Hello people, and welcome back to Highschool of the Dead: Resurrection. A new arc another dollar...yeah that sounds better than the other pun I made there, anyway, let's see Rei take her new toy out for a spin, and see what other mischief gets cooked up.
At the city's hospital, Masato kicked in the metal door then Shizuka followed him inside as he pointed his SCAR at every corner in the waiting room. Shizuka kept her M4 at the ready, but she still had a ways to go before she could even rival Masato, let alone be his equal. As such, she stuck to his side like glue as they prowled the halls and peeked through the doors looking for zombies to put down.
The trip was relatively uneventful...until they found a hallway full of zombies, all wearing patient's grab and doctor uniforms. Masato then opened fire on the zombies in a nearly straight line, with no bullet missing it's mark. Shizuka watched the zombies fall like dominoes with zero irony; the closest zombies fell first, then the ones before them fell later on. She then took a quick glance behind them, and saw a couple of zombies following them, then Masato turned to see the clumsy yet motivated nurse behind him put bullets in their heads.
"How was that?" Shizuka asked.
"It's good to see that you are covering the angles that I am not." Masato said, and Shizuka giggled.
"What are teams for?" She asked.
"Which reminds me that we need to find any equipment you can use when we are done clearing this place." Masato said as he led her down the hallway...and she carefully stepped over the corpses and around the puddles of congealed blood.
"I...can't use anything too advanced. Like I said, I'm just a nurse." Shizuka said.
"No matter. We will just have to make due." Masato said.
"Right...although, I might be able to acquire better skills later on, but...I don't want to experiment with any serious wounds anytime soon." Shizuka said.
"Nor should you have to." Masato said as he continued looking into the operation rooms...some of which had evidence of use.
"They must have been doing surgeries at the time of the epidemic." Shizuka said softly.
"At least they didn't live to see the world go to hell." Masato said while shaking and breathing harshly, then walking off.
"Masato?" Shizuka asked, and Masato stopped walking at the sound of his first name. "There's something about this outbreak you're not saying is there?"
"I told you everything I have to." Masato said.
"But I-" He cuts Shizuka off.
"Do not test me woman." Masato said seriously, and Shizuka deflated before catching up to him.
Meanwhile, Takashi, Saya, and Kohta were heading to the police station with their AA-12 and M4s respectively, and split up to cover more ground. Takashi tried opening the door, but couldn't.
"Damn, door's locked." He said.
"O.k...maybe there's a backdoor." Kohtas said.
"Good idea." Takashi said as he followed Kohta to the back.
"Wait...something just occurred to me. What if this place was looted a long time ago?" Kohtas asked.
"Chances are it was...but we still have to look through it." Takashi said.
"Right. Here's hoping we get to kill more zombies." Kohta said.
"You're starting to sound like the corporal." Takashi said.
"Hey, part of me hopes I wind up just like him." Kohta said.
"I hope the rest of you says fuck no." Takashi said.
"Well right now, all of me says fuck you." Kohta said and Takashi deadpanned.
"Nice word play..." He said and Kohta snickered, and then he put his hand on the back door, turned the knob as Takashi readied his AA-12...then Kohta pushed the door open and backed up before the two pointed their guns inside, but saw no zombies. They then shared a glance, before Takashi went into the station first, with Kohta watching their backs. Takashi then flipped a switch, and some but not all of the lights came on.
"O.k...so far so good." Kohta said.
"I'm thinking about making some noise to draw them to us." Takashi said.
"How?" Kohta asked.
"I don't know. Knock something over, or throw something?" Takashi said.
"Might as well." Kohta said, and Takashi looked around, then saw an empty metal trash bin, picked it up, then threw it across the room, making a metallic sound that echoes through the room.
"Alright, get ready!" Takashi said and the two pointed their guns in different directions...but no zombies came.
"Odd, maybe there aren't any." Kohta said.
"Or there aren't any in this area." Takashi said.
"In that case, let's go see the armory." Kohta said, and Takashi followed him to another area...and they finally heard zombies groaning.
