphone.
He handed the microphone off to Corporal Davis who had returned to the front vehicle and gave him a wink telling him just to stall until the signal came.
Chris returned to his own vehicle to which he opened the front passenger side door and took out his rifle. He loaded a magazine into the rifle from his coat whilst being watched by Kage from the backseat. Chris looked at him for a couple of second before nodding at him after which he fed rifle through the passenger side window to ready the shot which would start his plan.
'They won't know what hit them. Just enough to cause a long enough shock for the smoke to take effect so we can escape with no casualties on either side. Chris thought as aimed the scope so that the bullet would hit the leader of the opposing convoy in the shoulder which is holding his radio mic.
After allowing a few seconds for the conversation to have the leader talking at that point. Chris took the chance and fired.
(Bang)
The loud roar as the rifle fired it's round from behind the convoy and it was a case of blink of you'll miss it. The bullet hit the leader's left shoulder underneath the joint. It missed the bone but did enough for him drop to the floor in agony. The other members of the group looked at the leader in shock whilst Chris' convoy has reacted just quickly enough to throw the smoke grenades in between the convoys which had started blowing the smoke into the air before the leader cried out.
"Open fire! Kill them all!" he cried as he clutched his shoulder.
"All units retreat to your arranged locations." Chris responded by calling out.
The opposing convoy hesitated just as Chris had predicted which have everyone long enough to get low enough so that the vehicles would protect them from enemy gunfire. Everyone had managed to make it to their vehicles and both groups in Chris' convoy started to scatter into their two groups.
"I think we lost them." Corporal Davis' voice came over the radio.
"Good. That went better than I expected." Chris spoke before calling out to Kage who was still in the backseat.
"Now that we are somewhat safe. I'll explain more once we are off American soil but I'll introduce myself. I'm Chris Carter." Chris introduced himself which the surname instantly sparked in Kages mind.
"Wait…"
In Japan. An hour after dawn.
A convoy stopped at a place filled with the burnt remains of a zombie horde destroyed the day before. Saeko was the first one to exit the three vehicle convoy, eager to start the search. The others took a little longer to group up which consisted of the group of her group along with Yuriko Takagi and some of the trained retainers who were actually awake at this time of the morning.
Kohta walked up to Saeko who had already started walking over the piles of bodies lying on the road.
"Well it seems he got them all." Kohta said as he looked around the bodies for any signs of what happened.
"I would figure that James-san would have made sure all of them would have perished before anything would have happened to him." Saeko replied as she bent down the broken remains of the bottle that was to start the fire.
'He's not amongst them as I expected but where did he go.' Saeko thought as Saya and Yuriko joined them.
The rest of the group stayed back not only in case of anymore zombies appeared to attack the group but also because of Alice's sake as she was holding on to Shizuka's arm as a girl of her age shouldn't have to see the litter of burnt corpses covering the road.
"Look up there. Those flowers look like they have been trampled on and the slates on the roof above them are cracked." Saya pointed out as she noticed the balcony of the house next to them.
Saeko looked at the balcony and tried to envision James' movements as her hopes of him being alive increased.
"I doubt he would have stayed here. So he could be anywhere by now." Yuriko stated.
"Then let's keep looking. He may still be in the area." Saya called out as she started to move but her wrist was a grabbed by Yuriko.
"You're acting too rashly child. I highly doubt he would have stuck around here lest he put the estate in danger of further waves of them. We don't have the resources to search a large enough area for one boy regardless of if he is alive or not." Yuriko explained to the younger members of the group.
"I hate to say it but I agree with Takagi-sama. I don't think Carter-san would be the kind of person to sit around and do nothing." Kohta agreed.
"Of course you agree you stupid otaku!" Saya screamed before storming off back to the convoy causing both Kohta and Yuriko to sigh.
Yuriko then turned to follow her daughter which then left both Kohta and Saeko in the garden.
"Whilst I don't want to agree with you Hirano-san, you are right. I don't think James-san would have stayed here for too long and neither should we. He will come to us." Saeko softly spoke in a manner which Kohta had never seen the swordswoman speak before.
Kohta only nodded in response as the two slowly walked away from the scene.
An hour later
In a dimly lit room lit only by a flickering light bulb. James stirred from his slumber having removed his weights earlier so that he could use the workdesk as a makeshift to sit and rest his head for a few hours.
He slowly raised his head hearing the sounds of his neck cracking at being in a slightly uncomfortable position for a few hours.
"Morning already. Well better get moving if I want to make it back to the Takagi mansion by nightfall." James as he rose from the chair and put back on his weighted clothing but instead of putting his Fujimi uniform back on. He moved over to the clothing compartment and pulled out the only item within it.
The item in question was a black trench coat which was open all the way down to allow for inside compartments except for the waist which had a detachable belt which had weapon holsters on back had a separate twin failed cape which started at his waist and flowed down to his ankles. There was a note attached to the hanger which it read.
'This coat is made from a material which doesn't soak or take in any liquid thicker than water. The smell on the other hand will stick to it so washes are needed if you're planning on daily killing assignments. -C'
Assuming this was left by his father on his last visit to Japan. James went ahead and took it off the hanger and after placing his weighted clothing on first he put on the coat.
