::Author's Note::
So funny story time! Somebody pointed out in the comments section that Kani (the nickname Jon gives Koneko) means Crab in Japanese. Not only did I not know this, I didn't even know what Koneko meant in Japanese until I looked it up.
When I originally set out to come up with a cute nickname for Koneko, I considered having Jon just refer to her as Kitten. My girlfriend suggested I take it a step farther and look up the Japanese word for Kitten and have Jon call her that instead.
Lo and fucking behold…
We got a pretty good laugh out of that one. Long story short, I settled on Kani as a shorthand abbreviation of Koneko, once again ignorant of what Kani meant in Japanese. So what I'm trying to say here is, I name failed twice. Yay me.
Also, huge announcement to all my readers. Please take a moment to check the About Author section on my account to learn about how you can help support my writing. I'll be continuing this series regardless of whether or not you decide to support me or not, but I just wanted to make you aware of it being an option. I'm trying to break out into potentially doing this full time, and the support you guys have been giving is great. I'd love a chance to provide brand new content for brand new series, take reader requests, do commissioned work, as well as connect with you guys and answers questions. If that's something you might be interested in, check out my bio for more information.
Okay, enough shameless self promotion, here is Chapter 25.
::End Note::
Matsuda, Rei, and Obito made their way to the roof of their building and began the slow, methodical process of hopping to each adjacent building and running across. Fortunately the gaps between most of them were no more than a foot across so hopping between them proved a relatively easy task.
Unfortunately, due to their elderly group member, the process was slowed down significantly.
"We need to keep moving." Matsuda insisted urgently.
"We're coming." Rei assured while helping her winded Grandfather cross another gap.
The group reached a fire escape and climbed down onto a lower rooftop. Their progress was stopped, however, by the presence of a group of those shambling...things as they lurched into their path.
"Both of you stay back!" Matsuda ordered. He choked up on his bat and readied it as one of the shambling figures came lurching towards him.
A wicked grin crossed his lips. Matsuda was used to hitting a lot smaller targets than this.
With all his strength, Matsuda swung the bat and smashed the creature in the side. He heard bone crunch and ribs shatter as the creature's side was caved in and it went flying to the ground.
"Woah...he's so strong." Rei marveled.
Much to their dismay, as well as horror, the creature was not dead. Rather, it began a slow deliberate crawl towards him despite its injuries.
"Wh...what?!"
More shambling bodies joined the fray. As Matsuda began fending them off with his bat, one broke from the main pack and lurched towards Rei and Obito.
Obito gasped upon seeing the figure. "That's Mr. Morgisawa. What happened to him?"
Upon hearing the old man speak, Mr. Morgisawa turned his grey head towards the sound of their voices and lurched forward. A chilling snarl emanated from the back of his throat as he proceeded to charge directly towards Rei. She squealed in fright and brought her broom handle up to defend herself.
"Get away from me!" She screamed.
"Rei, stab him!" Her Grandfather ordered.
She struggled against the creature's strength, letting out a panicked scream as he threatened to overtake her.
"You can do it! Don't hold anything back!"
Just as it looked like Matsuda would have to intervene, her eyes grew sharp and her entire personality seemed to change as she proceeded to shake the creature off and perform a back somersault, kicking him in the jaw in the process.
"Don't fuck with me! I'm a nationally ranked gymnast!" She roared before charging and slamming her mop handle deep into its chest, impaling it on the end of the stick.
"Fuck yeah! Nice one Rei!" Matsuda cheered as he clashed with another grey skinned monster.
It was too early to celebrate. For as soon as she finished stabbing the thing that used to be Mr. Morgisawa, it began to move again. She soon lost her balance and was slammed into a nearby air conditioning unit. Acting fast, Rei grabbed the pole and began a desperate struggle to keep him at bay.
"That's insane! I stabbed him in his heart so why is he still moving?!" She shouted half in fear and half in frustration.
"Rei!" Her Grandfather dropped his snow shovel and pulled Mr. Morgisawa off of her. "Pull out the handle and stab him again!"
Obito struggled to keep the monster in his grip as Rei proceeded to stab him again. And then again after that. Yet no matter how many times she stabbed the thing it simply refused to go down.
"Jesus Christ! Why won't he just die already?!" She yelled in frustration.
Matsuda knocked another creature to the ground only for it to lurch right back up, its cold, dead eyes still fixed on him.
And that's when he figured it out.
"Oh God…" Matsuda's skin turned pale as he suddenly realized what they were up against. "...I knew it...these people are all dead! They're dead but still moving! These things are fucking ZOMBIES!"
Her eyes went wide with terror. "But...but that's insane! That's just crazy! Zombies aren't real! They're just not!"
"Rei! I can't-agggggh!"
Obito shouted in pain as his grip on the creature gave out. Mr. Morgisawa turned his head ninety degrees with an ugly snap…
...and sank his teeth deep into Obito's arm.
"Grandpa!" Rei shouted hysterically before dropping her mop handle and trying desperately to dislodge the zombie's mandible from her Grandfather's arm. "Matsuda, help him!" She cried desperately, panicked tears streaming down her face. "Do something! Please, do something!"
With a beastial shout Matsuda's adrenaline surged and he smashed through the remaining zombies around him before charging the one who had hold of Obito's arm. With a well placed swing he pulverized Mr. Morgisawa's head, turning it to paste upon the ground. The headless corpse collapsed before dissolving into a puddle of brown liquid.
"Are you okay, Granddaddy?" Rei asked him as she tended to his wound. Her voice was still shaken but she was trying hard to compose herself.
"He...he just bit me. I'll be fine." Her Grandfather collapsed to a knee, clutching at the wounded limb.
