Hello people, and welcome back to Highschool of the Dead: Resurrection. One horde down, one to go...let's see how they get the paddle needed to get out of this part of Shit Creek.
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As for Shido...let's face it: he does not deserve a serious death; getting his brains blown out and used as zombie bait before getting blown up by a grenade is the best he deserves, and I refuse to waste time and effort making a big deal out of it.
Funny enough, that conversation in the humvee was inspired by a discussion Michael had with Trevor, didn't know I made it that obvious. For the record however, I never played GTA5, or any of the games for that matter, but I do watch it on Youtube. Yeesh, me being on the same page as my fans seems to be a theme...
Takashi, Kohta, and Saya were on the top floor of the house picking off the zombies one by one with their shotgun, rifle, and MP5 respectively, while Rei was on the ground stab them in the face through the fence, and Shizuka kept an eye on Alice and Zeke. Luckily, ammo wasn't a problem, but the number of zombies, and the face that Rei was on the ground almost defenseless except for the fence itself was very much a problem, as was the fact that Itachi wasn't helping...because reasons.
"I'm going to get more ammo." Alice said.
"Alice..." Shizuka trailed off.
"I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Alice exclaimed.
"Oh...alright, but I'm coming too." Shizuka said and Alice rushed downstairs to the garage to grab more ammo of each type, and Shizuka did the same before they went upstairs. As luck would have it, the three shooters were out of ammo, and Rei was now by herself, so the resupply came just in time. Once the group reloaded, they got back to shooting, and Alice and Shizuka went back down again...but the zombies didn't stop coming.
In the meantime, Masato and Saeko looked at the battle raging at Itachi's house in suspense.
"They're going to be overrun..." Masato breathed out.
"Do you have any more weapons on you?" Saeko asked.
"All I have is this Colt, and I don't have anywhere near enough ammo for all of them." Masato said.
"Same goes for my own pistol...I guess we'll just have to engage them up-close." Saeko said.
"If you do, you're on your own. That fight before wore me out badly." Masato said.
"Very well then, get yourself to safety. I will handle this." Saeko said.
"Can you?" Masato asked.
"I have to try..." Saeko trailed off before readying her blade, and charging at the horde from behind.
Rei continued stabbing zombies through the face, as the three gunners on the top of the building continued unloading on the zombies that weren't at the fence, with Alice and Shizuka continuing to resupply them. Kohta of course shot down the ones in the back, sometimes with multiple zombies getting their heads split open in a row, or at least one dying, and others getting injured in some way. Saya and especially Takashi, shot down the ones closer since they weren't as good with their MP5 and Benelli especially having inferior range.
Takashi kept an eye on Rei, and marveled at how she showed her expertise with a thrusting weapon, as she jammed the bayonet of her rifle into the zombies' faces, into their brains one after another in rapid succession. She moved forward and back as she punctured their skulls, and scrambled their mid-brains as she moved along the wall. Unsurprisingly, the group focused on the areas she wasn't working on, with Takashi keeping the closest eye on her, and occasionally unloaded a shell on an area she wasn't at, and sometimes even shot at a group she was struggling with.
At first, she was surprised, but quickly refocused after acknowledging her childhood friend, and current, and rightful lover was supporting her. Saya meanwhile, was trying to focus on what she picked up from Kohta about handling a firearm as she wisely avoided using the full-auto function of her MP5, and shot down one zombie at a time. Kohta was even right next to her showing her how it was done, and even flashed her an enthusiastic grin, which she returned before continuing to gun down the undead.
Next thing they knew, Saeko showed up and flashed her sword as she took advantage of the distraction the group's gunfire was making, and rapidly beheaded the zombies in front of her, or at least sliced their heads or necks open. The group then changed their approach and left the group she was butchering to her; with her stunningly secure place in the group, and their friendship in general, there was no sense risking putting a bullet through her. Masato however was nowhere to be found; none of them dared wondering why that was, but even if they did, they had a fight to win.
"How many of these shitheads are there?" Saya asked.
