Hello people, and welcome back to Highschool of the Dead: Resurrection. Should go without saying, but if you're not fond of redemption arcs, because reasons, you might want to leave this story now. Although, let's be real...Itachi URGENTLY needs one.
"You're sure about that?" Kohta asked.
"Very, I saw him with my own eyes." Saeko said, and everyone looked at each other.
"Itachi using guns...never thought I'd see the day." Saya said.
"It gets better, not only did he leave evidence last night, I actually saw him when I left this morning. I was just about to walk out the door, then I heard Itachi open his door...and he got to work on the pistols we left him. Lo and behold, he was putting them back together. I don't know why, or how he got the knowledge, but still." Saeko said.
"He must be trying to figure them out, but more importantly, this is proof he's taking the shitstorm he went through seriously." Saya said.
"Here's hoping that it works out." Kohta said.
"But this is good right? Now Itachi can finally be a good man." Alice said.
"In a way, he always was...but I've noticed he was slowly losing sight of that, until fate intervened." Saeko said.
"By making his sorry ass fall off a building. Not very subtle..." Rei said.
"No shit." Takashi said seriously.
"Maybe now he'll look for something to be legitimately proud of." Kohta said.
"As in?" Rei asked.
"Yin and yang." Takashi said.
"What?" Rei asked.
"You know Itachi will have some balance in his life now?" Masato asked.
"Exactly." Takashi said.
"Pride has a nasty habit of throwing things out of balance, which really should speak for itself; all of life's rewards revolve around balance afterall." Saeko said.
"And if that balance is disturbed, or even destroyed, you get what happened to and around Itachi." Masato said.
"Sheesh, if Itachi is a walking cautionary tale, then it's no wonder that things darkened around him." Kohta said.
"There's also two kinds of pride, the one he practiced, and of course the good kind, which we practice." Saeko said.
"The first is arrogance, and the second is dignity." Rei said.
"Dignity, confidence...honor, the list of names goes on and on. However, the former creates limits, whereas the latter destroys them. Ironic, Itachi says he wants to be above limitations, yet he's created more than he can count." Saeko said.
"But he can beat them...I hope." Alice said.
"I never thought I'd say this...but I hope so too." Saya said.
"Ironically, Shido preached this very thing to his followers, only...the context was very different." Saeko said.
"O.k...so, I took a look at the map again, and...there's actually a school not far from the day care center." Shizuka said.
"We can't go there. Three of us are hurt or out of commission." Rei said.
"I'm not." Takashi said.
"But didn't Itachi-" Takashi cuts Kohta off.
"I'm o.k. now." He said.
"How?" Saya asked.
"A little bath, a little salt, and bam, I'm good as new." Takashi said.
"Bath salts...well played." Saeko said.
"And I helped too." Rei said.
"What? How?" Kohta asked.
"None of your business." Rei deadpanned.
"What about Masato? He's still in bad shape." Shizuka said.
"I'll just have to be careful then." Masato said.
"What about Itachi?" Saeko asked.
"We don't need him." Masato said simply.
"What? We've never been to their school before!" Rei said seriously.
"All the more reason for us to stay together." Saeko said.
"Correct." Masato said.
"On top of that...we've actually been splitting up for quite some time now. Doing something as a unit is a good change of pace." Kohta said.
"Not that this is the occasion for focusing on that, but Kohta's right." Saeko said.
"Itachi taught me alittle bit about scouting." Alice said.
"Like what?" Takashi asked.
"Staying out of sight, and not making noise." Alice said.
"That's stealth, not scouting." Saeko said.
"I know, I know, but he also taught me that looking at what's going on ahead of me is what I should, and everything else comes later on." Alice said.
"Huh...that's actually good advice." Rei said.
"Wait, I just now recalled that we haven't checked out the whole mall yet. Which...actually doesn't surprise me..." Kohta said.
"Then it's settled. Mall first, school second." Takashi said, before the group split up to get their stuff.
Saeko then went back to her apartment...and saw Itachi continue to work on his guns.
"He's still at it..." She whispered before approaching, and Itachi glanced at her before getting back to work.
"Before you ask, I'm doing this because I have no choice, especially if...well..." He trailed off.
"I already know, and I can't say I don't agree." Saeko said.
"In case you're wondering, my back is still killing me." Itachi said.
"Yet...here you are." Saeko said.
"I took a shower like always, and even if it didn't ease the tension...I still want to figure these guns out, even if the pain makes me unable to walk; I can't say I don't deserve it." Itachi said.
"Don't torture yourself now." Saeko said.
"How's Takashi?" Itachi asked, and Saeko sighed.
"He's fine now..." She said.
"Good to know..." Itachi breathed out, and Saeko just stood there watching Itachi work on the guns...with the look of defeat still plastered over his face.
