Day 4: Transformation/Resolve/Courage
Summary: Their shelter no longer safe, Chiaki and Izuru leave the abandoned town for a more secure location away from humans. After a year of companionship with each other, Izuru is put to the test when Chiaki resolves to save a familiar group of humans.
Follow-up to [Pathogen]
A/N: This is a follow-up to the previous day and entry, Day 3: Training/Understudy/Apprentice [Pathogen]. As it is with the previous two, the same warnings still apply here, so if you feel squicked about them, please proceed with caution.
Warning(s): contains blood and gore, monster deaths, elements of body horror, and cases of a swear word or two, no thanks to a certain baby gangster
"Get up."
Chiaki's dozing form didn't move as much as an inch. "Mm, you'll just lose again, Dimension Eater. This boss fight is too easy."
Izuru didn't have a clue on whatever she's mumbling in her sleep. It didn't change the fact her state will become a hindrance if not treated immediately. "If you do not get up this instant, then I'll leave you to fend for yourself." Quiet snoring was the only response Izuru received to his threat. "Very well, you leave me no choice."
The sound his footsteps grew faint as he walked away from her. A few seconds by, his steps become audible once again as the feeling of cold wetness poured on her once sleepy face. The ensuing result is predictable: Chiaki, startled, shot up straight with a gasp, now fully awake. "I was so close to beating him!"
A towel was thrown over her direction, landing right on her face. "The next time I say I'll leave you behind, I will no longer be bluffing."
"You didn't have to splash me for that, you jerk." Her mumbles were somewhat muffled by the towel; her fingers gripped onto it as she wiped herself dry. While she's still somewhat annoyed at having her sleep interrupted, her less than ideal roommate did give her something to wipe her cold and wet face with afterwards, so she'll give him a little credit there. Just a little, because dumping a bucketful of cold water to someone is still uncalled for.
Izuru gave her a few more minutes to prepare herself before they leave. It's more than enough time for her to pack up a few essentials, such as extra clothes and a first aid kit or two, into her backpack.
The last item she has made her pause; she stared at it for what felt like a minute. Her pink GameGirl Advance, barely charged since she first lost her biological humanity, awakening as one of the monsters outside in blood.
She hadn't been able to play it in a while.
"Do you still have any use for that?" Izuru's sudden question made her think. The console only had one game, her personal favorite, inside. She isn't sure if the batteries were still enough or if it'll still work. It'll only be unnecessary space within her load.
'But at the same time...' This item is the only thing she had from her previous life, a gift and a reminder from a once ordinary world.
Firmly nodding, she packed the console inside. "Yes, I still need it." She won't let go of it, not yet.
It's early in the morning when the two left the warehouse; the sun hasn't fully risen up yet. The dog-type mutant zombies (Chiaki didn't understand the reason why everyone, even the humans, refused to call them 'zombies' and instead used a variety of other terms such as 'roamers', 'growlers' and such.) wandered around the streets doing what they do best: hunting and devouring their prey.
Had they been human, this might be an issue. But since neither of them aren't really human anymore, it's not a big concern. It helps that most of the mutant zombies that weren't as mindless avoided Izuru at all costs, running with their tails between their legs.
"You think there's any transportation we can use here?" She wondered, gazing at the streets void of humans now and then, spotting the remains of a car nearby.
"Not one that remains whole or operational, no." was his swift reply. "I've already checked hours before waking you up."
Shoulders slightly slumped; she sighed and said, "Figures. Guess we'll be travelling by foot, then."
The former town they stayed in for at least more than a month wasn't very big, so it didn't take that long for them to reach the outskirts.
Several feet away from there, Chiaki turned her head back to take a look at the abandoned for the last time. She's never been to this particular town before, not even recognizing it or knowing its name, but there's an element of bittersweetness in leaving it.
Izuru called her name, momentarily stopping and allowing her to catch up with him.
The pair of infected continued on their walk, away from the barren town until the sight of it grew smaller and smaller. She doesn't know the exact time they've been travelling, lacking a way to do so aside from the sun that's since risen up. It came to her that she didn't feel tired even after walking for at least a few hours without a break; her old self will have passed out before managing to reach halfway.
Maybe that's how most of the mutant zombies felt. It would make sense, since that's likely how they managed to overrun the world and outmatched the humans.
"Hey, Izuru." Her hands remained gripped on her backpack as they walked.
"Hm?"
"Do you have any places in mind?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, since we've left that town, I was wondering if you'd already thought of the next place we'll be staying in." She explained. "We don't have a map, so I'm not exactly sure."