"I knew this was too easy." Takashi said before the two went to investigate the noise...and then Kohta opened fire on the zombies infesting the armory, with Takashi hanging back since his gun had no suppressor. When Kohta was done, and reloaded, the two checked the gun cases, lockers, and cages...but the result as the same.
"Damn...no guns." Kohta said.
"No ammo either. Now what?" Takashi asked.
"Well...we got to kill some zombies." Kohta said.
"Kohta." Takashi groaned.
"What?" Kohta asked.
"Nevermind...let's just keeping looking." Takashi said, and the two continued searching the area. NExt thing they knew, Saya was on her way.
"Hey you two!" She exclaimed.
"What the...? What's the matter?" Takashi asked.
"I actually took a page out of Itachi's book and did some scouting, and there's a horde of zombies coming this way." Saya said.
"What? But...that trash can couldn't have been that loud!" Takashi said seriously.
"I agree, and they're moving in a pretty disorganized manner, so you might as well say it's a patrol for them." Saya said.
"Well...I say they're easy pickings." Kohta said with a grin, then the three went to the roof and opened fire into the crowd. Takashi then had an idea and walked away.
"Where are you going?" Saya asked.
"To seal the exits, and besides...shotguns are close range weapons." Takashi said before leaving, and once he got the last entrance locked, he went to the main entrance, unlocked the door, and opened fire into the crowd.
Meanwhile still, Itachi was with Alice walking down an empty street, and they both looked around while they traveled.
"So...where's this park you mentioned." Alice asked.
"It's around here somewhere; I really did see one." Itachi said.
"O.k." Alice said.
"In the meantime, would you like to know how to scout?" Itachi asked.
"Sure." Alice said.
"Well, first off, stealth is a must-have; stay silent, out of sight, and maybe have a way of distracting the zombies, like these wind chimes here." Itachi said while showing the chimes he keeps in his pocket.
"That makes sense." Alice said.
"As for scouting itself...well, it's pretty simple: just focus on the types of buildings around you, what type of supplies they might have, the number of zombies, what else might be there, you name it. But, in this case, you're scouting, you're not doing the rest of your team's job for them. Very important here." Itachi said seriously.
"I know. There's alot of us for a reason." Alice said.
"Right..." Itachi said before they continued their walk...then Zeke started growling.
"What is it boy?" Alice asked, and Itachi looked ahead, before chuckling. A lone zombie that used to be an elderly man was shambling about, and Itachi casually strolled out to engage him.
"Hey! Somebody should call Indiana Jones, because I think an ancient artifact's gone missing." He said, and the zombie began marching towards him, but Itachi simply stood there smirking. Alice then watched with concern as the zombie got closer and closer...then Itachi side-stepped as the zombie lunged at him. To Alice's amazement, the process repeatedly no less than five times, with the square of space being made getting larger and larger.
"Itachi! Just kill it!" Alice exclaimed, but Itachi kept dancing around the zombie that just wouldn't stop going for him. Eventually, Itachi leaned against a car, then sighed as the zombie shambled toward him from the other side of the street.
"Oh this is already boring me to tears..." He groaned before loosing an arrow through the zombie's face before taking his arrow back.
"Why did you do that?" Alice asked.
"Because I can; seeing creatures that used to be people come after me, only to get outsmarted and outdone by me at every possible turn feels great." Itachi said.
"These things are dangerous!" Alice said seriously.
"I know that, but that's all the more reason to be happy I beat them. The difference between me and everyone else, is that I'm not afraid of them." Itachi said.
"But...you said yourself they used to be people." Alice said.
"But they're not. They're...not, and that should be taken seriously." Itachi said, and Alice deflated. "Look...this is just how it is, if you don't get it, fine; this isn't why we're here in the first place. I said I would bring you to the park, and I am a man of my word, so let's go."