"Just keep shooting!" Takashi exclaimed as he unloaded more shells into the crowd.
"I know what to do!" Saya exclaimed as she reloaded and continued firing. Despite the dozens of dead and badly-injured zombies littering the streets...there were still more pouring in from all angles. Even the corpses piled on top of each other did little to slow their advance; some even crawled over their fellows zombies and reached through the fence to grab at Rei, who was luckily able to back up in time to avoid being grabbed. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they got through. To make matters worse, Saeko had a small horde to deal with by herself...and she was getting tired.
Eventually...disaster struck, a part of the fence collapsed, and the zombies poured in, making Rei scream.
"Rei!" Takashi exclaimed...and then the zombies closest to Rei got one arrow after another launched into their heads. That could only mean...
"Itachi?" Rei asked as she looked at an open window with Itachi notching an arrow that he immediately put through another zombie's head.
"Don't just stand there gawking at me! Get inside!" Itachi yelled, and Rei rushed inside as Itachi continued loosing more arrows to cover her. When she got inside, Rei took a moment to catch her breath, and Takashi rushed down the stairs to hug her. Rei immediately smiled and returned the gesture.
"I'm alright Takashi." Rei breathed.
"I saw." Takashi said.
"Our resident archer gets more and more fuzzy by the second..." Saya said as Itachi came out of his room.
"Yeah, I saved your bacon, your welcome. Now can we please get out of here?" He asked.
"Not without Saeko and Corporal Toriyama." Takashi said.
"Of course not." Itachi said.
"Well, we know Saeko's still out there , but...where's our soldier friend?" Shizuka asked.
"Good question..." Saya said, and Takashi went upstairs, and looked at the battlefield...and Saeko was climbing up a ruined wall, beyond reach of the zombies, and was catching her breath. She didn't look injured, but she wasn't going anywhere.
"We have to help her!" Takashi said seriously.
"But how? We're almost out of ammo." Kohta said...then they heard a rapid thumping sound overhead.
"Are those...footsteps?" Shizuka asked, and next thing they knew...Masato was on the roof to the side, throwing not one, but two gasoline canisters into the air, and then shot both with his pistol, igniting the entire crowd of zombies, or blasting them to bits. The ones who weren't burned or blasted were drawn to the noise unironically like moths to a flame.
"What the hell is he thinking?! He's going to burn down my house!" Itachi exclaimed.
"All the more reason for us to get out of here!" Takashi said before they all rushed downstairs to the humvee, which had Alice, and Zeke already inside it.
"What's going on?" Alice asked as the group got inside.
"Corporal Toriyama is trying to burn the zombies to a crisp, and if we don't get out of here, we're next." Takashi said as Shizuka started the engine.
"Wait...how did he get up there in the first place? He's supposed to be with Saeko." Kohta asked, and Masato opened the garage door from the outside.
"I found a way around them." He said simply before getting into the humvee.
"O...k...now let's go get Saeko and blow this pop stand." Takashi said.
"Right!" Shizuka exclaimed before driving outside, running several zombies over, or sending them flying along the away, and Saeko stood up to signal where she was, then jumped onto the humvee and climbed inside once they got close enough.
The humvee took the group further down the road, but Itachi looked back...and his heart sank.
"My house is burning down! Great! That's just glorious!" He exclaimed.
"Well, we're lucky as fuck that we were able to get most of the supplies into this humvee." Kohta said.
"Why does that line sound familiar...?" Shizuka asked, then Itachi pointed at Masato.
"And you, Mr. Zombie-killing Badass, for someone who was apparently in the military for who-knows-how-long, you sure make a terrible first impression." Itachi said.
"Well isn't that a pot calling a kettle black. You claim you want nothing in return, but you're coming with us despite how shitty you've treated us." Rei said.
"Hey, this time, I helped you to get something in return, I fully admit it, but I still saved you." Itachi said.
"You also said we should leave Saeko and Masato behind." Rei said.
