Note: Hello, all. Here is the next chapter. This was another one of those where I was writing it, then decided to start over.

Chapter 10

"Here we go," Kaoru quietly said. She was nervous as was Nene. She was standing outside of Ellen's two-story house one early morning. She did visit every now and then in the past but hasn't done so since they both started high school. From the outside, the house did not look any different from when she was here last time. At least that's what she remembers. Who knows if Nene also remembered it? She had Ellen's okatana in her possession. She knew it was selfish but she wanted Ellen to fight alongside her again. Not wanting to wait any longer, she pushed the doorbell.

"Hello. May I help- Oh. Kaoru! And Nene! Come in," greeted Ellen's mother, Jacqueline. She looked very tired. Kaoru wanted to find out how the family was doing. The look of Ellen's mother was probably not a good sign. Using her as an indicator to how the family was doing, she deducted that they weren't.

"You can take a seat on the couch there," she said as Kaoru walked behind her.

When Kaoru took a seat, Nene got off her head and landed on the couch. Kaoru looked around the living room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It looked exactly like she remembered it. When she took a look at the fireplace, she did notice a change. There was a picture of Richard Friedman with a vase of flowers next to it. Near the picture was another one but this one was one of Ellen and Kaoru. It was them playing at a park when they were about five or six. They were happy back then. Having fun without a care in the world. Another picture was of Kanami, Hiyori, Mai, Sayaka, Ellen and herself. She missed spending time with everyone. From the festival at the village to celebrating Sayaka's birthday. Happy memories. After waiting for a bit, Jacqueline came back from the kitchen with tea for both of them.

"How's Ellen doing?" Kaoru asked once Jacqueline took a seat.

"It's been a rollercoaster. After my father was killed, she shut herself in her room for about two weeks. It was hard getting her to come out and she was barely eating. She took very long showers. Occasionally, she would mumble, 'I committed murder,' as she stared at her hands as if blood were on them. She also claimed to see MacArthur's head at the foot of her bed talking to her. She had a therapist who showed up often. After that, she has shown signs of improvement. She was happy. Things went dark again once she found out that MacArthur had returned and the chaos that ensued. She couldn't take it. She tried committing suicide twice. She is so afraid of him," Jacqueline said with tears in her eyes. There was pain in her voice as she revealed all this. She knew she could trust Kaoru. "Over a week ago, we found her unresponsive with a bottle of pills so we rushed her to a hospital. I'm thankful she turned out okay."

"Wh-where is she now?" Kaoru asked. Even she had tears in her eyes now. She regretted bringing the okatana. She knows there's no way Ellen's fighting in that condition.

"Before you came, I was checking up on her. She is asleep."

"Can I please go check on her?" Kaoru asked. It sounded like she was begging.

"Sure. I know she's desperate to see someone rather than her own family," Jacqueline said with a light chuckle. "Another thing. She wanted to thank that soldier for bringing her back to her senses that day when she found out my father had died."

Kaoru sighed. "He's dead."

"Oh no. What happened?" she asked.

"MacArthur."

Akane Origami was in a taxi getting a ride to Heijou Institute. Iroha Gojou has requested her assistance in finding information in regards to the chilling news report about the man who was murdered near a construction site. She wishes this was just a human who committed such a heinous act. With MacArthur and that puppet of his, she did not want Toji to be facing a third entity.

It felt like she had been traveling a long distance since it was already getting dark. The taxi soon made a left turn and was driving down a road that made Akane think the driver made a wrong turn. The bumpy road ran parallel to a freeway. A poorly-run shopping district was located on one side and a bunch of tents housing homeless people were seen on the other under the freeway. The road was riddled with potholes and oil puddles. Spoiled food can be seen all over. Akane was glad the windows were rolled up because she can only imagine what the smell must be like.

"Excuse me, sir," Akane said. She was feeling somewhat uneasy having all the countless homeless people look at the car with some even trying to approach it. "Is this the right way?"

"Yeah of course! It's a shortcut to the freeway ramp," responded the man, looking at her through the rear-view mirror. He was a man in his mid-thirties who looked to be American. He wore a black leather jacket and a flat cap. His size suggested that he was not much of a runner.

As the man looked back on the road, he slammed the brakes.

"What happened?" Akane asked while she was rubbing the back of her head.

"That," the driver pointed. A figure wearing a trench coat and a cowboy hat was standing in the middle of the road. He was staring right at them. The brightness of the car's headlights illuminated his dead, grayish skin. They both immediately thought it was a homeless man who was just standing about. What was strange was that neither of them saw him walk onto the street.

"Ay! Get off the road will ya?!" The driver yelled while honking. Clearly provoked, the lone individual removed his tinted glasses and put them away. He clenched his fists and claws came out. The driver's eyes went wide at the sight of the claws. He set the car in reverse when he saw him approach the car. As he slammed the accelerator, the figure dashed towards the car, jumped and sunk his claws into the hood.

Akane's heart was racing at the sight in front of her. Her nails were digging into the seat. Her mind telling her she was going to die. She imagined all the different ways the monster would kill her. She might even end up like the man who was killed near the construction site.