"I don't have any specific ones in mind. The names of these places, I could care any less." The boy answered. "We simply wait until we come across a suitable one."
"You mean we're going to just walk around with directions until we find someplace to stay?"
"We won't get lost if that's what you're worried about. But when you put it that bluntly, then yes."
She wondered if she might have offended him somehow. It's a bit hard to tell, since Izuru doesn't show emotions much and he never did raise his voice once.
The sky is still red: she'll never get used to that, no matter how many times she's seen it. Most of the surroundings are desolate, abandoned, with no one around but themselves. The atmosphere felt too much like countless shooter games. It's unnerving.
There isn't a single sight of any humans around the outskirts they've been travelling for a while now. She'll consider that a good thing, as the last thing she'd want is a repeat of the last time they've had an encounter with a human group.
For the first time, Chiaki saw what the humanoid mutant zombies looked like. It wasn't a pretty sight, watching an aggregate of them viciously tear a large cat-like mutant zombie with their long, misshapen claws as they fought over scraps of it.
Swallowing her horror, she turned away from them. Thankfully the group was too pre-occupied with their current meal to bother her and Izuru, so no chase or any sort of violent encounters occurred.
When noon came, that's the time both came to a stop for a break. The girl refused to hunt down or consume any of the infected humans, feeling heavy nausea and overall unused at the thought of consuming former humans. There weren't any canine-based infected around, so she made do with the infected rats scurrying around while he quickly took a roaming infected human out of her sight.
The pests were a hassle to catch due to their nimbleness and tendency to bite back when grabbed; their lacking size almost made them not worth the effort in catching. It took at least half a dozen of infected rats to make up the equivalent of a more appropriately-sized prey, such as that of a canine-based infected or human.
Laying eyes on the girl with him as she diligently tried catching a few, unfazed by the constant bites and scratches she received, he supposed that maybe just this once, this effort will be worthwhile.
Four days in along the way, a small droplet landed on her hand. She turned her head up, seeing the red skies fill up with darker, graying clothes. More droplets fell on her head.
"Hmm?"
Simple, small droplets turned into a downpour.
Chiaki pulled a hood over her head as a makeshift cover against the rain as she ran with Izuru in search for a cover. They managed to find one under the roof of a bus waiting station. It's not the best place to rest under the rain, but it'll do for now.
She took her backpack off, checking if anything inside got wet by the rain, and then exhaled in relief when she saw none had been soaked. The same can't be said for her clothes; the soaked fabric made things feel cold over her skin.
"So cold..." Her arms wrapped around on each opposite side of her body in an effort to keep herself warm. Do mutant zombies get sick? With her current condition, can she even catch a cold now? Even if she can't, it didn't make it any less uncomfortable.
All of a sudden, she felt him lean next to her; it didn't feel as cold as it did earlier, the body heat of her companion slowly cancelling it out. But at the same time, the physical contact, it happened too quickly; it's too much for her mind to comprehend.
As she scrambled over herself in her mind, she heard him say,
"If it displeases you, I'll remove myself immediately."
That's a bit confusing. Up to now, the boy with her had been acting on his self-interests, citing the reason why he saved her is because of curiosity. But at the same time, however, he tolerated her longer than he should have, and considered a few of her requests such as not attacking or consuming humans.
"No, it's alright." She replied, calming herself down, thinking to herself that there won't be any harm in this. Seeing it as a sign of acceptance, he retained his position beside her.
'Never thought that a mutant zombie will be so warm.' She subconsciously snuggled herself closer to him.
Maybe Izuru isn't that bad after all.
A year passed since she'd been traveling and living with Izuru. They found shelters to stay in, steering clear of the ones that are populated by humans, coming and going as needed, hunted mutant zombies for sustenance, took supplies and weapons, and avoided conflict with human survivors as best they can.
The world hasn't changed much; the skies remain red, the mutant zombies continue to run amok and multiply, but there's a bit of rebuilding going on in the background. At least, that's as much information she got from the radio until it got busted down by a run-in with mutant human zombies. After that, they're pretty much deaf with the current news.
The last place both currently stayed in is an old shack within the outskirts of a deserted village. It's unknown how long they'll have to stay here until they inevitably move again, but if things went well, it'll be at least within five months or so, provided drastic nothing happened. The longest time they've stayed in one place is two months until more members of that group, Future Foundation as they've found out, were sent to scout it. Thankfully they were able to escape unscathed without any bloodshed or notifying the humans of their existence that time.
As far as companionship goes, it was a rocky start at first; their ideas and ways clashed in more ways than one. A few times throughout living together, they managed a compromise of some sort. Over time, with no one else but each other for company, things slowly changed.