"Wrong. I said you can leave sooner, which may or may not involve picking them up. Plus I said they're both pretty tough in their own ways." Itachi said.
"And what about helping us out? You said that house is yours didn't you? So why didn't you prove it sooner?" Saya asked.
"Yeah, those two points don't go together." Kohta said.
"I have a better question: Why are you all beating around the bush? We're fine, those zombies aren't, and now we're heading to a military base so you can likely get some more ways to make noise." Itachi said.
"That's not all they're good for! Honestly..." Kohta said.
"Well, I still have my carbon fiber arrows...not that anyone asked." Itachi groaned.
"If anything, I am the one who burned the zombies to ash, and I didn't think of the consequences. Nevertheless however, they are still dead, so this was ultimately a victory." Masato said.
"Victory!?" Itachi asked seriously.
"We can find you another house, one that might even be better." Alice said.
"Kid, if I want your advise, I'll ask for it." Itachi snapped.
"Hey, your house may have burned down, but don't take it out on her." Saeko said and Itachi deadpanned at her before the group relaxed and continued to enjoy the ride. Eventually, they got to where Saeko and Masato massacred the horde.
"Wow...you did all this damage yourselves?" Kohta asked.
"Corporal Toriyama did most of the work." Saeko said.
"Still...there must be a hundred zombies along that road." Kohta said.
"97 to be precise." Masato said.
"You...counted them?" Kohta asked.
"Of course I did. I want to know how many zombies I put down." Masato said.
"Do you know how many you killed in total?" Rei asked.
"291, and those are just the ones I didn't have any help with." Masato said and the whole group went silent; this man wasn't even human...!
"So...where's this base we're heading to?" Shizuka asked.
"Just up that hill and keep heading around the bend you see." Masato said.
"O.k." Shizuka said, and she followed his instructions to the letter as the group took a moment to rest.
"We're likely to see more zombies along the way." Takashi said.
"If we do, they'll regret getting in our way." Saeko said.
As luck would have it, the base was perfectly intact...but no one was there.
"That's not right. There should be someone guarding this gate." Masato said seriously.
"It doesn't look like a very large base. Maybe they're out on patrol." Kohta said.
"Not likely. Bases this small always have someone on watch. Either they were reassigned, or something happened." Masato said.
"We should go see." Saeko said.
"Yes...we should..." Masato said as he got out of the passenger seat, with the group behind him. Kohta then gave Masato the last of their M4 ammo, and he put them away before reloading. He then led them into the base, and everyone kept a lookout, but still saw no one, not even the undead.
"This is getting kind of creepy." Shizuka said.
"Could this place have been made as a back-up base of some sort?" Rei asked.
"That...could be, but that still doesn't explain why there's no one here." Masato said.
"Well, something must have happened." Rei said.
"Something did happen, and that's what we're going to find out." Masato said.
"What about the command center?" Saya asked as she pointed to the tower in the center.
"Good idea, but first we must make sure this place is completely secure." Masato said.
"Alright, let's split up and-" Masato cuts Takashi off.
"Out of the question. If we split up, we will be that much easier to pick off." He said.
"Soldier boy's got a point." Itachi said.
"Alright, let's go." Takashi said, and the group went around the entire base...and found no zombies, or living people for that matter. They did however find out that the showers, barracks itself, and even some power generators were fully usable. Once the generators were fired up thanks to the fuel they still had...the group was ecstatic. The nuke wiped out everything electronic in the entire city, so seeing something that was likely imported from elsewhere that was fully-functional, was the epitome of a breath of fresh air.
The showers were tested and all of them worked, but no one used them...yet, the sinks used hot water, so they were used for some minor cases of cleaning, the lights made the setting sun lose it's impact, and even some stoves were usable in the mess hall. To make matters better, they found an armory full of ammunition which Kohta sunk his teeth into right away. Unfortunately most of the weapons were taken already...but it did give a clue, which he brought to the group right away as he entered the barracks.
"Corporal Toriyama! Sir! The weapons in the armory are gone!" Kohta exclaimed.