After doing so, James moved over to replace his current sword scabbard with one that goes on his back and equipping his pistol to the inside right pocket in his coat. The pistol itself had a silencer attachment equipped to it now so James could use bullets instead of throwing knives now. James then moved to the bag that was on the counter which he packed before going to sleep which contained all sorts of goodies for when he returns to the group.
"and now the finishing touch." James turned and looked at the final piece he was going to take with him.
On the weapons rack lay a medieval style spear with a cleave on both sides. The head was made from a special titanium metal which was light and durable. The wood was infused with the same metal so that the shaft doesn't break after a few swings. James thought this would be an ideal gift for Rei as it would be more suitable than a bayonet.
James looked around once more to check to see if he had forgot anything important which he hadn't. As much as he would like to take the vast amount of weaponry and ammunition still on the shelves, it would take more than one trip and potentially exposing his family's secrets of anyone knew its exact location.
James turned and very carefully climbed the ladder being careful not to drop anything as the weight he was carrying was significantly more than just his training weights.
A couple of minutes later and James was back out onto the roof of the building which was now lit up by the daylight of a clear sky. James looked around on the rooftops to survey the current area but as he was doing so the sound of car engines filled his ears.
Ducking out of sight, James watched as a medium sized convoy of 5 cars sailed by on the road below. One of the cars was a black limousine with tinted windows, another had a trailer attached to it carrying a cage with an infected inside.
'Those vehicles are reserved for the famous or the powerful and I can guess where they are going.' James thought as he looked to his right to the large mansion on the hill more than half a mile away.
'With any luck I'll be there before sundown' James thought once more as he made his way to the edge of the building to climb down to the to road.
A few hours later
Takashi had been running to the sound of a commotion he heard just seconds before. Earlier he saw Saya's father Souichirou Takagi behead the zombified form of his best friend, all to send a message to his retainers. One of survival.
He reached the location to find a few of the Takagi security officers crowding round a cowering Kohta Hirano clutching the group's weapons which were taken from Shizuka's friends place.
"What's going on here!?" a voice boomed across the garden.
The voice it belonged to was the Lord of the estate and Saya's father. He walked over to the group and stood in front of Kohta who had stood back up at this point.
"I am Souichirou Takagi. Don of everything you see before you." The Lord of the Takagi's voice boomed with authority.
"Kohta Hirano of Fujimi High School, second year class 2b." Kohta weakly responded clutching the weapon he had liberated not 2 days ago.
"Please do not speak so boldly as I myself had to come out here to see who was causing so much trouble." Souichirou lowered his voice but still maintained the same level of formality.
Yuriko, who was behind her husband was about to speak when her husband held his hand up to her to indicate he was not done yet.
"I am aware that you are in the same class as my daughter but my question is why will you not hand over those guns?" Souichirou added as his glare continued to pierce through the weakening form of Kohta.
Unlike before, Kohta decided to meet the gaze of the Lord and with tears in his eyes.
"Because I have a job to do. Our group which arrived here is missing a member so my role in our group is more important than ever." Kohta almost took his entire willpower to not breakdown in front of the Lord of the estate.
"The issue of your missing comrade was brought to my attention. A tragic display of heroism but that aside, what is you told in all of this." Souichirou asked.
Kohta was about to speak but someone already did.
"To protect your own daughter." The voice called out.
Everyone present looked to see Takashi stepped beside Kohta.
"Ah, Komuro. You and Saya have known each other for a long time." Souichirou spoke to the new arrival.
"Yes sir. Your daughter has been under the protection of Hirano-san whenever Carter-san has not been present." Takashi answered as an upset Alice ran up to and hugged Kohta.
Kohta turned and saw the remaining members of the group approach and take their place besides their companion including the daughter of the Takagi family.
"That's right Papa. He maybe a gun otaku but if it was not for him and Carter-san. Neither Alice nor I would be here. They are doing the job you are supposed to be doing." Saya defended her classmate and called out her father whose face remained unchanged.
"All of you mention this Carter-san but it seems he got you here on his own by sacrificing himself to do it. So tell me why I should not take the guns from you right now as you would not be able to survive even with them." Souichirou barked as took a step forward.
"Because I'll be pissed off if you take them." A voice calmly broke the atmosphere causing everyone to gasp and turn to look behind Souichirou.
"and trust me. In this world, that is the last thing you want to do." the voice continued as everyone was recognised the familiarity of the voice.
In the South China Sea
"Sir take a look at this." A British navy officer handed a message to the commander of the vessel.
The commander in question was annoyed his training was cut short but had to abide by the task set out by his father. The man in question was the first born son of the current generation of the Carter family, Lee Carter.
Lee studied the message carefully and after reading it through 4 times he looked at the officer who gave him the message.
"Thank you, now if you excuse me." Lee thanked the officer and immediately took out his phone and dialed a number that was in his contacts. After 4 rings it answered.
"Father, we have a problem." was the first words that was spoken.
AN: Well that's this chapter. Apologies once again for taking so long to actually update. Hell maybe next one will be out before the end of 2018.
Rate, Review, etc. you guys know the drill.