"O.k..." Alice breathed out, and with that, Itachi retrieved his arrow, and led Alice to the park, which happened to be around the corner at the end of the block they went done. Luckily, the place had no zombies, not even any dead ones, and there wasn't even any blood on the swing set, monkey bars, or any of the other things set up to be played on. In the meantime, Itachi watched Alice enjoy herself on each set-up, with the slide, and monkey bars being her favorites. Of course she also played with Zeke frequently, from throwing a stick and having him fetch it, to chasing him, to just simply petting him, and letting him lick her.
It was quite a spectacle seeing the little sister of Takashi's group enjoy herself the way she was. Even though she was by herself, in the middle of a zombie-infested hellhole, and just witnessed Itachi toy with one of the monsters that cause more harm than anyone should have to witness or suffer...she was having the time of her life. At first, it was quite refreshing, but overtime...Itachi couldn't watch anymore; he couldn't recall a single time he possessed that kind of innocence, nor could he imagine ever acquiring it, so seeing it happen in front of him was like seeing fate taunt him.
Eventually, Alice had enough, and rejoined Itachi who was leaning against a wall in thought.
"Enjoy yourself...?" He asked.
"You bet! I used to come to a park like this all the time with my dad...I hope he saw me from Heaven." Alice said.
"Maybe..." Itachi breathed out.
"You don't sound very happy." Alice said.
"I can't say I am..." Itachi trailed off before walking away.
"Wait! What's wrong?" Alice asked as she went after him.
"I never had any moments like this, by myself, or with my parents." Itachi said.
"Oh..." Alice trailed off.
"And I don't want to hear anything about my parents, things are tense enough as it is." Itachi said seriously.
"But...if they apologized to you for whatever they did, maybe you can make up for it?" Alice asked and Itachi stopped and looked right at her.
"Kid...at this point, I'll put an arrow through their faces before I accept their apologies." He said...and Alice's eyes widened and her breath hitched. Itachi paid her horror no mind as he drew an arrow and held it in his left hand, along with his bow, with the arrow's center being held in his hand itself. Alice then recovered from the shock of what she heard, then followed him as they went back down the street in silence...until...
"Why are you holding that arrow like that?" She asked.
"So the arrow's ready to be shot as soon as possible; this is the archer's version of having a sword drawn. As for why I'm doing it in the first place...well, let's just say I have alot of steam to blow off, and as such, I want to shoot something." Itachi said, and Zeke started growling again while looking to the side, and lo and behold, a man showed up which made Itachi tense up.
"I don't recall seeing you around here." The man said, and Alice hid behind Itachi's leg.
"Nothing gets past you does it?" He said, and the man pointed at Alice.
"I want the girl." He said, and Itachi shared a look with Alice; she didn't trust the man either.
"Well you can't have her..." Itachi said smugly.
"Is that so...?" The man asked, and Itachi nodded and raised his eyebrows...before the man went for his pistol, and Itachi loosed an arrow that hit the man in the face before the man could draw his pistol in the first place, making Alice scream. Itachi then strolled up to the dead man's body and retrieved his arrow.
"You...you killed him..." Alice breathed out.
"Your point?" Itachi asked simply.
"You just killed a living person. He's not even a zombie..." Alice said.
"Again, your point?" Itachi asked.
"Why don't you care!?" Alice asked.
"Why should I? I know his type; he's the last person a kid should be around." Itachi said seriously.
"You could have solved this peacefully." Alice said.
"Hardly. Nevermind the fact he was about to pull a gun on me, the world is best rid of people like him." Itachi said.
"Did you even know him?" Alice asked.
"Don't have to; I got the same feeling from another person of his caliber, and I was dead-on correct. Don't ask me how I found out either." Itachi said.
"But..." Alice trailed off.
"But nothing, this is how things are. Besides, I've killed 19 people before him, raising the count to 20 won't hurt." Itachi said.
"Why are you so mean at times?!" Alice asked.
"Contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing as being too nice, and I refuse to make that mistake. Hence why that group you think of as a family doesn't appeal to me. And that samurai girl wannabe? The one who keeps following me? I'm alittle amazed I didn't ask myself who she thinks she is earlier..." Itachi said.
"Her name is Saeko, and she's the most awesome girl I've ever met!" Alice exclaimed.
