AN: Hope you guys are ready for chapter 25! Also Guestreview18 I read your review and thank you a lot for it. To answer your question no I do not hate Saya's name, I love Saya a lot which is why my OC is with her. I just thought that if I used her last name even the new people who had just started watching Highschool Of The Dead would know who she is seeing as she's usually only referred to as Saya. But I have edited every chapter I've done and changed it to Saya because your right and if you see anything else please feel free to let me know. I want to make this story good for everyone so I appreciate the help from everyone that inboxed me and sent me reviews. Thank you everyone!
Highschool Of The Dead
Path Of Carnage
Chapter 25: Time To Get Serious
In a three bedroom house all that could be heard was the cries of two girls. Thirty minutes had passed since the incident and Miyonji looked at Saya who was lying on the bed and holding Alice. The two were severely hurt and depressed about what happened and he knew it. "Saya…" He called out in a quietly worried tone. "Not now Sueenji… not now." She said as her sobs were slowly starting to die down. Alice continued to cry, which made Saya hold her closer trying to calm Alice down while managing to calm herself in the process. Miyonji sighed and nodded as he slowly walked out of the room letting the two grieve in peace.
Miyonji decided that he'd walk out the front door to get some fresh air. Once he was outside he noticed Garasu standing at the gate and looking at the sky. "Done crying?" He asked in a cold tone. Miyonji closed his eyes and brushed it off, "I'm not the one crying." he replied. "You're crying on the inside." Garasu stated. Miyonji wasn't in the mood for Garasu's crap, he turned around and was about to head back inside. "Running away?" Garasu asked.
Miyonji smirked "I don't run. I just don't have time for assholes who can't realize that this was all their fault." He stated.
"My fault? She chose her own fate by her own actions; if she was more serious and focused on surviving instead of getting all lovey with your gun totting imbecile here, she would have avoided being caught off guard. Her fate was sealed by her own incompetence; Let it be a cold lesson learned and never forget it. And before you impart failure on my part of our arrangement; I agreed to keep you alive against our enemy but I did not agree to save you from your own stupidity." He replied. Miyonji stayed silent for once when listening to Garasu. He actually wanted to hear what this man had to say.
"Allowed bravado and fear overrule a simple matter of common sense. It's the reason the world is teaming with the living dead and why nations which had stood strong for centuries perished in barely a week. All we had to do was stay quiet and let the corpses walk on by; none the wiser that we were passing. My plan to draw them in was working perfectly, until you all had to start flapping your gums." He stated as he turned to look at Miyonji.
"With the other survivors alive, getting out of here the odds would have been less than four percent. Had my plan gone unhindered, the odds of this group surviving would have been one hundred percent. Even Hirano's now deceased girlfriend had an eighty nine percent probability of survival with the hindering on your expense had she remained competent and not distracted by making such a comment that was obvious." He explained.
Miyonji didn't say a word, he kept his mouth shut. What could he say? Shiko was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. Garasu had a point they could have followed the theory that Saya had given them when this whole thing started and just stayed silent.
Miyonji felt like an idiot, maybe Saya was right all this time, maybe he was just a big idiot.
"Suppose something happens to your fiancée 'Leader', because of a bad call you, or her or any of the others make? How long would YOU survive while you grieve and rant as you always do?" He asked but got no response. Garasu shook his head and looked to the sky "One hour" Garasu stated. Miyonji looked at him, "You have one hour to get over this loss and keep moving. We're leaving in one hour I'm heading to the store for a weapon that I need when an hour passes we are leaving" He explained. Miyonji could only nod before Alice opened the front door with Zero beside her.
"I want to go with him!" She exclaimed. Miyonji and Garasu looked at her "Alice?" Miyonji said. Alice looked at him with a sad look "I want to go with Mr. Garasu. I want to ask him something, please big brother?" She explained. Miyonji looked at Garasu who looked back at him "What's it going to be, are you going to deny the request of your little princess just because your comrade died or are you finally going to let her grow up?" He stated blatantly.
Miyonji sighed and looked at her "Okay, okay. But please bring her back safe Garasu. If something happened to her... I don't know what I would do." He stated.