Rei dropped down and pulled out her old school backpack. After digging around in it she pulled out some gauze and alcohol before proceeding to disinfect and bandage the wound as best she could. During which time, Matsuda finished mopping up the rest of the zombies on the roof, aiming for their heads and smashing in each one with a single swing of his bat. He took a few deep breaths as the chaos of the situation finally ebbed away. The adrenaline began to wear off and he quickly ran over to check on Rei's Grandfather alongside her.
"How's he doing?"
"Something's not right." She admitted worriedly. "He's starting to change color."
A femine scream caught their attention. Matsuda and Rei both ran over to the edge of the roof and gazed down at the alley below them. A girl who looked to be no older than Rei was on her back, screaming hysterically as one of the living dead pinned her down.
"Stop it! STOP IT! YAAAAAH!" Her eyes bulged as the zombie bit into her neck and blood burst from the gaping wound. Five more zombies descended upon her and began ripping her to pieces as they feasted on her flesh and entrails.
Matsuda and Rei both turned their heads away, resisting the urge to puke.
"We could handle a few of those things." He swallowed back the bile in his throat. "But not that many."
"The roof…" Obito's words came out as a shallow whisper. "...we...can barricade ourselves in...and wait for help."
"Grandpa!" Rei quickly ran back to his side and helped him up.
The group proceeded to climb back up the fire escape, albeit far more slowly than before. With Matsuda and Rei both helping their increasingly more feeble elder up the stairs. As they looked out over the city, they began to scan the surrounding streets as well as the buildings and streets beyond.
It was so much worse than they'd feared. The city was in shambles. Alarms were blaring off in the distance, masses of the undead now lumbered about the streets, looking for fresh victims to slaughter.
"Look at that!"
A bright beam of light loomed off in the distance. Up above, a barrier of strange energy enveloped the entirety of Kuoh like a dome.
"What in the world is it?" Rei marveled at the massive field of energy. "Some sort of forcefield?"
"That's impossible…" Matsuda shook his head in denial of what he was seeing. "...I mean...Sci-Fi shit like that doesn't exist, right?"
"We thought zombies didn't exist either…" Rei looked about ready to pass out. "...and yet we were wrong about that too. What in the world happened? Everything was fine just a minute ago."
A large gust of wind nearly knocked them all off their feet. Up in the sky above, a fleet of helicopters soared over the rooftops to parts unknown.
"Are those Blackhawks?" Matsuda asked in bewilderment.
"No…" Obito wheezed painfully. "...I've never seen helicopters like that before."
It was true these didn't look like ordinary military craft. For one, they were coated in blood red paint, and appeared to carry far more ordinance than a normal blackhawk would be able to safely attach to its loadout. These things looked vicious. Deadly.
"But where did they come from?" Matsuda wondered suspiciously. "There's no military base in this city."
"Over here!" Rei cried desperately while waving her hands at the helicopters. "Help!"
"Don't bother." Her Grandfather coughed violently. "Whatever those Helicopters are doing, they must have some kind of special mission. They're not here to save us...just look."
Below them, the city was in ruin. Men, women, and children were torn apart and eaten. Friend turned against friend in a desperate bid to survive. In the buildings around them, several citizens jumped from their windows or from the roofs to avoid being taken by the ever growing zombie horde.
"This can't be real…" Rei shook her head in denial while her skin turned pale at the grisly sight. "Zombies don't really exist, do they? That's just stuff you see in movies and video games."
"This isn't a video game." Matsuda gripped his bat as his whole body trembled. "These things are real. The dead are rising. They bite people...and then those people come back as one of them." He stared down at his bat, now caked in the blood of the zombies he had destroyed. "Smashing their heads in is the only way to get rid of them."
A door burst open behind them and several zombies came running in their direction.
"There are too many of them!" Rei readied her mop handle.
"Quick! Let's get to the power transformer and block the stairs." Matsuda pointed at the nearby gated off transformer.
While he provided cover and smashed in the heads of every zombie that tried to reach them, Rei helped her Grandfather up the stairs to the power transformer. Once there, they shut the metal gate and jammed the lock with the snow shovel.
Rei helped her Grandfather down into a seated position with his back resting against the gate. From the view of the gated in power transformer, the three of them could see even clearer than before the level of devastation that had been wrought upon the city of Kuoh.
It was burning. The whole city was burning.
"Why…" Rei's voice quivered as she spoke. "...why is this happening?"
"There has to be a reason." Matsuda assured. "I mean...shit like this doesn't just pop up out of thin air, right? Maybe if we can figure out what's causing it, we can stop it. Or at the very least, protect ourselves."
Obito began violently coughing again. After several painful hacks he vomited blood into his hand.
"Grandpa!" Rei darted over to him and checked on his injury. "What's wrong with you? Matsuda, something's not right! Granddaddy is…"
She stopped talking. Matsuda's expression was grave. By the look in his eyes, it was clear he knew something that she didn't. Rei looked back at her Grandfather, whose breathing had devolved into shallow labored gasps. He was barely conscious anymore. Slowly, it began to dawn on her.
"Why…" She was in shock. "...why does it look so horrible...he only got bitten a little."
"So it is...just like the movies…" Obito rattled, blood dribbling from his mouth and nose. "They bite you...and that's it."
"That can't be true!" She began to break down, tears streaming down her face as she tried so hard to deny what was clearly happening right in front of her. "Those are just movies! I disinfected the wound! You're not going to turn into one of those things! You're just not!"
"Matsuda…" Obito raised his head as best he could and peered at him desperately. "Please...you must...help me."
"Help...with what, Gramps?" Matsuda spoke in a low, numb tone.
"You need to do it." He pointed to his temple. "Bash my head in. Just like the others. It's the only way…"
Rei covered her mouth and shook her head vehemently, a horrified look in her eyes. "What are you saying? Granddaddy what are you-"
"I don't want to become one of them!" He shouted in pain. "I don't want to hurt anyone! Least of all you!"
