Date: August 30th
Inside the room they had borrowed Ayumi was trying to call her parents. Ever since the outbreak started reception had been non-existent but inside the estate she actually had a bar or two. It wasn't great but it was better than nothing.
"Come on. Dammit."
She pulled her phone away from her ear and tried again. "Come on, come on. I just want to know if they're okay... FUCK!" She tossed her phone onto the bed and fell back. Her eyes started to water and she reached for her phone again. She clicked on her mom's number and brought it to her ear. "Please... Please."
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"Ayumi!?"
Her eyes shot open. "Mom! Oh thank god you're alright!"
"I'm glad you're alright baby." Her mom's voice was shaky and it sounded like she was about to cry. "Where are you? Are you somewhere safe?"
"I'm at the Takagi estate with some friends! Where are you and dad!?"
"-side neighbor-"
"Mom! Mom I can't understand you!"
"Neighborhood! At the-" The call was dropped. Ayumi looked at her phone and then hugged it to her chest. "They're alive," she whispered.
There was a knock at the door. "Ayumi, I heard you yell; are you alright?" She tried to answer but she couldn't.
"Ayumi, are you alright?"
She opened her mouth to respond but hiccups prevented her from responding. The door slowly opened and Dakota poked his head inside. Upon seeing Ayumi hugging herself and crying his concern skyrocketed. "Ayumi?" He walked over to her and sat next to her. "Hey, what's wrong?"
She looked up with teary eyes and hugged him. "My parents... they're alive."
Dakota hugged her back. "That's great to hear! Where are they?"
She pulled away and wiped away her tears. "They're at my neighborhood."
"Do you want to go get them first?"
She shook her head. "No, I know they're safe but you don't know if your parents are safe. We'll look for yours first and then we'll go get mine."
"Alright, I'll go find Paul and tell him the good news."
He stood up and walked towards the door. "Hey, Dakota."
He stopped, "Yeah?"
"Thanks."
He turned around, "For what?"
"For just, being here, with us."
"You're welcome." He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. He was distracted as he walked down the hallway. When he saw Ayumi crying it felt like his heart was being crushed and he couldn't figure out why. He shook his head; he could worry about it later right now he needed to find Paul.
Turns out finding Paul wasn't nearly as difficult as it was the first time. He was standing on the balcony overlooking the estate. "Hey." Dakota walked up beside him.
"Hey yourself."
"Hm. Ayumi managed to get in touch with her parents. They're at their house."
"That's great to hear. Now we only have to find our parents and we have an idea of where they might be. Sounds easy doesn't it."
"Yeah, it does."
"Hm, well let's hope it is. What time are we leaving?"
"Within the hour."
Paul nodded and they stood in silence for a few minutes. Something caught Paul's eye and he looked to the sky. "What the hell is that?"
"What do you see?"
"Something in the sky. There."
Dakota followed his arm and squinted. He could just see what Paul was pointing at, and it was moving. "What is that?"
"You see it too?"
"Yeah, just barely. It looks like its moving."
"Moving?" Paul focused on it and just like Dakota said it was moving and it looked to be leaving something behind it. "Is that a jet? Because it looks like its leaving a contrail behind it."
"If it is a jet where the hell are they going? The airport is that way isn't it?"
"Yeah, maybe they're going to Alaska?"
"Well, that's a hell of a thought." A sudden and bright flash blinded them. They brought their arms up and shut their eyes. The light died down after ten seconds and they opened their eyes. "What the hell was that?"
"No idea." The smell of something burnt reached their noses and Paul looked at his watch. Smoke was rising from the back of it so he took it off and opened up the back. "Whatever the hell it was it fried my watch."
"Fried?"
"Yeah, the battery is completely burnt out."
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots echoed from the street in front of the mansion. There was another gunshot followed by a shout. "The barricade! They've breached the barricade!" A small group of 'them' was shambling to the gate. It was quickly slammed shut but one of 'them' got in. A single shot rang out and it was killed.