The driver grabbed a handgun that was sitting on the passenger seat. "Get off, ya bastard!" he yelled as he rolled down the window, poked his head out, and started shooting. The clawed figure took a few bullets before getting off.

The driver quickly changed the transmission to drive and hit the accelerator. Akane looked back and saw that he was quickly approaching.

"G-go faster!" She yelled.

Before the driver could respond, the clawed figure lunged forward and sunk his claws into the trunk lid. As Akane screamed, the driver instructed her to unbuckle herself and get down. The driver was glad they were approaching the freeway ramp after speeding as fast as he was able to. The entity slowly reached the back windshield and started slashing it. He managed to completely shatter it after several hits. The bumpiness of the road did not seem to have any effect on him.

The car has managed to enter the freeway. How the monster was able to stay on was a question for another day.

"That bastard is still hangin' on?!" he yelled. He fired several rounds but the monster still didn't get off.

The high speeds and wind rushing back made it difficult for the monster to progress. All he could do is struggle to stay on. He tried to get a foothold on the bumper but kept sliding off. The driver saw that they were in front of a semi truck. Taking advantage of the current situation, the driver hit the button to open up the trunk of the car. Because he was nervous, he missed the button quite a few times but eventually got it. The trunk opened and caught the unwanted passenger off-guard. He fell off and was hit by the large vehicle behind them. The impact threw him over the railing and fell into Lord-knows-where. The truck behind them screeched to a stop.

The driver took a deep breath. He can't believe they both managed to survive. Never go down that road anymore, he thought to himself.

"I-it's alright now. It's over," he said as he quickly looked over at the woman in distress. She slowly got up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked back to see the shattered windshield. All she could see were the cars that were behind them had stopped. What exactly was that? That didn't look like any aradama she knew. "I was in Africa in 2009. Kijuju to be exact. A city but I forgot what country it was in. The Uroboros Virus was an ugly thing. I had to fight to survive."

The car arrived in the city where Heijou Institute was located. The city was full of life. Cars passing and people walking about. Many businesses were open. When the taxi driver parked the vehicle in a nearby parking spot, the car violently shook. He tried to turn on the car but it wouldn't start. Smoke can be seen coming out of the tiny openings of the hood.

"This thing's totaled. It's not gonna run anymore," he said. "But it's okay. We survived."

"Thank you," was all Akane said. The driver gave her a smile and got off. He went to inspect the hood of the car. He whistled as he saw the damage that was done. The vehicle was spilling oil.

"Dude! What happened to your car?" someone who was passing by asked. He was a young man in his early 20s.

"I made a bear angry," the driver responded.

"That's fucked, bro. Stay safe, alright?" he said as he gave the taxi driver a fist bump.

As Akane was sitting in the car, she was thinking back to the individual who attacked them. She feels she has finally figured it out. The one who attacked them was most likely the same one who killed that man that night.

The driver got back in the car and pulled his phone out. He sat there for a few moments. He was thinking about the tragedy they have witnessed.

"Based on the shit I've seen. I can say that the motherfucker who attacked us was a zombie. Not a typical one though, that's for sure. Zombies are those brain-dead things. I know you've probably never seen one. Maybe in the movies or somethin'. This smarter, more aggressive one is what I personally call a zomb. Feel free to use it, yeah?"

"Where do you think it came from?" Akane asked. She saw that a lot of people were approaching the car, trying to come up with their own conclusions as to what in the world happened. She really did not want to be the center of attention at that moment.

"That's what I would like to know. Piece'a shit. I'll see if I can work with the authorities on this. In the meantime, I'll get another ride for you. Just hold on a bit," he said as he started dialing.

Akane couldn't believe it. They had an encounter with a violent entity and they survived.

"I need'a smoke," he said as he waited for the recipient of the phone call to pick up.

There was an ambulance and highway patrol vehicles on the freeway. Flares illuminated the roadway. Two lanes were closed off and cars were trying to merge into the ones that were open. The truck driver stood in front of his truck and saw the large blood stain on the metal. A few of the officers were looking over the railing with their flashlights. Two were on the other side of the rail and looked around. They turned off the lights when nothing was found. Given how pitch black it already was, they wouldn't have luck trying to find anybody. They would try investigating again when conditions got better.

The one the authorities were looking for was on the road below after falling down a slope of bushes. Half of his face has been messily scraped off. What was revealed was a skull made entirely of steel. Not just any kind of steel. Tamahagane steel to be precise. Just like his claws. He strained and his skin slowly started to grow back. What he realized was that he couldn't heal all the way. Part of his face was stinging but not bleeding. He still had large, ugly scars on the side of his face. He was lucky his eyes were okay. He got up, put on his glasses and walked off. He remembers people. He held a grudge against the taxi driver and Akane. He wanted them dead.

Note: "This thing's totaled. It's not gonna run anymore." is a line from Resident Evil 4 where the main protagonist, Leon, was inspecting a bulldozer that had crashed through a building. Kijuju is a fictional city in Africa from Resident Evil 5 and the Uroboros Virus was the main virus.