Obito bent over and vomited a massive clot of blood.
"Granddaddy!" Rei wailed hysterically. She had no idea what to do. She had no Earthly idea how to fix this.
"Remember...your promise, Matsuda." Obito choked out as he lay there dying. "Protect her...please…"
His final breaths left his lungs and his eyes shut. Panic seized Rei as she tried desperately to rouse him.
"Granddaddy? Granddaddy! Granddaddy, please!" She shook him violently, desperately trying to make him open his eyes again. "Please don't do this! Let me help you! No, you can't! You can't DIE!"
She collapsed onto his chest and wept. Matsuda's heart had effectively shattered for her. This poor girl had just lost the only family she had.
Unfortunately, he still had a job he had to do. Matsuda gripped his bat and approached.
"Rei...get away from him."
Rei turned her head back to him. Her cheeks were raw from crying. When it dawned on her what he was going to do, she quickly covered her Grandfather with her body. "NO! You can't do that! He's not turning! He's not turning into one of them! He's going to be fine!"
"Get away from him." He warned gravely.
The figure beneath her began to stir.
"Granddaddy?" A small smattering of hope lept into her voice. "Matsuda, look! He's getting up! He's getting...better…"
Her voice trailed off as the figure lurched up from the ground and slowly began to stand up.
"Granddaddy?" She asked quietly, fear returning to her voice. "What's the matter?"
A low growl emanated from the back of his throat. That wasn't her Grandfather.
"No…" The color drained from her face. "...no it can't be. It's not true."
Matsuda grabbed Rei and pulled her back. Panic returned to her senses as she tried to break away from his grip. "No! NO! It's not happening! It's not!"
"It is…" He spoke painfully to her. "...Rei, I'm sorry. You know what I have to do."
"Matsuda please…" Fresh tears streamed down her face as she gazed up at him pleadingly. "...please don't do this."
"Look away." He cautioned before choking up on his bat again.
"Wh...why?" Panic seized her yet again. "Matsuda what are you going to-"
"LOOK AWAY!" He shoved her to the ground and charged. With a pained scream he swung the bat with all his might and splattered Obito's brains across the concrete.
"NOOOOOO!"
Obito's headless body collapsed to the ground before dissolving same as the others. A grave silence filled the air as Rei sat on her knees, completely numb to everything around her.
"Why?" She finally asked, her voice barely a horse whisper. "Why did you do it?"
"He would have bitten you." Matsuda calmly explained, his voice, much like his spirit, completely dead.
Her despair quickly boiled into anger. "I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for you to save me!"
"I made a promise to your Gramps." Pain welled up in his heart and tears began to stream down his face. "I swore I'd protect you no matter what! Even from him!"
"He was the only thing I had left!" She cried in anger. "You should have let me die with him!"
Now Matsuda was the one getting angry. "Is that really what you think he would have wanted?! For you to die on some random ass rooftop?! Just another corpse wandering the city?!"
"I should never have talked to you. It was a mistake even letting you in our store." She growled spitefully. "Had you not been there...I could have saved him. We could have evacuated sooner. This is all your fault...you've ruined EVERYTHING!"
His angry glare turned to one of genuine hurt, followed by cold indifference. Without saying a word, Matsuda turned and headed for the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" She asked angrily.
"You obviously don't want me around." He explained indifferently. "So I'm going to go down there and smash those zombies for you. While I've got them distracted, you can make a break for it."
"What?" She gave him a disbelieving look. "Why would you-"
"I've been nothing but a screwup my whole life." He explained, pain in his voice. "Your Gramps was the first person to ever entrust me with something this important. I'm not going to let him down." He cast two tear stained eyes back at her. "I'm going to protect you with my life. Even if it means dying."
"W...what are you talking about?" She quickly got up and ran over to him, anger now replaced with concern. "You can't take on that many of them by yourself."
He didn't answer her. Matsuda checked his bat and stared up at the gate. Intent on leaping over and drawing the zombie horde away.
"Hey wait…" She smiled nervously, her eyes welling up again. "...Matsuda don't joke around like that. It's not funny."
He prepared to leap into the air. Fear overrode her senses and she quickly ran over and grabbed his arm. "No! STOP IT!"
Matsuda slowly turned around as Rei proceeded to sob on his arm, gripping him tight.
"I'm sorry!" She gasped in between sobs. "I didn't mean it! I really didn't mean it!"
He clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white.
"So please…" She shut her eyes tight and gripped him harder. "...please stay with me. Don't leave me too!"
Matsuda dropped the bat and hugged her tight. She immediately wrapped her trembling arms around his torso and buried her face in his chest, quietly weeping for her lost Grandfather.
It was the first time he'd ever held a girl this way. Only now...he wished to God he didn't have to.
"Move it, Bitch! Out of my way!"
A man grabbed the woman running in front of him and tossed her to the ground, leaving her to be consumed by the horde chasing after them. As the mall devolved into pandemonium and the living dead consumed all in their path, Motohama and Saya continued their stealthy approach to the Maintenance Exit.
Saya ducked out from behind the corner of a wall and peered at the gruesome scene. Several members of the horde had stopped to feast on the carcasses that had been left in their wake.
"Why are they eating people?" She pondered aloud in disgust. "This is just sick."
A few yards away, a boy who looked to be no older than fourteen wandered into the horde, clutching his bleeding neck.
"This isn't happening…" He chuckled unstabily, his mind clearly broken. "...it can't be real. Can it, Mommy?"
He stared up at the cold dead eyes of his former mother before collapsing to his knees. The creature that was once his mother descended upon him before sinking her jaws into his neck.
"Oh God…" Saya clutched two hands to her mouth and dry heaved. "...I'm gonna throw up."