Garasu nodded at him before looking at Alice "Let's go" He stated. Alice nodded as Zero barked, and with that the three set off. Miyonji looked at them walk down the street before walking into the third room of the house and laying on the empty bed thinking it was wise to give Saya her space. 'What the fuck have I done?' He thought to himself.
Meanwhile Hakami, Saeko and Kohta walked through the zombie infested streets slowly and trying not to make a sound. Saeko could see that Hakami wasn't acting like himself. Once they finally got away from the walking dead she spoke "Hakami, are you okay?" She asked. Hakami only nodded his head not bothering to look at her while they continued walking.
"Don't lie to me." She stated. Hakami continued to walk "I'm not lying. I'm serious when I say I'm okay." He replied, but she wasn't buying it one bit.
"Hakami. Nobody is blaming you for what happened. You did the right thing and saved her from turning into one of them." She said, knowing exactly what he was thinking about. Hakami said nothing in return; he didn't really feel like talking about the situation.
"What should I do?"
Hakami and Saeko stopped and turned around to look at Kohta who had an insane look on his face. They could tell that he was starting to lose it again by the trembling and shaking "Maybe I shouldn't be here. Maybe I should just end it here..." He said to himself which instantly pissed Hakami off.
Hakami dashed forward and grabbed Kohta's collar "Are you fucking kidding me right now!? You're thinking of killing yourself!?" He shouted as he gripped Kohta's collar harder. Kohta kept his sights to the ground not saying a word. "You gave that girl your word, I honestly don't care about you, but when you give someone your word, you keep it! Its honor among men! We don't throw out promises we can't keep!" He stated angrily, but truthfully.
Kohta looked at him and continued to stay silent. "You let her know that you wouldn't kill yourself and that you would live on for her. She left this world with a smile on her face because she knew that you would keep that promise. Are you going to break that promise?" He asked. Kohta shook his head knowing Hakami was right, it wouldn't be fair to Shiko if he killed himself after he had promised her that he wouldn't. Hakami let go of his collar and began to walk away "You'll be alright, if you think you're the only one hurting then forget it. Because from what I know Sueenji and the others knew Shiko longer than you, so imagine how they're feeling right now." He stated.
Kohta's eyes went wide, he had totally forgotten about that. Saya, Rei and Miyonji must be feeling pretty hurt right now. Kohta looked at Hakami who he knew had to be hurting also seeing as he was the one who ended her life. Hakami watched as tears rolled down Kohta eyes "You're right Soriejji, I made a promise to her and I'm going to keep it. Because she means that much to me!" He exclaimed proudly about his promise. Saeko smiled as she saw that the issue was being resolved, she was glad to know that Hakami had a heart deep down inside.
Meanwhile Takashi, Rei, Vergil, Rika, Shizuka and Runo had found shelter inside of a nearby market. Takashi was sitting on the floor holding Rei tight as she cried. "Rei, we can't fall apart right now. It hurts I know but we have to keep going and stay alive." He said as he rubbed her head, feeling the same pain she was feeling.
Shizuka was also being held by Runo, who was at her aid trying to calm her down, "I can't believe she's gone..." Shizuka said. Rika looked down to the floor "This is my fault I should have kept an eye on Garasu. If I watched him he wouldn't have been able to take our weapons or blow up that Motel at all." She informed.
Vergil shook his head "It's not your fault. He did something really stupid and I'm going to make him pay for it."
Runo shook his head "No! What's done is done. We don't need any more people dying or fighting each other. We're trying to survive this, not kill each other." Runo explained. Rika nodded "He's right. We need to worry about staying alive..." She added.
"We have to meet up with Miyonji and the others soon. Rei do you think you can continue walking? I know it's too much to ask right now but we have to keep moving." Takashi stated. Rei sniffled and nodded her head as she began to stand up.
Minutes later Saya had finally calmed down and wiped away her tears. She noticed that Alice hadn't come back but figured that she wanted to be alone. She remembered that Miyonji was trying to comfort her but left her alone when he realized that it was no use. She felt bad that she pushed him away, she was hurt. She lost her best friend and she felt so alone.
Maybe this is how Miyonji felt when Yuka died, maybe this is what caused him to push people away at the time, the pain was unbearable. She walked out of the room and looked to the kitchen to see that Miyonji was not there. She slowly walked through the living and straight to the guest room. She slowly opened the door to see Miyonji lying on the bed sleeping.