A horde of 'them' was closing in on the estate and soon they were pressing up against the gate. It groaned as the weight against it grew and soon the gate give into the growing number of 'them' pressing against it. The men who had shut the gate were quickly killed.
Paul and Dakota stood in shock as this played out. "This is the first secure place we found and they bust into just like that?"
Dakota grabbed Paul's shoulder. "We need to get back to the room, get our gear and Ayumi, and get the fuck out of here."
"Right."
They ran into the mansion and sprinted down the halls. They didn't pass many people on their way to the room but the ones they did were usually armed.
They arrived at the room and burst through the door but Ayumi wasn't there. "Where'd she go?"
"I don't know. She was here when I left. Let's grab our gear then we'll search for her." They quickly grabbed their weapons and gear and stepped back into the hall. "You search the left side of the mansion and I'll search the right."
"Sounds good. Wait, what if we can't meet up?"
"If we can't meet up here we'll meet up at the supermarket. We were going there anyway."
"Alright." They grabbed each other's hand, "Be careful Dakota."
"I will. Same goes for you Paul; be careful."
"I will." They sprinted away hoping they would find Ayumi and soon.
"Ayumi! Where are you!?" Dakota slowed to a stop and looked to his left. There was a staircase leading to the ground floor.
BOOM! BOOM!
"Explosions!? How well armed are these people!?"
"They're breaking through the windows!"
Gunshots and the groans of 'them' followed. Dakota rushed down the stairs and saw three survivors fending off a group of 'them' that had broken through the windows. "Kill them quickly!" He drew his katana and quickly decapitated three of 'them.'
To his left, the other two quickly killed another four. "They're breaking through the front door!"
"Dammit! We must regroup and push the dead back!" They ran to the right and Dakota moved up. He snapped his gun up when he heard footsteps. Two survivors sprinted past him quickly followed by another three. He turned the corner and was nearly run over by a fleeing survivor. "Come on! Keep moving!"
Bang! Bang, bang!
A survivor standing at the doorway keeping 'them' at bay. Another survivor staggered past him, "Hey! Is that everybody!?"
"I don't know! It's chaos out there!"
"Alright, we're gathering all of the survivors at the front of the mansion. Get going!"
"Come on you undead freaks!"
Bang bang! Bang bang!
One of 'them' stuck its arms through the windows and grabbed him. "Get off me!"
Bang!
A bullet tore through its head and splattered its brains on the wall beside it. He turned to Dakota, "Thanks."
"Have you seen a girl with silver wearing a green Fujimi Academy uniform?"
"I think saw someone heading to the back of the mansion who matches that description."
"When!?"
"Maybe ten minutes ago. If she's at the back of the mansion she should be relatively safe."
"Thanks!" He ran past him, "HEY! Be careful these things are everywhere!"
"Don't worry about me!" Dakota sprinted around the corner and the guy shook his head. "Crazy kids."
Dakota holstered his pistol and drew his machete. He buried it in the head of one of 'them' and then decapitated another. He shoulder charged a third knocking it to the ground and avoided a fourth.
The hallway leads to an open room with two staircases leading to the second floor. He ran across the room and was about to open the double door when it was banged on. He backed off and readied himself. There was a loud and wet crunch behind him and he spun around. One of 'them' had fallen from the second floor and landed on its head snapping its neck killing it instantly. The door burst open and five of 'them' stumbled in. The first one stumbled toward him and was quickly killed. He wrenched the machete free and kicked the body sending it crashing into one behind it. It fell to the ground and was trapped underneath the body.
The other three shambled forward and one of 'them' tripped over its feet and stumbled past Dakota. He stabbed it in the back of the neck severing its spinal cord. He avoided the other two and rushed outside. "Ayumi! You out here!?"
"Dakota! Over here!"