"Puke on your own time." Motohama insisted before grabbing her by the hand and running. They'd been ducking in and out of convenience stores, avoiding most of the Horde as they slowly made their way up to the surface.
"Are you sure this is the best idea?" Saya asked doubtfully. "How do you know the Maintenance Exit won't be just as congested?"
"And what exactly was your brilliant plan?" He challenged, a hint of annoyance in his voice as he continued scanning for all the best hiding spots and openings to move through.
She huffed in annoyance. "Obviously we should be calling the Police right now."
"Look around Saya, do you really think the Police can do anything about this?"
"Then…then I'll call Daddy!" She insisted defiantly.
Motohama rolled his eyes, ducking into a window display, bypassing the women's lingerie store. "Oh please, what the heck is he gonna do about this? Throw money at the zombies?"
She flared. "Wh...where do you get off talking to me that way?! Don't you know I'm...I'm…"
He stopped moving, causing her voice to trail off. "Let me ask you a question, Saya." Motohama slowly turned and glared back at her severely. "Do you want to die? Or do you want to live?"
"W...what the hell kind of question is that?" She asked, slightly stunned by his sudden boldness. "Of course I do!"
"Then stick with me." He insisted, an heir of confidence in his voice that was non-existent not but a few minutes ago.
Now that she was looking at him, like...REALLY looking at him, she began to notice a few things that didn't add up. Where was this geek's glasses? There was no way a commoner like him could afford cataract surgery, or did he just get contacts? Furthermore, did his complexion clear up?
"This is stupid!" She whipped out her phone and began punching in a number. "My Father can get me out of this. Just you watch." Her heart sank, however, upon seeing her bars. "Wh...what? No service? But that's impossible!"
"Saya, just stop for a minute and think." Motohama insisted. "If you just pay attention to the environment it's all here. Look at how serious this is. How much damage is being done. You really think no one has tried calling the police? Or getting help from outside sources? And yet we have yet to hear a single siren or recieve any kind of emergency broadcast warning on our phones."
She blanched as the true gravity of the situation began to set in. "So...this is really happening. We're really getting attacked by zombies?"
He nodded. "There are over two hundred and thirty thousand people living in the city of Kuoh. If this is happening all over the City, what do you think that means?"
"I...I don't…"
"It's going to be absolute chaos out there. Any sense of order or structure is going to disappear and until the Government or whoever can get a handle on the situation, the citizens are going to be for the most part on their own." He insisted. "Which means if we have any chance of surviving, we need to lay low and keep our heads down. If we're gonna make it out of this mess, we're gonna have to look after ourselves."
Saya remained silent. All this was a lot for her to process all at once.
"You're the straight A student here." Motohama quipped. "If you want me to respect that big brain of yours, then I suggest you start using it."
The sound of zombies growling behind them brought the conversation to an end. Motohama grabbed Taya by the arm and ran. There would be time for her to bitch at him later. Right now, he needed to focus on getting them both out of their alive.
Aika wasn't sure where exactly she was anymore. This was supposed to be the city of Kuoh. Not a fucking George A. Romero movie. Why were there zombies all over the city? And furthermore, why wasn't anyone doing anything about it? As she ran through the back streets of the Jyongan district, having just narrowly avoided the horde of zombies out at the park, she desperately tried to get some handle on what exactly was going on.
"Dammit, this is a disaster." She quickly ducked behind a bin as a horde of zombies chased some panicked citizens. "You kill one and then five more just take their place. I can't get in contact with the police or the fire department. What the hell is going on?"
One of the zombies saw her and turned to give chase. Aika gasped and quickly began running in the opposite direction. She tripped over a plastic bottle and hit the ground, cursing to herself.
"Dammit! Great time for your inner clutz to come out." She growled before turning around and backing away from the encroaching zombie.
As the undead lurched toward her she began to tremble in fear.
"Stay back!" She commanded with as much force as she could muster.
It continued to advance and she continued to back away.
"I said get away!"
Aika raised a hand out in front of her…
...and blasted it with a ball blue light. The Zombie's head turned to dust and it collapsed to the ground, dissolving into nothing.
"Wh...what the…" She stared at her hand as if it were now alien to her. Magical sparks danced off her fingers and around her palm. "Did I just…"
Another zombie growled at her off in the distance and began to charge. Aika quickly stood up and pushed her hand out in front of her the way she did before, hitting the zombie with another bolt of magic that went straight through its chest. It continued to advance despite the burning blue hole in its chest so she aimed again, hitting the thing in the head.
She looked down at her hands again and grinned.
"So...no powers huh, Matsuda?" She snickered victoriously.
"Stay back!"
The sound of a man's voice caught her ears. Aika quickly ran towards its direction, rounding a corner to find a highschool student who looked to be about sixteen or seventeen being backed into a corner by a group of six zombies. She looked down at her hands again then back at the beleaguered highschooler with a newfound sense of determination. Aika had studied all sorts of textbooks on the practice of Magic and Witchcraft. And while each varied greatly in terms of the form and style, the basic principle was always the same.
Just picture a thought in your minds eye and make it come true.
Aika channeled her newfound power into the palms of her hands and released the spell, barraging them with a blast of blue magical missiles. Reducing all of them to ash.
"Ha ha! Yes!" She jumped for joy. "Freaking kick ass!"
The teenager who had been cowering in the corner a moment ago slowly opened his eyes and stood up. "Y...you saved me?"
She stood proudly and pointed to herself, a wicked grin on her face. "Sure did! The name is Aika Kiryu. Paranormal Investigator extraordinaire."
He blinked up at her in confusion before laughing nervously. "W...wow. You certainly are something else. What was that you just did to them?"
"Why...that was my patented Super Aika Magic Missle attack!" She declared boisterously, having just come up with the idea right there on the spot. "Guaranteed to reduce any zombie to ash in a matter of seconds! Mwa ha ha ha!"