She walked over to him and sat on the bed and resting her head on his chest as she laid down. Miyonji awoke from her touch and looked away, avoiding her eyes. Saya knew this and grabbed his head to make him look at her "Don't look away from me…" She ordered. Miyonji had a sad look on his face as he turned to look at her "It's my fault, I couldn't protect her..." Miyonji said with a drowsy tone.
Saya looked at Miyonji and was about to speak but he continued "I couldn't help Yuka, I couldn't save Morita and Imamura, and I couldn't save Shiko. I failed them all. Don't you get it Saya? Being with me is a curse. People die when they are in my life. I should just end it he-" he started until Saya slapped him hard across the face.
"Stop talking stupid! You know damn well this isn't your fault, we were careless and it cost us! No one's blaming you for that!" She yelled. Miyonji did not say a word as he was not trying to get slapped again "We have to keep going and survive. I'm done crying, I know Shiko wouldn't want me to let this get to me and get myself killed so I'm going to live, what about you? Are you going to die or are you going to live?" She asked.
Miyonji looked into her eyes and said "I'm going to live." Saya smiled and pressed her lips against his in relief of his answer, it caught the freshly woken Miyonji by surprise "Now that's my idiot." She stated which led him to sigh. "Are you saying that you're over the fact that Shiko is dead?" He asked. Saya shook her head "I don't think I'll ever get over it. She was my best friend Miyonji and now that she's gone I just have this huge hole in my heart. I guess this is how you felt when Yuka died..." She said as a tear rolled down her eye.
Miyonji kissed her lips and held her tight, comforting her as much as he could. Something then clicked in Saya's head as she pulled away from Miyonji and looked at him "Miyonji, where's the little munchkin?" She asked. Miyonji eyes went wide as he forgot all about that "Well you see hun…" He started nervously.
"Umm, Mr. Garasu?" Alice began as the group of three walked towards a nearby supermarket, the parking lot a derelict, save for the remaining graveyard of overturned and burned out vehicles, many of which still containing their passengers. Alice tried her hardest to avoid looking at a gruesome tableau of decaying brain matter that littered the floor next to an overturned pickup; the driver's head completely compacted against the open door. The young girl breathed as she spoke again
.
"Mr. Garasu...why didn't you help Shiko? She was nice..." Alice wiped her eyes as her emotions threatened to break down at the memory of one of them sinking its death inducing jaws into the young woman's neck. Zero in her arms whimpered softly and gave her a nuzzle while Garasu paid no heed as the pair walked past a rack of disarrayed trolleys into the store.
"Stay quiet, no sudden movements." Garasu finally spoke as he pulled out his silenced pistol, cocked back the hammer and silently glided into the darkened store, the power long since extinguished much like the rest of the country and world.
The store's aisles, in spite of clearly being ransacked were rather organized compared to the last few places he had explored. The assassin deduced that the residents nearby had likely all been butchered before the mass panic could drive hordes to frantic looting.
"Probably one of the earliest hit..." Garasu muttered with a nod of his head, Alice followed closely behind. Many a time her parents had taken her into supermarkets just like this and each time she would get a bag of sweets or something similar, that was all before their lives had come to an abrupt end, it was another memory that the young girl tried her hardest to suppress, lest the hurt that came with them returned.
Out of nowhere, something flew at her, snapping her out and in a frantic reaction, Alice managed to get hold of it; it was a packet of chocolate chip cookies.
"Still in date." Garasu stated as he bagged a couple more packets while swiftly taking a bite out of a biscuit. As quick as the notion was, he was back on his feet and motioned to keep going. Alice smiled a little at the gesture 'So he likes sweet things' before following her hired protector.
Alice quietly opened the packet and ate several of the cookies, giving a few to Zero who munched down on them happily with his tail wagging while they walked. Garasu made a quick stop, looked stealthily around the corner before quickly darting out of Alice's sight.
"Mr...Garasu?" She whispered in a worry as Zero began growling. Against her fear, the young girl quickly followed and found Garasu heading over to the sporting goods. Looking at the ground, Alice was presented with two freshly killed zombies, were wearing the store uniform; their heads, sickeningly snapped in a ninety degree angle. Breathing out, she quickly rushed over to the assassin who looked at her intensely and gestured to the corner of the sporting goods counter to which he casually slid over.