"We're going back to the mall to get whatever we left behind...and we're also going to a school we found on the map." Saeko said.
"O.k...good luck." Itachi said.
"Thank you." Saeko said before turning around.
"Wait...tell Takashi...I'm sorry..." Itachi said.
"I have a better idea: I'll tell him to come here, and you can say so yourself." Saeko said before leaving, and leaving Itachi behind to stew in his frustration, that quickly turned into acceptance.
When the group arrived at the mall, they went around to the back entrance; there was no point going through the front since everything was looted from there already. When they got there, a small group of zombies was waiting for them, only to get quickly shot down. They then searched the entire area behind the mall.
"This must be a warehouse of some sort." Rei said.
"Big surprise, a mall with a warehouse." Saya said.
"I meant that they usually don't go together right?" Rei asked.
"Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't." Saya said.
"And this one obviously does, they even have a truck full of drums over here." Kohta said.
"Say what now?" Takashi asked and the group followed Kohta inside the warehouse area itself.
"What is a truck full of petroleum doing here?" Masato asked.
"How do you know it's petroleum?" Saya asked.
"I recognize that smell anywhere." Masato said and several people started sniffing.
"I don't smell anything." Rei said.
"Me neither." Kohta sai.
"That's because you smell multiple things at once, I however was around this stuff more often than I dare recall." Masato said.
"I'm alittle afraid to ask..." Saya said.
"Nevertheless, this is something we can make use of later on." Masato said.
"Can we use it to fuel the bus?" Kohta asked.
"Not in it's current form. This is petroleum oil, which means it has yet to be turned into gasoline. As it stands, it's almost useless as bus fuel." Masato said.
"Then why bother with it?" Takashi asked.
"There are other uses for it..." Masato trailed off.
"Wait...you want to use them as bombs?!" Rei asked seriously.
"I want to use them as weapons." Masato said.
"Are you crazy?! We can't haul around a truck full of something explosive like it-" Masato cuts Kohta off.
"It's only explosive if it's shot, if you don't want it to blow up, don't shoot at it." He said.
"And the Ghosts? What if they use it against us?!" Saya asked.
"We'll just have to hid it somewhere it won't be in the way, or in plain sight, if we don't use the barrels beforehand first." Masato said.
"And where the hell can we store a truck loaded with dozens of barrels of oil?" Rei asked.
"The gas station." Masato said simply...and everyone went silent.
"That's...not a bad idea." Saya said.
"Can we search the mall now please?" Shizuka asked, and everyone went inside, an split up in teams to cover each area...but the results were the same.
"Sheesh, this place is completely picked clean." Rei said.
"No kidding, all that's left are some building materials, some magazines, some clothes, and trash galore." Kohta said.
"Well, there's still some area we haven't-" Alice cuts Takashi off.
"Wait! I found something!" She yelled, and the group went to check on her behind a counter as she tore open a large wrapper...and the group's eyes widen.
"What the...?" Rei breathed out.
"You've got to be kidding." Saya said as Alice held up a compound bow.
"Itachi is going to love this..." She said.
"Well...let's see if and when he earns it." Takashi said.
"For now, let's take the truck." Masato said.
"I'll drive the bus though." Shizuka said.
"Go ahead, I'll take the truck and be right behind you." Masato said, as they took both vehicles back through the city.
Back at the apartments, Itachi was finishing up with taking the Glocks apart and putting them back together, then sighed. He then recalled how he said he'd sooner throw a gun then shoot it...then he gently tossed a Glock to the other side of the couch, then started laughing. Once he got a hold of himself, he grabbed a clip of bullets, then loaded a Glock with it before looking it over, then going outside to shoot it...something he thought he would never do.
As luck would have it, some zombies were just outside shambling around, and Itachi took a moment to compose himself. He knew the head would be the target, but he never shot a gun before, so this was going to be tough. Nevertheless, he had a personal mission to do, and his redemption was not going to escape him.
He then waited by the wall, then waited for a zombie to get close enough; he would make noise on purpose, but he needed as much time to brace himself as he could, despite the fact that he knew a gun's flaws inside and out. He then pointed a gun at an approaching zombie, then pulled the trigger the moment it was less than a foot from him. The recoil wasn't awful, but it was definitely going to take some getting used to, but that was the least of his problems.
The rest of the zombies heard the noise, but that was expected. Itachi then pointed a gun at the closest one, then challenged himself to see how far he could hit them from. He shot down one that was less than a meter from him, and hit the head, then another from the same distance, then tried just over a meter, then hit it in the head as well.