"Huh?" He scratched his head curiously. "But...magic's not real. Right?"
"Of course it is!" She insisted indignantly. "You mean to tell me you can believe the living dead are walking around the streets and a giant forcefield can cover the sky but a little magic is where you draw the line?!"
After a moment of thought, he shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. "Well...I guess you have a point." He smiled at her and bowed respectfully. "My name is Ishi Kazu. Thank you for saving me."
She smiled back at him, pride welling in her heart. Screw that creepy message on her phone. If help wasn't coming, then she was going to be the one providing the help.
"No problem kid." Aika took a moment to inspect her surroundings. Aside from those zombies, this area of the city was for the most part clear. "Do you have any family or loved ones we need to worry about?"
He turned his head away and bit his lower lip thoughtfully before meeting her gaze again and smiling. "Well...no, not really. All my family lives in Nagano. I'm just here studying on a scholarship."
She grinned at him determinedly and adjusted her spectacles. "Well alright then. In that case, there's a couple of bozos I need to rescue. If you wanna see your family again, I suggest you follow me."
"O...Okay. Thank you." He bowed again. "Should I...should I find a weapon or…"
She looked around for a moment, contemplating what he might use to defend himself with. "Hmmm." A rusty old pipe caught her eyes. Aika calmly walked up to it and picked the pipe up in her hands, inspecting it thoroughly.
An idea formed.
Aika channeled her magic into the pipe, blasting away the rust and reinforcing its structure.
"Woah…" Ishi marveled at her. "...you weren't kidding. You really DO have magic!"
She snickered pridefully again. "Told ya. Now come on."
Aika tossed him his pipe and the duo made their way towards the sound of shuffling feet.
Motohama and Saya quickly dashed into one the Mall's maintenance rooms before shutting and locking the door. They had successfully gotten out of the bulk of the chaos and found the exit. Unfortunately that was when they ran into a bit of a snag. The exit was blocked off by about a dozen zombies, not including the ones that had already been chasing them.
Upon entering the maintenance room and looking around at all the building supplies and tools, Saya growled in frustration. "Oh great! You lead us to a dead end, Stupid!"
"Would you calm down? This is a good thing." Motohama insisted as he began inspecting what all they had available.
"Don't tell me to calm down, Stupid!" She shot back angrily, her face turning red. "God, I can't believe I followed you. You are so unbelievably STUPID!"
At that moment a horde of zombies slammed against the door, nearly making her jump out of her skin.
"You don't get it, do you?" He tried not to sound nearly as agitated as he felt while sorting through saws, hammers, and drills. "It was inevitable we'd have to figure out a way to defend ourselves."
"Defend ourselves from that? Are you insane?" She was starting to get frightened now. It didn't look like that door was gonna hold.
"Just shut up for one second and let me think!" He snapped at her. Something caught his eye and he immediately brightened up. Motohama picked up a nail gun resting in one of the tool drawers and inspected it. A wicked grin covered his lips. "Excellent, it's one of the old high velocity directed tools. Gas powered, and the safety shouldn't be that hard to remove." He began digging around in the cabinet. "I just need some tools."
"I thought those things were banned by JISHA." She commented warily. "What the hell is one of them doing here?"
Motohama shook his head. "Not all of them. Japan's been producing high velocity gas powered nail guns long after they were banned in the United States." As he explained it to her, Motohama worked on rigging the nailgun. His heart was beating madly out of his chest, not because of anxiety, but because of adrenaline. This rush of exhilaration was far and away better than any one of his peeping sessions he had ever partaken in. "This model in particular is often used by certain Yakuza clans for low profile assassinations. As it so happens…"
He raised his head up at her with a look in his eye that sent an absolute shiver down her spine.
"..I know exactly how to do it."
What was with that look in his eyes? It was...so intense. Not only that, it was a little scary. The worst expression Saya had ever seen this creep make before was that lecherous O face he'd pop whenever he was spying on the girl's locker room. But this? This was something else entirely.
If she could give it a name, she'd call it bloodlust.
There was a secret about Motohama that virtually no one knew. Not even Matsuda or Jon. A dark, hidden truth about himself that he kept buried deep in the back of his mind. The one thing in his life that was his ultimate obsession. His ultimate fetish. Beyond breasts, beyond video games, beyond anime.
Motohama was completely and totally obsessed with guns.
There were gun magazines stashed away in hidden locations among his vast porn collections. His videocase was loaded with as many war and action movies as there were Hentai DVDs. And tucked away under his bed was an AR-15 Replica Airsoft Gun. It was his greatest passion, his obsession even.
But it wasn't just guns he was obsessed with. It was the act of shooting a gun into a living target that really did it for him. In many ways, it truly was his ultimate fetish. Though not sexual in nature, the feeling of empowerment that came with watching his enemies fall whenever he pulled the trigger of a gun in a video game, brought such a rush to his senses, and was something he secretly desired to emulate in real life. But he possessed neither the eyesight nor the physique to make it as a soldier, nor did he possess the grades to become a Police Officer, so there were never really that many options for him.
And besides, health problems and lack of stamina aside, these thoughts used to terrify him. Motohama wasn't a killer! He certainly wasn't a fighter. Even the girls at Kuoh scared the hell out of him when they got pissed off enough. Which was why, of all his sick and twisted little fantasies, this was the only one he absolutely refused to divulge to anyone. Even his best friend Matsuda. After all, who wants to hang out with a Gun Obsessed Psycho? If he had told anyone about this, he was certain he'd end up on some sort of watchlist somewhere. And that idea alone scared him most of all. So he kept it buried, indulged in his secret obsession while no one else was around by watching old police videos of armed assailants getting gunned down by cops. Or warzone clips of Armed Forces shooting at terrorist insurgents. Motohama had made it a point to tell himself a long time ago that he would never let this aspect of him spill out into the real world, lest he be permanently branded by society as a potential public safety hazard and ostracized by the very few people in his life who still accepted him. So he kept his obsessions focused purely on breasts and the female body.