She was fending off two of 'them' with a rake of all things. She bashed one of 'them' in the head and broke the rake in half. Undaunted, she used it like a baseball bat and hit one in the side of the head with a sickening crunch. It spun around and fell to the ground. The second one tripped over the body and fell on top of Ayumi. She struggled to keep it away. "Get! Off! Me!"
Dakota kicked if off her and stabbed it in the head. "You alright?" He pulled her up. "Yeah. Thanks."
"Here." Dakota handed over her crossbow and arrows.
"What about the backpack?"
"Damn! I knew I forgot something."
"Don't worry about it. You're okay, that's all that matters. Where's Paul?"
"We split up to find you. We made a plan to meet up at the supermarket."
"Maybe we can find him before we leave."
"Maybe. The survivors are gathering at the front so he might be there."
They turned around and found a group of 'them' blocking the entrance to the mansion. Dakota drew his gun. "Wait. If we go through that gate a path will lead us to the front."
"Alright." They pushed the gate open and jogged down the path. The rounded the corner and two survivors were in front of them. One turned around and snapped his gun up; Dakota did the same.
Ayumi raised her hand. "We're not one of 'them.'"
He nodded and lowered his gun. "Fuck man. How are getting out of this one?"
"The Commander is creating a plan. Right now, hold them back." Bang bang bang! Bang bang! Bang bang bang bang!
They slowly walked forward killing 'them' quickly. Dakota and Ayumi were ready to help but they didn't need it. "Out."
Bang! Bang bang, bang!
One of 'them' slowly walked toward them and one of the survivors hesitated. He fired a second later and looked at the body sadly. "I'm sorry Seno. May you rest in peace."
After twenty seconds they stopped firing. Well over a dozen bodies were laid across the ground but more of 'them' were walking through the gate. "Ammo?"
"Last mag. You?"
"Same."
"Dammit. We're going to need more ammo."
"Look! The Commander is taking the fight to the dead."
Dakota and Ayumi looked across the estate to see two people fighting the horde. They recognized Mrs. Takagi by her red dress and she was fighting with a tall man wearing a black suit. She covered him with a submachine gun as he cut through 'them' with a katana. The soldiers moved up to assist. "We're going to help them, right?"
"Yeah." Dakota moved up and Ayumi followed behind him. She stayed back because of the crossbow's slow rate of fire. They were joined by more soldiers and they formed a firing line. Dozens of shots rang out across the estate and slowly the numbers of 'them' thinned out. The sound of assault rifles, submachine guns, pistols, and the groans of 'them' created a song of death.
Dakota killed two more of 'them' and the Five-seven's slide locked back. He reloaded and continued to fire. One of 'them' was walking up beside him but he didn't hear it do to the sound of gunfire. He caught it out of the corner of his eye and turned. Its head jerked to the side and it fell to the ground with an arrow buried in its head. He looked to Ayumi and have her a thumbs up. He saw her sigh and she gave him on of her own.
"Drive the undead from the estate! We must create a path for the survivors!"
"We are running low on ammo Commander!"
"I'm out!"
"Here! Make it count!"
Dakota holstered his pistol and unsheathed his machete. He rushed forward and killed three of 'them' in rapid succession. To his left, a solider beat one of 'them' to death with his weapon. Another soldier through his weapon to the ground and unsheathed his katana. He cut down 'them' without a thought while a second soldier covered him. At the front of the mansion, two soldiers used sniper rifles and killed 'them' with headshot after headshot.
Two soldiers rushed forward with dynamite and tossed the bundles into the horde. A few seconds later two large explosions killed well over a dozen of 'them' sending bodies and limbs flying. They pushed 'them' back to the gate when more soldiers appeared down the left road. One of them tossed a grenade into the horde and the explosion created a path out of the mansion.
"We have a clear path! Get the civilians out!"
"Ayumi, let's go. They can handle it."
"...Alright. Follow me, I know the quickest route to the supermarket."
A/N
I am very grateful for all of the support this story has gotten. For all my readers out, thank you.
Stay safe out there.
Echo08, sighing off.