"Now we know this was no accident..." Masato said.
"What do we do now...sir?" Kohta asked.
"For now, we reorganize, and refit. I myself will look into this first thing in the A.M. The rest of you...do as you will." Masato said before walking outside, and turning on the floodlights.
"Uh, should he be doing that at night? What if someone out in the city sees him?" Rei asked seriously.
"That's a damn good point...or worse, someone could see that from the air." Saya exclaimed.
"Should we go talk to him about that?" Shizuka asked.
"Go ahead, but I'm pretty sure you'll get a talking-to about questioning him. Truth-be-told, I wouldn't put it past him." Saya said.
"Wait, weren't you the one who suggested it?" Shizuka asked.
"No, you suggested it; I was just saying he should think twice." Saya said.
"Well, he must have his reasons...regardless of how questionable they are." Itachi said.
"On top of that, zombies themselves can't see, so he's not going to draw any zombies to us, and if he can see better, he has a better chance of putting them down." Saeko said.
"That is true..." Saya said.
"On top of that...there's something all of you should know." Saeko said.
"What?" Takashi asked.
"The time he and I fought those zombies...it was personal for him. I have never seen someone get that angry before." Saeko said.
"Zombies aren't very nice by nature." Itachi said.
"No...it goes deeper than that. He doesn't just want them dead...he thrives on the action itself. Gaining pleasure at their deaths is one thing, but he kills them because he's displeased with them for simply existing..." Saeko said.
"Damn..." Rei whispered.
"That's cold Saeko." Kohta said.
"It's what I've observed." Saeko said.
"Good thing he's on your side." Itachi said.
"Uh, he's on your side too. You came with us, so you're one of us now." Alice said.
"Oh? And when did I agree to that? I came with you because that meathead burned down my home!" Itachi said seriously.
"Oh boo hoo. You can get a new home, in a military base for fuck's sake." Saya said
"Besides, you can get back at him later if you so please. In fact, he's out there right now; go put an arrow through him." Saeko said and Itachi looked at the door.
"Well? Go on, we won't stop you." Takashi said.
"Eh, I'll get him later..." Itachi said casually.
"What's wrong? Is the great Itachi Fujinaga scared of a man who lives to kill zombies, the very thing that caused the shitstorm we find ourselves in?" Rei asked.
"I said I'll get him later." Itachi said.
"He's too much for you isn't he?" Rei asked.
"Or you know this isn't about you, and don't want to think about that, because...reasons." Saya said.
"Oh shut up, all of you." Itachi said, and everyone but Alice started laughing, and Itachi started growling. First they find power, now they joke at his expense.
Meanwhile, Masato was looking around the base, but still found no zombies...or other people. He then went back to the barracks, and saw that everyone was asleep in the bunk beds that lined the area, with Takashi and Rei sharing one, Kohta bunking with Saya, and Saeko and Itachi sleeping on opposite sides. Shizuka and Alice slept next to each other, with Zeke in the same bed as Alice. Masato then walked to the other side, removed his armor, and set his M4 down before turning on the shower and washing himself off.
The whole time, he recalled the times he shot down zombies by himself, or with Shido or Saeko with him, or even with other troops. All the gunfire, the screams of pain, anger and fear echoed through his head as the water rushed down his head and the rippling muscles in his torso and legs. Once he recalled the last face of one of the soldiers he was with with a cheek peeled off of his dead face...Masato pounded the concrete wall with the side of his fist before looking up and growling in fury. The undead were going to pay for what they've done...
Well...that last part escalated quickly. Anyway, for those of you who haven't figured it out, Masato is apparently afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. I even dealt with it myself to an extend, not from combat, from from something that freaked me out as a kid, and let me tell you: PSTD is nothing to laugh at, and shame on everyone who made fun of it, or still does. Anyway, now the group's at a military base...with electricity! Woo-hoo! But what's the deal with it being deserted? Well, you'll just have to Rate, Review, and Share while the answer to this mystery marches your way, so stay tuned.