But now his anxiety and reservations were gone. Any trace of fear or hint of weakness had been artificially ripped from his mind. His sight and senses were sharper than ever. And most importantly of all, the dead were now roaming the streets searching for human flesh. If there was ever a more perfect time to indulge in his darkest desires, it was now.
"Modifications are done…" His breath was quivering in excitement. "...we have an extra tank...and extra nail clips…we're all set." He growled.
"Why are you so calm and collected?!" Saya was starting to panic. "They're gonna bust through the door any second!"
He raised the nailgun in the air as if it were a handgun, completely ignoring her. "Weighs around four kilograms. About as heavy as an old assault rifle, so I can't stabilize my aim this way. I need to attach a sight to it."
"Hey you! Are you listening to me?!"
Motohama quickly looked around the room, a saw, some wooden planks, a pencil, duct tape. He chuckled in a dark sadistic tone. Everything he needed was there.
The door began to give way. It wouldn't be long before they got in.
"M...Motohama?" Saya took a step back as her voice quivered in fear.
What followed was a flurry of sawing, screwdriving, and duct taping. In the span of about half a minute, Motohama cut down several pieces of wood and screwed them in place with an electric drill, creating a makeshift stock. He then duct taped it onto the nailgun along with a pencil to create a sight for the improvised weapon.
At that moment, the door broke down and zombies came flooding in. Saya screamed at the top of her lungs as they threatened to overtake her.
"MOTOHAMA!"
A six and a half inch nail went soaring through the air past her head before lodging itself firmly in the eye socket of a charging zombie. This was followed by six more, each in the eyes of the adjacent zombies behind the first one. With each nail lodged in an eye, more and more of the zombie horde fell until they were nothing but a pile of slowly dissolving corpses.
Saya watched from behind his shoulder as each zombie fell. She couldn't help but marvel at Motohama's absurd precision. Considering he wasn't even using a real gun, his aim was flawless.
"So that drill and those extra nails? Would you mind throwing them in a bag for me or something?" He casually requested while gleefully mowing down the zombies ranks.
She frowned at him sourly. "Excuse me?! What makes you think you can order me around like a common servant?!"
He turned back and glared at her, a psychotic look in his eyes. She gasped in surprise and took a step back, only for his expression to immediately soften into one of polite friendliness. "Please and thank you?"
She gave him the weirdest look imaginable before groaning in weary resignation. "Ugggh, fine I'll do it."
While Saya gathered supplies and placed them in a nearby dufflebag, Motohama finished mopping up the encroaching zombies.
"I'm out! Toss me another clip!" He ordered.
She huffed in frustration before tossing him another clip of nails which he then caught without even looking. Going a step further, he reloaded his nail gun and combat rolled into the hallway, displaying agility and reflexes that were once completely foreign to him. Whereupon Motohama wiped out the remaining undead blocking their way.
This was certainly a new feeling for Saya. At least regarding this pervert. The way he took charge, handled the problem, and did so without so much as breaking a sweat. She wasn't just impressed.
Daresay...she was a little turned on.
She smirked at him while leaning against the doorway. Considering Motohama now in a completely different light. "Well you're certainly on the ball all of a sudden. Something click with you, or what?"
He snickered devilishly. "You know...that conversation we just had? About finding my calling?"
Motohama turned back to her, that same evil gleam in his eyes and dangerous smile on his lips.
"Well...I think we can officially stop looking."
Matsuda didn't want to admit it, but with Obito gone, it was a lot easier getting Rei out of danger. With no one else to slow them down, getting his ward off the roof was as easy as hopping over the fence with his superhuman legs and jumping from chimney to chimney while he carried her in his arms.
Still...he wouldn't wish what Rei was going through on anyone. Least of all her.
"So tell me again, where did you get these crazy powers from?" Rei asked while doing her best to hold onto him and carry their weapons as well.
"Would you believe me if I said Kuoh Academy's Microbiology Lab?"
At first she thought he was joking, when she realized he was being serious Rei looked all the more confused. "So...what the hell were you guys working on up there? I thought Kuoh was mostly a Liberal Arts Campus."
"I thought so too." He commented wryly. "But...lately I'm beginning to realize there's a lot more to that place than they let on."
They both stared off in the distance at the massive beam of energy being projected from Kuoh.
"A lot more…"
His legs were beginning to burn, so Matsuda found a safe place to land in one of the alleys and let her down.
"You sure you're cool with this?" He asked sincerely.
She nodded assuredly. "I should be okay now. We can walk from here."
Rei offered him the bat she'd been holding onto and their hands connected. For a moment, the two simply stared into each other's eyes before Matsuda finally took his weapon from her grasp and slung it over his shoulder.
"Let's go."
She turned her head away and silently nodded, her cheeks breaking out into a noticeable blush.
Matsuda and Rei proceeded to make their way down the alley, fending off any zombies that got in their path. After traveling for a few yards, however, she stopped.
"Where are we running to?"
He thought for a moment before pointing at the beam of light. "The way I see it, that big ass beam's gotta mean something, am I right? My gut tells me whatever is projecting THAT thing should also have the resources to help us."
"So...you want to go to Kuoh?" She asked curiously.
Matsuda nodded. "Normally it would be about a thirty minute walk from here. But given how crazy the city is right now, I don't think we can afford to risk taking any busy roads. We'll need to stick to the back streets and avoid the larger hordes if we can."
"I agree. And this way we can try to find more supplies and meet up with people who haven't turned yet." She added encouragingly.
He smirked confidently. "Work together and get someplace safe. Sounds like a plan to me."