Chiaki had become more comfortable with his presence, opening up to him and casually talked about a few topics he couldn't understand, but nevertheless listened to with a bit of interest. Izuru heard her ideas and plans out more often and without realizing, grew more attached and protective over her, a far cry from when he simply considered her an experiment.
At the moment, both were hunting down a large feline-based infected. Many infected grew smarter over time; plenty huddled in packs and learned how to cooperate more efficiently. The one they targeted was isolated from its pack, giving them an opportunity to strike. The infected feline stood no chance against a bullet that was shot hard against its head.
Looking down on the fallen prey, Izuru then glanced back at the young woman who killed it, pocketing a handgun she took from before. With a nod of approval, he gestured her to go ahead and consume it first. Their sustenance of the day had been sated.
There isn't any trouble on the way back. Despite not being here for long, many of the infected native to this area grew to fear the black-haired man, fleeing as soon as he becomes visible within their senses.
A scream made its way across their hearing. This one didn't sound like an infected; it's that of a distressed human. In the past, Chiaki grew guilty every time she heard those screams, having no choice but to leave those poor people to fend for themselves.
But now, she isn't quite sure if she can abandon this one, not without a clear conscience. This scream wasn't that of a stranger. It's one that she recognizes clearly. 'Kazuichi?'
"What's the matter?" Izuru asked her, noticing that she froze on the spot. When he heard a yell followed by several gunshots, he then understood immediately. "Come, there's nothing we can do for them."
Chiaki didn't follow him back. "I'm sorry, Izuru." She apologized, looking back at him solemnly. "But I can't leave my friends to die. Not like this."
He didn't get a chance to refute her further; she already ran off to the direction of where those humans were. He contemplated his options for a while.
'She'll get herself killed.'
Had this happened a year ago, at best he'd force her back; at worst he'd deem her a lost cause. But given a year passed, a lot of things have changed; he isn't so sure if he'd changed much, but there is one thing for certain. He's grown far too soft for his liking.
"You won't get yourself recklessly killed, not after everything that happened." Izuru followed after her trail. "Do not make me doubt my expectations, Chiaki."
The last thing he'd want to do is break her heart, once he'd finish slaughtering her friends to protect her from being mercilessly killed.
"Where the hell are all these draugbeasts coming from?!" Kazuichi cursed, narrowly sidestepping a swipe from the roamer's claws as he bashed its head in with a hammer.
He and three others, Sonia, Akane, and Fuyuhiko, have been stuck fighting these things for a while now. Earlier, they've been separated from their group and afterwards, had an unlucky run-in with a rather large snarling brawler, a cat draugbeast with enhanced strength and body armor. The huge cat was a tough thing to put down, draining a few bullets in the head in the process, and by the time they did manage to do it, the thing's scent attracted the surrounding roamers.
Unsurprisingly, the roamers ended up prioritizing their group over the downed snarler. They managed to put down at least five roamers until more types, such as growlers and snarlers came to take their place. It's like a huge swarm of them lived in this place.
The others aren't doing as well either. Sonia huffed as she decapitated a growler cleanly with a blade, the mutated dog's head rolling off to the side. Fuyuhiko shot a few times against two snarlers, hitting them directly on the head. Akane knocked a roamer's head off with a gauntlet on her hand, yelling, "There's too many of these things!"
"Shit, I'm down to one bullet." Fuyuhiko cursed as he checked his gun and attempting to kick a snarler away from him. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before they get completely overwhelmed. They'll die here.
A shot was fired against the snarler's skull, killing it instantly; three more were fired against two more roamers and a growler bothering Sonia, Akane, and Kazuichi, respectively. No one was able to predict the next thing that happened. Appearing from seemingly out of nowhere was Chiaki, their class rep and a close friend a year ago. Alive and well.
Everyone's eyes widened, disbelieving.
With determination, the newcomer clashed against a roamer, narrowly avoiding its bites near her face, and then slammed the now-empty gun against its head with a loud crunch. Many that attempted the same were left with similar fates as she fought against them. The remaining draugbeasts, only a meager fraction of their numbers left compared to before, turned their attention away from the humans, now solely focusing on her.
She growled a warning against them; the last ones that were lucky enough to survive turned tail and ran off, instinctively knowing that they're facing off against another of their own.
When the last ones were gone, Chiaki panted in exhaustion but didn't let her guard down, not knowing how her friends will react to her current state just yet. In the back of their minds, after they got a good look at their old friend's face, there is one thing for certain: their former class rep is now among those things.
