Chapter 9 – Down Time

The place was spick and span. Hell, if Kozak even thought about buying a place like this, his wallet would cry in pain. The carpets covered every inch of hallway and was kept seamlessly all throughout the place. He mentally shook his head. I'm supposed to be watching for signs of a proper shelter. He looked out a window of the small hallway. As long as they boarded up every entrance – front door, back door… side door? They probably had a side door. Maybe multiple.

He saw people congregating in the centre. By the fountain, Souichiro Takagi was in the centre. What was he doing? Noise was being created, yes, but that was the least of their problems. He had men wheel a cage forward. And a member of the undead was inside. "Kozak to Ghost Lead. Look to the fountain in the courtyard! Takagi's doing something." He was speaking Japanese, not that Kozak understood a word, but he could tell the man was definitely fired up about something. On his hip was a katana with a black sheathe adorned pieces of gold along the side.

"Uh." Kozak paused, "He has a sword."

"Copy that, Kozak, stay in the mansion." Ghost Lead was pushing through the crowd when he heard the gate open and the audience express their fear in an "Oh!" One final push and he came through. He saw the zombie racing towards Souichiro. He aimed his weapon and switched the safety off. "Don't!" Souichiro shouted as he came down with a heavy but quick swing. The head flew off and landed in the fountain, turning it blood red. A few of the civilians covered their eyes or mouths, some had already been running away just in case. Souichiro, again, began a speech. Ghost Lead let him finish but marched up to him afterwards.

"Mr. Takagi." His voice had lost all the respect from before. "A word?"

"Certainly." He said, raising an eyebrow at the soldier's tone. The two walked away and Ghost Lead switched his safety back on and held the rifle in front of him, cradling it in his arms and locking his hands together.

"Pardon me, sir. But that was foolish." Souichiro stopped.

"Putting my friend out of his misery was foolish?" He challenged, steel in his expression.

"That thing was no longer your friend. It was a virus that had taken over his body. You just put everyone in here at risk for taking that thing alive." Ghost Lead said firmly.

"I will do what I deem necessary for my people. Look around. If we lose ourselves and lose sight of our tradition – what keeps us together as a people – then we have nothing."

"I can not, in good conscience ensure that these people are safe if the one in charge puts tradition before safety." His voice softened. "These people are looking to you to guide them. Putting them at risk would make them doubt that." His shoulders slumped, "I say this with respect and warning." Souichiro inhaled and exhaled sharply.

"I suppose you are right." His gaze turned to the setting sun. "I would like it if things went back to how they were." His expression hardened again. "But no." He looked back to Ghost Lead. "As I told my people, this is the world we live in now." He gestured to the fountain, now fully recycling the bloody water. He stood up straight. "I had rooms prepared for you in the mansion, please rest until you leave tomorrow." He gave a bow and left towards the mansion.

Ghost Lead instructed 30K and Pepper to tell the guards on the walls to boost their defenses in the West wall. Kozak was still inside inspecting the place from top to bottom. He sighed. Maybe he'd check out these rooms.

Kozak had finally finished making his rounds. With enough fortifications, this place would be a perfect defense. If the first floor got overrun, they could retreat to the second floor. Or retreat out another exit. The undead did not have proper tactics after all. He made it to the rooms, seeing Pepper just exiting his room… in casual clothing? "Thanks for the help checking the mansion, Pep."

"That's what you're here for, kid." He scoffed and shook his head. "Where you headed?"

"Headed over to the Captain's room. He said the politician gave us something?"

"Oh well, what is it?" Kozak asked, intrigued.

"Hell if I know. Clean up, and we'll know."

"Yeah." The younger soldier said and went into his room.

The place was totally massive. This was one room? This was better than some hotels. The walls were a gentle cream colour, complimenting the dark wood frames nicely. The tables, wardrobes, end tables, and TV stand were of the same colour. The bathroom was just as nice. The place was white and spotless. The shower had a lone frosted glass door that was by the toilet, opposite to the sink. He opened a door to the bedroom and found some clothes on his bed. "Nice." He said to no one but himself. He stripped and got into the shower. God it felt great.

Cedrick Ferguson sat smoking a cigar in the very generous room. Despite this, he needed to relax and more importantly focus on the mission. His mind kept flashing to the pair that they lost on the way out of the school. Who the hell would want to do this to people? They were just kids. They had their whole lives ahead of them. He shook his head and puffed the smoke out towards the open window.

Kozak opened the door and entered the room, with 30 and Pepper following. "Cap." 30 said closing the door. "I hope it's like alcohol or something. Or maybe a tank. That'd be useful, just carve a path right to the North-Eastern part of the City." He clapped his hands together and made a vroom noise in front of him. "Right through all the nasty fuckers!" Kozak chuckled and Pepper rolled his eyes. Ghost Lead gave chuckled as he shook his head and gave it a thought and ended up laughing loudly. "I can tell you it's not a tank. Too damned loud anyway. We'd get the whole city on us." 30 waved the thought out of the air. "I'm just messing with ya."

Cedrick Ferguson held up a bottle by the neck in between his index finger and thumb.

A long pause fell on them. "Oh hell yeah." Was all Pepper said as he grabbed a glass sitting on a tray on the desk that their leader was sitting at. "Pour it." Pepper said with a smile. Kozak said, "Just a gentle reminder that we need to get up in the morning." He felt like a kid spending the night at a friend's place. And he could not wipe the grin off his face either. How long had it been since they had a drink together? They were entitled to some enjoyment, right? 30K picked up a glass too. The tray now had only one left turned upside down. "Aw, look at Mr. Punctual!" He said, pointing to Kozak like a grade schooler, in a mocking way."

"I'll have a little." Kozak said, picking up the glass.

Then the night became a slight blur but nothing that was so bad that they could not remember. It was fun. For the first time since this whole thing started, they got to enjoy themselves. They were safe.


I appreciate that people still want to see how this story ends. I apologize for the lack of uploading, I know it's been a long time, but I have gotten into other things over the past two years - meaning hobbies and other things that require my attention. More hobbies means more things to keep track of and, unfortunately, my stories have been becoming a further and further thought from the front. I appreciate your patience and, hopefully, we can reach the end of this together.

Thank you.