Her smile returned. "Oh! We should probably also try to find your parents while we're at it."
Matsuda shook his head assuredly. "Waste of time. Both my parents are out of town for the weekend." He turned and kept walking. "Besides, they get on my nerves."
She giggled at him sweetly before following behind. "Well they're your parents. That kind of comes with the job."
He was lying. The truth was, both of them were still very much in the city. And frankly, he was terrified that they might already be dead. That didn't change the fact that their was very little he could do about it. Even if he could somehow miraculously find them in all this chaos, their house was about two and a half miles in the opposite direction of where they needed to go. During which time they would have to travel through some of the most densely populated sections of the city. No, there was no way he was going to put Rei through that. He'd only succeed in getting them both killed.
Matsuda's gut was telling him they needed to get to Kuoh. And since gaining these new abilities, his gut had yet to steer him wrong. He would just have to hope and pray that his parents found some way to make it out of this mess alive and do his best not to upset or worry Rei any more than she already was. That girl had enough to deal with grieving for her lost Grandfather without adding on worrying about his folks to her list of problems.
Right now, her safety was all he cared about. He made a promise, and he was going to keep it.
*Splat!* Went the wet rag against the zombie's head. Motohama had several questions as he watched Saya dip wet hand towels she had stolen from one of the department stores into a bucket of water only to throw them at the heads of passing zombies. Chiefly of which being, had she completely lost her fucking mind?
"What the hell are you doing?" He asked sharply while all his danger signals started going on red alert. They'd ducked behind a bush out on the street shortly after making it out of the mall, and now Saya was doing this for whatever insane reason.
"Just be quiet." She whispered in an annoyed tone before dipping another towel and throwing. This time, she aimed for the sidewalk next to the zombie she had just beaned in the head. While it didn't seem to react to the first throw, it immediately reacted to the second.
That piqued his interest. They were alerted primarily to sound, it seemed.
"Do you see that? They don't even react when something hits their bodies, the big dumbasses. Their sense of touch is completely dead. Their vision must not be great either or they wouldn't keep tripping over curbs and running into walls"
"Well what about smell?" He offered.
"I'm sure we'll have plenty of chances to test that theory too." She assured. "In the meantime, we should try to locate suitable transport and get the hell out of here."
"Our best bet will be to get to Kuoh." Motohama observed while shouldering his makeshift weapon.
She glared up at him in annoyance. "Why the hell should we go to the school? What possible use could that be?"
He shrugged. "You saw that bright light same as me. Come on, whatever's making that is not natural. At the very least, we may figure out what's behind all this if we go there."
"For all we know that crazy thing is what's causing all this." She insisted vehemently. "Going to Kuoh is a completely stupid idea."
"I doubt heavily that that thing is what's causing the outbreak. Furthermore, I think whatever or whoever is creating it can help us."
She quirked a brow at him in confusion. "How do you figure that?"
"Well for one, that crazy dome didn't appear until AFTER the zombie horde started rising." He explained. "And two, it's obviously sustained by something insanely powerful considering the amount of energy that would be required to make a beam of that magnitude, no matter the particle it's composed of."
Saya narrowed her eyes at him, she didn't like not being the only smart one. "Okay...but how does this help us?"
"From this we can deduce two things." He continued. "One, whatever is creating that beam of light is most likely doing so to contain the outbreak and run damage control. And two, if they have the resources to create that giant thing, they probably also have the resources to help us."
"And you really think that's our best bet?" She insisted, still unsure.
"I think it's our only bet." He spoke honestly. "We have no Earthly idea where these things came from or how to effectively fight them, but as it stands right now, it seems like the only people who are doing anything about it are all at Kuoh. So right now, that's where we want to be."
She grumbled at him in reluctant acceptance. "You know...for someone so stupid...you're...surprisingly not stupid."
Now he was the one giving her a look. "That...sentence made absolutely no sense."
"Sh...shut up!" She blushed fiercely. "It's not like I actually think you're as smart as me or anything…"
He merely rolled his eyes at that. "Look, regardless, we're going to need allies if we hope to make it." Motohama then sighed worriedly.
"I just really hope my friends are okay."
Ishi Kazu successfully managed to bash in the head of yet another zombie as he and Aika made their escape down one of Kuoh's many alleyways. He was getting better at this, but still had the curious habit of apologizing profusely to every undead he managed to kill.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Aika asked insistently. "You know these people are all dead, right?"
"I...I know." He stuttered nervously. "It's still strange doing this to them. I don't want to hurt anyone."
"You're not, trust me." She assured. "I'm no expert, but I can tell you, if I turned into one of these things, I'd want someone to put me down as quickly as possible."
He considered her words for a moment. "So then...what we're doing is an act of kindness?"
She smirked at him and nodded. "Yep. It's not murder. It's mercy."
Ishi smiled approvingly and held up his metal pipe. "In that case, let's go mercy those zombies by that trash can over there."
She chuckled at him in amusement. "Lead the way, Scotty."
They continued to clear out every zombie along their path. During which time, Aika felt she was really starting to get a better grip on her magic powers. As smoothly as things were going, however, the more she used the more she began to notice something was off. She was starting to get light headed, and every now and then, spots would appear in front of her eyes.
"Hey...you alright? You're looking kind of pale." Ishi commented worriedly.
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine." She assured while wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. "Let's just...try to take it a little slower okay?"
He nodded. "Sure thing." After scanning around the area, he noticed a zombie all by its lonesome near the window of an outlet store. "There's another one. Don't worry, I've got this."
"Wait…" Before she could caution him further the eager young teenager was already off. He quickly ran up to the zombie and knocked it over the head with his lead pipe before driving the end of it into his skull. As the zombie collapsed, he turned around and gave Aika the thumbs up. She smiled at him and returned the gesture…
...only to watch in horror as the zombie he had downed not but a moment ago stood back up.