Fuyuhiko grabbed ahold of his gun, breath hitched as he contemplated on whether to do it or not. He would've put her down just to end her suffering; he's seen those what happened to those who were infected and killing them was a mercy.
But on the other hand, it's obvious that she isn't a normal roamer. If she were, she'd turn on them as soon as she finished fending the others off, but she didn't. Is it a trick or, is there a chance it isn't?
The princess made her way towards the seemingly sapient roamer. Kazuichi and Akane made pleas to her, trying to stop her from doing something she'll regret later, but she ignored them, "Don't make attempts to stop me."
"Are you out of your goddamned mind, Sonia?!" Fuyuhiko almost shouted.
All three ran after her, coming to a stop when the princess approached her old friend. The two stared at each other; a human survivor and a roamer.
"...Sonia?"
That all but confirmed her suspicions. "We all thought you were dead!" Sonia exclaimed in tears, tightening her hug against an old friend.
'Technically, in a way I did die.' Chiaki didn't voice that out loud, not wanting to give her old friend an aneurysm. "But I'm not dead now, right?"
"You certainly aren't!" Sonia replied with a laugh. She turned to her shocked companions and called them. "It's alright, everyone! It is her!"
Before the roamer knew it, she was practically enveloped in hugs from her former classmates. In the midst of everyone's tearfully happy reunion, Akane blurted out, "Hey, you didn't eat anyone, did you?"
"Akane, that's rather insensitive of you!"
"Hey, I was just asking!"
"Do those mutant zombies count?" Chiaki asked, breaking from the group hug.
Akane shrugged with a grin. "Guess not."
The four asked where she'd been this whole time. Not wanting to reveal Izuru's existence, she omitted him and simply told them most of the truth; she woke up as one of the mutant zombies ("Mutant zombie? Don't ya mean draugbeast?" Kazuichi corrected. Chiaki inwardly gave up.), retained her memories and free will, and survived for a while.
On their side, her friends joined an organization called Future Foundation. While she tried not to visibly shudder at the organization's mention, especially regarding a certain vice-leader, Fuyuhiko informed her that they were part of a scouting mission until they got separated from everyone else and were cornered. "I swear, it's like those bastards are getting smarter every year." He muttered, and then quickly retracted upon realizing that she's one of them now. "Uhh, no offense."
"Speaking of getting separated," Sonia clasped her hands together. "Chiaki, you should come back with us. Don't worry, we'll explain everything to everyone. Ms. Yukizome is one of the branch heads and a close friend of the vice-leader, and when she sees you alive and well, she'll too happy to let you in our shelter, draugbeast and all."
"Come on, you're the only one who's still out here, class rep." Kazuichi piped in. "Everyone's back in our headquarters; they'll be just as glad to have you back."
"So, what do you say?" Fuyuhiko asked.
Chiaki thought for a moment. If this happened to her a year ago, she'll be too happy to reunite with her classmates and accept it on the spot. A part of her wanted to, and yet...
"Thanks, but..." She swallowed a lump forming in her throat. "I'm afraid I can't." Guilt slowly built up within her as she stared at the dejected looks of her classmates.
"Huh, why not?" was the response of Sonia.
"I want to see everyone again, believe me, but I've heard of a few, let's say less than nice things about the vice-leader." The purges authorized by Kyosuke Munakata has done in a infested areas a year ago remained fresh on her mind. It was a narrow escape for her and Izuru once. Not to mention, the killing of those presumed infected and others associated with them.
"If Ms. Yukizome vouches for you, then surely Munakata will see reason-"
"I'm sorry, Sonia, but I can't risk it." She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I don't want everyone to get killed because of me."
"But..." Further pleads died down when the princess saw the yakuza shake his head. "Alright, I respect your decision, under one condition." Sonia hugged her over the shoulders once again, tighter than the last time. "Stay safe until we meet again."
Hugging her back, Chiaki promised, "I will."
Before they left, she made sure that none of the other mutant zombies will bother her friends as they waited for the rest of their group to retrieve. She made sure she's out of their sight when they did arrive, silently vowing to see her friends in more favorable situations another time.
And as quickly as she'd seen them again, just like that, they're gone.
She heard steps behind her. She turned around saw him staring down at her. "Izuru, I couldn't let them die."
"I'm well aware of that. What matters is that you stayed safe." Izuru gestured her to follow him back. "We should go back. It'll be dark soon, Chiaki."
Chiaki followed him back, all while a single thought remained in her mind.
'I wonder,' she stared up at the dimming sky, then back to her companion. 'If there's another reason why I turned them down.'