Using a bow was significantly harder, but still, using a gun took getting used to, even with prior experience seeing others use them, and with a harder skill under his belt. What really let the whole process down was how slow Itachi was; the other could gun down multiple zombies in seconds, whereas he took multiple seconds to gun down one zombie at a time. A pathetic showing even for a first time, but this was entirely necessary, and his pride let him down before, and it wasn't going to happen again.
He then shot down the last zombie at a whooping ten feet away, then ejected the spent clip and went to Masato's apartment for another one. He then looked over the storage area, and found another clip in the area, then loaded it into the Glock he used before. He then looked over both Glocks and thought about using both at once...but then thought about how hard using one of them was, then decided to hold off on using both at once, but kept the second one on stand-by in case the first ran out of bullets.
He then went back outside...and heard the bus, and the oil drum truck driving by, then it hit him. He made alot of noise with the gun he used to train with, and now they had two vehicles now, and that was bound to attract even more zombies. He then rushed off after them; even if he had no vehicle, he had to help the group out!
After the group stored the oil drum truck in the gas station, they let Masato into the bus before driving off the the school.
"This feels like we're going back to school." Alice said.
"Yeah...only this is even more daunting." Rei said seriously before they left the bus and went inside.
"Wait...we should scout the place first." Alice said.
"Very true. Always look around before moving into a new area; you never know what you might find." Masato said, and the group immediately looked around the main entrance.
"Nothing over here." Takashi said.
"Or here." Kohta said.
"Or here." Shizuka said.
"Alright, let's move on, but stay together now." Takashi said, and the group went down another hall, and reached a massive open-spaced room.
"This must be the gymnasium." Rei said.
"That explains the weights- wait, schools don't have weights...or do they?" Kohta asked.
"Not normally, but this is clearly an extraordinary school." Saeko said.
"Let's just keep going." Masato said before walking off.
"This isn't an elementary school is it?" Alice asked.
"No, it's a high school." Rei said.
"High school?" Alice asked in awe.
"Yep...welcome to our world..." Takashi breathed out, as the memories of his old life in high school flooded back, from the times he cut class, to his discussions with Rei, to the time he watched the outbreak take hold. His memories were interrupted when they approached a stairwell and went upstairs.
"Zombies!" Shizuka exclaimed, and Masato put bullets through their heads in rapid succession.
"Thank God for these suppressors." Takashi said.
"There's bound to be more." Rei said.
"Right, keep your eyes peeled everyone." Saya said as the group kept going down the hallway, then checked the classrooms, all of which were empty...for now. They searched every nook and cranny in the school, with Saeko and Rei taking most of the kills to save ammo,with Masato being restrained by Shizuka to keep his rage from boiling over, even though he got to watch zombies fall by the dozen slowly but steadily.
"That should be it for this wing, more onto the next one." Saeko said, and she and Rei led the group to the other side of the school, cutting down zombies on the way. When they got there, they checked the library, which had no zombies in it.
"Hey! This place is full of books!" Alice exclaimed.
"If it is not useful, leave it alone." Masato said.
"But...these are books." Alice said.
"And you cannot kill zombies with them." Masato said.
"That's not the point; we can read these in our spare time." Alice said, and Masato sighed.
"Just let her have this one. We can take them back to the bus when we're done." Rei said.
"Fine..." Masato groaned.
"Alright, let's search the rest of the place and-" Shizuka cuts Takashi off.
"Look! There's a horde coming!" She exclaimed, then they looked outside...and she was right.
"Let's get out of here!" Takashi yelled, and the group rushed out through the entrance...which was swarming with zombies.
"Oh shit..." Kohta breathed out.
"Open fire!" Takashi yelled before the group unloaded their clips into the horde, tearing through the zombies with bullets, shells, and in Saeko and Rei's cases, blades, once the group had to stop and reload. The shooters even went to another side as Rei and Saeko cut through the zombies in droves. Alice got involved as well of course, but even Shizuka was having an easier time; Alice may have had more training...but she was still just a child.
"How many are coming!? Surely we didn't leave this many!" Saya said as she kept shooting.
"It doesn't matter! Kill them all!" Masato yelled, as he kept unloading clips into the undead.
"I'm out of bullets!" Alice yelled.
"So am I!" Kohta yelled, and then Rei and Saeko backed up as more zombies came in...then Takashi looked behind them.
"Got more behind us!" He yelled, then unloaded shells into their heads.
"We're surrounded!" Kohta yelled before grabbing Masato's 1911, and shooting down more zombies, then the rest pulled their respective melee weapons...then gunshots came from outside.
"What the hell...?" Saya asked before the last of the zombies at the entrance fell down dead...and Itachi walked in.
"Itachi?" Rei asked.
"What are you doing here?" Saya asked.
"There's no time to explain. I saw another horde coming when I-" Itachi stopped talking then turned around to see another horde right behind him.