"Ishi, lookout!"
He turned around and blanched as the zombie proceeded to grab him. He dropped the pipe and began a furious struggled to maintain his balance and throw the undead off. Its head began to vibrate before bursting from its body, upon which a fleshy tendril with a boney scythe on the end of it protruded from the neck stump.
"Oh shit! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!" He panicked.
Aika tried to summon her magic but it wasn't working. The more she tried the more her head started to spin. Finally she managed to summon the willpower to cast a single bolt of arcane energy at the creature, blasting one of its arms off and dislodging Ishi from its grasp. A sharp pain radiated through Aika's skull and she collapsed to a knee, blood dripping from her nose.
Just when it seemed like everything would be okay, the fleshy tendril brought its scythe down into Ishi's neck and the boy fell to the ground.
"Ishi!" Aika reached out for him but her head was still swimming. The boy laid there bleeding from his neck as the headless zombie prepared for another swing.
A hail of gunfire punctuated the air and the fleshy tendril was torn to shreds. The remains of the zombie fell and slowly dissolved on the ground.
Aika turned towards the direction of the gunfire. Off in the distance, a woman with blue hair in a skintight battlesuit lowered her SMG.
"Irina, over here! We've got some survivors!" The woman with the SMG called behind her.
A woman with brown hair tied into two long twintails ran up next to her and scoped out the situation. She grimaced upon seeing Ishi laying on the ground.
"You see to her." The blue haired woman pointed towards Aika. "I'll see to him."
She nodded and made her way over to Aika, who was still having trouble standing up. "It's okay. Try not to move too quickly."
"Wh...who are you?" She asked while wiping her nose clean.
"My name is Irina Shidou." She introduced. "Was that you we felt casting magic?"
"Y...yes." She replied sheepishly."That was me."
Irina considered her more carefully for a moment. "Strange...you don't look like a Witch. Where did you get these powers from?"
"I...I don't…"
She shook her head. "No biggie." Irina reached into her utility belt and pulled out a small bar wrapped in aluminum before offering it to her. "Here, use this."
Aika took the bar and unwrapped it before peering back up at Irina curiously. "Chocolate?"
"Just trust me, it'll help." She assured.
Aika bit into the chocolate bar and chewed. Sure enough, her vision became clear and her head stopped hurting before she even finished the bite.
"W...woah. I feel so much better." She marveled after finishing the bite and taking another.
Irina nodded approvingly. "Chocolate releases endorphins in the brain. If you use too much magic, a rush of that particular neurotransmitter can get you back on your feet. You may want to take it easy on the spellcasting for awhile though."
Aika slowly got back to her feet, peering at the woman more searchingly now. "I remember you...you were that girl talking with Jon on the Quad."
Irina gasped in surprise. "Wait...you know Jon?"
Before she could answer, Aika caught sight of Ishi still bleeding on the ground. Dread gripped her heart and she dropped the chocolate bar before rushing over to his side. "Ishi! Ishi, are you okay?!"
"H...hey...Aika…" He smiled up at her as best he could. His skin was turning white and he had lost a significant amount of blood. "Guess I screwed that one up, didn't I."
She shook her head vehemently, worried tears starting to form in her eyes. "You did great, Kid. Don't sell yourself short."
The blue haired woman kneeling next to him placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's...Ishi, correct?"
He coughed painfully. "Y...yes."
"My name is Xenovia Quarta." She introduced in a gentle understanding tone. "You did a great job helping these poor souls find peace. You should be proud of yourself."
He coughed up more blood. Aika turned her head away.
"You do understand what happens once you've been infected, right?" Xenovia asked with that same calm, understanding voice. "If you don't want to become one of those things, I'll end your life as painlessly as possible."
Ishi smiled up at her politely. "I would appreciate that...thank you."
"Ishi, no!" Aika interjected. "You can't quit! What about your family?!"
"My family is dead." He cast his smile to Aika next as tears welled up in his eyes. "The only reason I'm alive is because the zombies who broke into our home were too busy eating them."
She placed two hands up to her gaping mouth and shook her head in abject horror.
"Forgive me for lying to you. But you said if I wanted to see my family again, that I should follow you." He continued, that same sad smile on his face. "And you were right. Thank you, Aika. For letting me make a difference before I returned to them."
"I can't…" Aika turned away and went to a corner. "I can't do this…"
Irina knelt down next to Xenovia and nodded to her partner. Xenovia then pulled out her SMG and placed it against Ishi's head.
"As brave in death, as you were in life." She quietly commented before pulling the trigger.
A single round punctuated the air and Ishi's brains coated the pavement. Aika was in shambles, hunched over in the corner, repeatedly shaking her head over and over again, her whole body trembling.
"We should give him last rights." Irina insisted. "He deserves that much at least."
"You do it." Xenovia stood up, a dispassionate look in her eyes. "I'll take care of her."
Irina frowned at her as she walked away before pulling out her cross and placing it against his forehead. "Go forth, Christian soul, from this world in the name of God the almighty Father, who created you…"
While Irina gave him last rites, Xenovia knelt down next to Aika and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Kid…" Aika quietly wept. "I'm so...so sorry."
"There's no need to be this hard on yourself." She tried to be reassuring.
"Why is this happening?" She asked miserably. "What did any of us do to deserve this?"
Xenovia frowned softly. "There's nothing that justifies this. Nothing."
Aika sniffed and wiped her face before casting her glassed over eyes back at Irina, who was still performing last rites. "Are you two like...Priests or something?"
She cast her gaze away, her expression darkening. "Something like that."
"Then tell me...why would God let something like this happen to so many innocent people?"
Xenovia shook her head, her eyes shut. "I don't know…" She sighed in a melancholy tone.
"I'm having a hard time understanding God right now."