"Well, good for you. To me, she's tolerable at best, and downright annoying at worst." Itachi said.
"You're annoying!" Alice snapped.
"That being said to the guy who just saved you from being toyed with." Itachi said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Alice asked and Itachi took a moment to think.
"You know what...I've already said too much. Let's just get back to the bus..." Itachi said before walking away, and Alice groaned before leading Zeke down the road as well.
At the hospital, Takashi's AA-12 attracted more zombies to him, and even made the zombies in the hospital itself stir. Hence the fact that Masato was lobotomizing zombies by the dozen with his knives as he rushed through the halls, or just stood by a doorway and stabbed them in the head as they came through the door. Shizuka of course stayed at a distance and took pot shots at the zombies Masato missed, or wasn't close to, and even got the hang of reloading, albeit with quite a ways to go when it came to speed and finesse.
Nevertheless, the pair ran through dozens if not hundreds of zombies in each part of the hospital, with Masato having to grab a zombie before it grabbed Shizuka, then smash its head into the concrete wall. They then took a moment to catch their breath, with Masato frantically looking for more zombies to slaughter as the gunfire outside didn't stop for anything. Shizuka however couldn't keep her focus on the here-and-now since she recalled the first time Masato saved her in that house the previous day, and now here he was saving her life yet again.
Outside, all hell was breaking loose as Kohta and Saya picked off zombies one by one, and even took off their suppressors to draw zombies away from Takashi with their own brand of gunfire. Takashi himself was as relentless as ever as his automatic shotgun tore the undead to shreds as he kept retreating. Little did he know that another horde was coming from behind him.
"Takashi! Watch out!" Kohta yelled, and Takashi looked behind him and backed up in time to shoot down a group of zombies, and Kohta and Saya finished off the first horde, then went for the new one. Takashi then backed away from the horde, tripped over a dead zombie, landed on another one, then got back up before carefully running over the horde of dead zombies they took out then checked his ammo. He was almost out of shells, but he would have to make due.
He tore through the zombie directly in front of him, with Kohta and Saya picked off the ones to the side...then Takashi noticed some activity in the back of the horde...and his breath hitched. There was Rei flailing around her new naginata and slicing through scores of zombies without pause or mercy. She swung to the side, multiple heads went flying, she rapidly stabbed through one zombie's face after another before impaling one then slamming it into a group, then severed even more heads before backing up to refocus. She then spun her bladed staff around before throwing a barrage of rapidly slashes to the zombies' heads one by one and in a matter of seconds, the last group of zombies fell and Rei just stood there catching her breath.
Takashi just stood there watching her compose herself before eyeballing the horde of zombies she just made short work off. He then went back to watching Rei...and it was like she was a completely different person altogether. She was always had an angelic appearance, and became significantly more hardcore overtime, but now it was like she wasn't even human anymore. Takashi then slowly walked towards her out of reflex, and Rei noticed him approach before giving him a faint smile.
"Surprise..." She breathed out.
"I...I don't..." Takashi trailed off.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" Rei teased.
"Where' your rifle?" Takashi asked.
"I left it on the bus, and why would I use a knife on a rifle, when I have this?" Rei asked.
"Yeah, about that, I have...alot of questions." Takashi said, and Rei put her hand on his face.
"I'll answer them all later on." She said softly, before Takashi pulled her in for a deep, passionate kiss, with the carnage around them, and any onlookers disregarded. Even Saeko, who just stood in the background with her arms crossed and a proud smile on her face was just standing by the whole time as Rei had her time to shine.
Now if that's not a good way to show off the new-and-improved Rei, I don't know what is...and it should go without saying, but I'm just getting started here. Also...this is probably the darkest that Itachi has been so far, and that's including the fact he's been pretty damn brutal towards people implied to be guilty of sexual violence. Then again, who can blame him? People (if you can even call them that) who cross that line are pretty much built to be hated. Anyways, that's it for the 1st chapter of this arc, so be sure to Rate, Review, and Share, while the rest comes your way. Stay tuned...