"Stay in that corner, stay quiet. You see anything or 'anyone', walk over and tap my shoulder twice." He instructed firmly, Alice simply nodded as she hugged Zero. Garasu slipped his pack off his shoulders and began searching through the game hunting storage cupboards. Discovering a large quantity of blowgun bolts, designed for hunting large game, the Assassin quickly searched for the potential weapon he was looking for.
Alice twiddled her fingers while Garasu searched, curiosity peaking she looked over her shoulder and whispered "Mr. Garasu? Do you think there was any way for Ms Shiko to have gotten away? Poor Kohta, he really must have liked..."
"Quiet." Garasu replied in irritation and heard his young ward sigh before returning to his search. It was finally rewarded, after picking a simple lock with his flip knife he pulled out a boxed pistol bowgun, compatible with the bolts he had found. The Assassin made quick, effective work to unbox and prepare the weapon, gather the munitions and was just about to stand when Alice quickly leaned over the counter, Zero growling and barking.
The assassin quickly stood to his feet and drew the bowgun while pulling Alice over behind him. It wasn't Zombies that had entered the store, or even other like minded opportunists, but three of what seemed recently feral turned dogs.
One of them, a large sable colored German shepherd which even in the near none existent light of the store, could be defined as not eaten in quite a number of days if not weeks, glanced towards the trio.
It's ears drew down with a low pitched growl as it skulked towards them and then braced for a run Garasu's aim was perfect, with a squeeze of the trigger, a bolt flew straight through the canine's eye socket, with a loud yelp the dog fell to its side, dead in seconds.
The other two; another German shepherd and a mongrel then quickly turned with a snarl and charged at the group. Garasu quickly dispatched the mongrel but the second Shepherd was too quick, even for the assassin and jumped over the counter.
The feral dog's eyes locked with the assassins which burned back with intensity. Alice's face paled as she felt herself be pulled behind Garasu with a single push. Quickly drawing his machete just as the dog lunged; maw opened for the kill, Garasu drove the entire length of the blade into the mouth and through its skull. Then with a sickly gruesome twist, yanked the machete free from the corpse and flicked the blade of the entrails.
"Dogs...why were..." Alice questioned as she trembled in fright. Garasu causally wiping the remaining blood off with a nearby rag.
"With no one to feed them, they're reverting to their inherent survival instinct. Just like you should kid."
"We couldn't have just fed them?" Alice asked as she finally regained her nerve and followed Garasu out of the store.
"Not always time." The assassin responded as they walked through the parking lot, one weapon up which now hung strategically on a readymade sling on Garasu's backpack. Alice glanced at it as she walked alongside him, Zero in her arms.
""How'd you know what to take? It was real hard to see in there." the young girl asked curiously.
"Done it for a while." Garasu idly commented back.
"You mean, killed people? Bad people?" Alice asked curiously.
"Good and bad are just words, they don't pertain to people; just choices." Garasu responded sagely.
"My big brother and sister are good people though!" Alice retorted with confidence, Garasu didn't even bother looking at her but indulged a response.
"But even they make bad calls, kid."
As they walked back towards the house. Alice continued to pet Zero as she held him, she definitely had learned that the world had now become a more dangerous place, not only were the dead on the rise, survivors were becoming even less easier to trust and even animals she had always loved were turning in their own desperate attempt to survive. She tried to shrug it off.
"Mr. Garasu... you never told me what you thought about Shiko?" the young girl offered brightly, trying to change the mood. Garasu simply carried on walking.
"Never said I would." He replied, causing Alice to pout and huff. "You know Mr. Garasu, you can be quite mean. But you can also be really nice; you treated me to cookies." Her innocent hopeful smile returned "You know, you should be like that more often! Be happy and join the group properly!"
Garasu simply drowned her voice out with his own thoughts 'And you talk far too much kid, seems like 'Mr. Leader' and fiancée rubbed off on you a little too much and not for the better.'
Alice continued talking away to Garasu, completely oblivious to the fact he wasn't even listening.
Five hours later Miyonji, Saya, Alice, Zero and Garasu finally arrived at the Shido mansion which was as big as the Saya Mansion. It was colored white and had a huge black remote gate in the front. Shido had at least 4 different kind of cars parked in front of the mansion and a fountain in the middle it was obvious that this man was rich.