"Upstairs!" Takashi yelled before the group rushed upstairs, and ran into another group of zombies before they cold reach the staircase, which Itachi himself shot down with his other gun before the group went upstairs to the roof.
"They're still going to get up here..." Kohta breathed out.
"Well, let's get our shit together and prepare an ambush." Takashi said.
"Agreed." Saeko said and the group reloaded their guns, caught their breath, and then aimed their guns at the door, with even Saeko and Rei pointing their pistols at the door. Itachi however looked around, on the roof, or on the grounds...until the door burst open, and bullets flew in the zombies' direction, dropping one at a time. Itachi then ran out of ammo, then continued his search as Saeko and Rei charged at the zombies and began cutting them down.
While the rest of the group continued fighting...Itachi spotted a ladder on the far side of the ground, then looked at how far the drops were from one platform to the next was beneath him. He then carefully dropped from one roof to the next.
"Itachi where are you going!?" Takashi yelled.
"I have an idea!" Itachi yelled before running off.
"If he doesn't come back, I swear to God..." Saya groaned.
"Focus!" Masato yelled before continuing to shoot down the zombies.
"They're not going to stop anytime soon!" Rei yelled.
"Just hold them off!" Masato yelled, and the shootout continued for almost a minute longer before Alice looked back...and gasped.
"He's coming back!" She exclaimed as Itachi set up the ladder, climbed one roof, pulled up the ladder, then set it up at the group's roof, then put his hands to his mouth.
"I set up a ladder! I set up a ladder!" Itachi yelled, then Shizuka came down first, along with Alice, whom Itachi coaxed down, and caught her when she lost her footing. The rest of the group came down one by one...then they backed up as the zombies followed them off the roof, only to fall to their deaths. After the group had a good laugh over it, they set up the ladder again, climbed back down, got in the bus, and drove off.
"I knew you'd come back!" Alice said as she hugged Itachi, who put one hand on her. Alice then looked back at the compound bow they wrapped up and stored in the back.
When they got back, they followed Itachi into his apartment, then watched him sit down on the couch without looking at them.
"How did you find us?" Takashi asked.
"I followed you." Itachi said.
"Why didn't you just come with us?" Saeko asked.
"I wasn't ready...I was too beside myself, and I needed to get some practice with a gun first." Itachi said.
"Well, you probably saved our lives, so...thanks." Takashi said.
"I deserve no thanks. I practiced with one of my guns on some zombies just before you drove past here, and I likely lured quite a few zombies here, and those zombies probably followed your bus to the school as a consequence. Your lives were in danger because I was so desperate to redeem myself I didn't think of what could happen." Itachi said.
"Still, you saved our lives, and a large amount of zombies are dead because of you, and that is very much a victory." Masato said before leaving. Itachi then sighed and leaned back.
"That man doesn't get it does he...?" He whispered.
"He's correct though. You came for us when you didn't have to, and you came on foot. None of us could have done better ourselves." Takashi said.
"Well...I just hope this shows how serious I am about how badly I want to turn things around. I was completely in the wrong for years on end, and I'm done with it." Itachi said, then Alice went outside.
"Where's she...oh right..." Rei trailed off.
"What?" Itachi asked.
"We have a surprise for you..." Saeko said with a smile as Alice came in with the wrapping.
"Here!" She said, and Itachi took the package, then unwrapped it before gasping.
"You...got...me...a compound bow!?" He asked, then jumped up and started cheering at the top of his lungs. The group then watched Itachi shout, scream, laugh, and throw punches at the air as he celebrated getting a new and better bow.
"O.k. o.k. we get it. You're excited." Rei said, and Itachi stopped his display of joy and sucked in multiple breathes.
"Sorry...I'm just...I never thought I'd do archery again, and now I get this! A bow that beats my old one by a long shot, no pun intended. I can't wait to see-" Itachi stopped talking and thought for a moment. "No...I'm not doing archery yet. I have to master other weapons first, then I'll test it out."
"Fair enough. See you tomorrow." Takashi said.
"Coming!" Alice said before following everyone else outside. Itachi then took his bow to his room, then Saeko watched him as he held the string...but didn't pull it.
"I said I wouldn't use this thing...and I meant it." Itachi said.
"You were a man of your word before, and it pleases me to see you still are." Saeko said before turning to leave...then Itach held her hand, before pulling her into a hug.
"I'm sorry..." He said.
"For what?" Saeko asked.
"Everything..." Itachi whispered, then Saeko returned the hug before they shifted against each other.
Happy ending much? Not in this case, Itachi still has a ways to go before he's wiped the slate clean, but until he does, please remember to Rate, Review, and Share...and stay tuned.