"Seems like you guys made it!"
Miyonji turned to see Hakami, Saeko and Kohta walking towards them. "Yeah we just got here." Miyonji replied as he kept his eyes on Hakami. Saeko walked over to Saya and put her hand on her shoulder "You doing okay?" She asked. Saya sighed "I'll be fine for now. What we need to be worrying about right now is Shido." She responded.
"That's right, He's our only objective."
Everyone turned to see Takashi, Rei, Runo, Shizuka, Vergil and Rika standing behind them. "This is it. We made it here now it's time to take him down." Takashi stated. Rika nodded "There's still the matter of getting out of this city but we'll figure that out after this" She stated. Vergil then looked at Garasu and glared "I hope you know I don't like you one bit." He stated which earned him nudge from Rika.
"I said drop it!" She exclaimed. Garasu looked at him with an uninterested expression out having compassion and that he's an asshole to which he responds sarcastically "Oh you're breaking my heart... I could care less if you like me or not. It's about time you start getting to realize just how brutal and cruel reality is. Sueenji did you think of an answer for my question earlier? What would you do if your Fiancée died from a bad call you made?" He asked.
He then looks at Hakami "How about you oh bloodthirsty one? Suppose your love interest's blade fails on her and she ends up the same way as the careless one?" Garasu then turned to Runo and Shizuka "Then we have that little time bomb you're carrying, you'll probably be dead following the birth through infection or complication or even through a miscarriage.
Even in the former world; childbirth killed women more than anything and even if you do survive; how long until the needs of that child bring the dead to you in hordes and you simply cannot kill them all or escape from them unscathed? How long would you survive without your lover and child?"
Garasu simply shakes his head almost piteously if he actually could care. "You're all so oblivious and so inertly desperate to cling on to your old lives you cannot adapt and thus today struck you hard. Deal with or die, that is the way of this world; hate me for saying it if you must, I'm not paid to care what you think, but that's just the hand you're dealt."
Miyonji looked at him and smiled "If Saya died I'd kill myself…" He stated which left everyone speechless until he continued to speak "That's what I would if Alice hadn't entered our lives. If one of us dies then the other will have to stay alive to watch over Alice. But I will not let her die that's a promise." He stated. Garasu looked at Miyonji and saw that he was serious with his answer which made him look away.
"Now that's my boy!"
Miyonji turned to see his father Kento standing with Saya and the others parents. "Father!" He called out which made Kento smile. "Seems like you guys finally made it" Rika stated. Souichiro walked over to Kento and looked at Rika "We told you guys we'd meet you here." he informed. Hinata walked over to Alice and rubbed her head "Have you been behaving while we were away?" She asked. Alice smiled and nodded as Zero let out a cheerful bark.
Yuriko walked over to Saya who was standing next to Miyonji and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Mom!" Saya said with shock. "I hope you've been doing okay?" She asked with a smile. Saya shocked look turned into a smirk "Of Course! I'm your daughter after all!" She stated which made Miyonji smile.
Saeko looked at Hakami who was talking to his mother and smiled "Good boy" she teased. Hakami looked back at her and gave her a small glare. Garasu stepped towards the gate "Save the love and family talk for later. It's time to do what we came here to do and that's take down Shido." He stated.
"If we keep slacking off we're really going to lose our lives, I'll agree with the asshole on that one." Vergil said. Rika nodded "We made it to our destination. Now all that's left is to take out Shido." She added.
"I'll do anything to make sure we survive, even if it means killing him" Souichiro stated. Miyonji and Kento smirked "Same here." They said in union. Hakami looked at the mansion and showed a sadistic smirk "Well then, how about we save the chit chat for later and go inside. I'm ready to cut loose." He said.
Takashi and the others looked at each other and stayed silent for a moment before nodding. "Hakami's right, we can talk later. Right now it's time to make Shido pay." Miyonji stated. Takashi nodded and took a step forward with everyone following behind him "Let's go!" Takashi ordered.
Authors Note: Well that's chapter 25, the final chapter is coming in the next few chapters It's sad but everything has an ending. But don't worry I have 2 Spin-offs in mind for this story but that's only if you guys want me to do them. Inbox me or leave a review to let me know if I should do the squeals or not.