Grey clouds loomed overhead, while thunder rolled in the distance, as a steady drizzle fell on the city below. Takashi walked down the empty street alongside his fellow survivors: Saya, Saeko, Rei, Kohta and their senseis Kyoko and Shizuka. The group had their weapons fully drawn and ready to shoot at the sight of them, in what used to be a busy commercial district of a nearby city. Only now, it was filled with rows of desolate shops, their modern glass architecture no longer gleaming and their electric billboards no longer working.
"Keep your eyes open, and don't let your guard down," Takashi cautioned the group, his finger wrapped closely on the trigger of his gun.
"Right," responded the group in unison, while scanning the streets and buildings for any sudden movements that may signaled they had company. It had been a month since the world went to hell due to the zombie outbreak. Technically, they still didn't know the origins of the disease―whether it was a naturally occurring pandemic, or a bio weapon released on an unsuspecting public that soon spread across the globe. Regardless of how it came to be, or who was responsible for it, the group remained committed to surviving the ordeal.
"According to the map, we're about 25 miles from Shinkawa," remarked Saya, glancing at the area while holding the map on one hand and her umbrella on the other.
The rain began to increase in intensity, the clouds growing more furious by the minute.
"Komuro-kun, shouldn't we seek shelter? This storm is coming down hard," said Shizuka-sensei, her eyes filled with concern.
"You're right, sensei. Everyone, see that building? Let's wait out the storm in there," said Takashi, pointing to a café shop sitting at a street corner.
The group nodded and they made their way to the building. Once inside, the rain began to pour down heavily, as thunder and lightning illuminated the dark sky. The shop's interior was built in the style of an English hunting lodge, complete with a fireplace and bear hunting trophy hanging over it, wooden panels covering the walls, and a large wagon wheel chandelier with oil lamps hanging over the room. What used to be a trendy spot for people to hang out and buy their coffee, was now reduced to a gloomy shop with a couple of broken chairs and espresso machines.
Takashi grabbed one of the many leg chairs that were scattered around the floor, "Let's start a fire and get ourselves warm first."
The group agreed and quickly gathered the broken chairs and started tossing them into a pile to be used as firewood. Saya and Kyoko-sensei went to the kitchen to search for any remaining food. Unfortunately, they only found pots and pans.
"Well, at least we have running water," said Saya, letting the faucet water run.
"But there's no gas," remarked sensei, turning on the knobs of the stove.
"Can't have everything we want," Saya sighed. "We'll just have to improvise like we always do."
They cleaned the pots and pans with soap dish they found in the kitchen and rinsed them with tap water. Saya then filled up a 12qt. pot full of water, and with sensei's help, they carried it back to the fireplace where Takashi had started a fire. When the water was brought to a boil, Takashi took out a packet of instant ramen from his backpack.
"All right, let's pour the noodles in," he said enthusiastically.
The group followed suit, opened their packets, and dump the contents into the boiling pot. Shizuka-sensei assumed cooking duties and stirred the noodles, as the aroma filled the room. Huddled closely to the fireplace, the survivors eagerly awaited their meal.
In the meantime, they went to the kitchen and washed their metal bowls and chopsticks. It was a nice welcome to finally clean them in soap and running water after all this month of traveling through different cities.
"Meal's ready!" sensei cheerfully exclaimed.
The group quickly, but orderly made their way back to the fireplace and formed a line in front of sensei. She began to distribute the noodles to each member of the group. When everyone's food bowl was filled, sensei took what was left for herself. Fortunately, there was enough for everyone to eat. They loudly slurped their meal, savoring each precious noodle.
"I wish this had some flavor. Plain ramen is the worst!" Rei declared. "I can't wait for this to be finally over and go back to eating real food."
"You complain too much," Saeko said, without glancing at Rei, while she drank her broth. "Any food is better than no food. We have much to be thankful."
"And you're too calm!" snapped Rei. "You think your precious bushido is gonna save you from hunger or them?"
"I never said it would, but it does provide a moral framework for how to conduct one's self in the face of adversity."
"Oh, just shove it up―"
"That's enough, Rei!" Takashi protested. "Please, just let us eat in peace."
"You're always taking her side," she glared at him.
"No, I don't."
'Yes, you do!"
"Rei, please. There's no need to be so combative with your friends. Especially, at a time like this," Shizuka-sensei pleaded with her.
"I just want things to go back to normal."
"We all do, but it may take longer than expected. Or worse, it may never happen," Saya said.
"Things will return back to normal, you'll see," responded Rei, growing agitated. "They can't stay like this forever. Even when this country got nuked or had huge earthquakes, things always went back to normal."
"But this time is different," interjected Kohta. "We're not fighting a war or experiencing a natural disaster, we're fighting an invisible enemy that turns people into walking corpses." The group quickly turned their focus to him.
"We don't even know how this happened," he continued, "or when it'll be over. But what we do know is we have to make the best of it and figure out how to survive in this new world."
"NO! I don't wanna live in this new world," Rei started to cry. "I hate it! I hate running from them! And I hate not having clean clothes to wear, a hot bath to take, and whatever food I want to eat at any time."
Kyoko-sensei put her arm around her shoulder, but Rei pushed it away, "So all of you better hope this ends soon because I'm not living like this forever." She stormed off to a corner in the room.
"Don't mind her," said Kyoko-sensei. "She's just stressed out, that's all. These things do take a toll on your mind."
"She's always been a spoiled brat," remarked Saeko coldly.
"Just let her cool off," Takashi looked at Saeko. "She wasn't always like this."
"Hmph!" she scoffed, without glancing at Takashi.
The group continued eating their meal in silent. Afterwards, they washed their bowls and chopsticks and left them out to dry on the kitchen counter.
"Supply check," called Takashi to the group.
Kohta brought his backpack to the only table that wasn't broken and placed all his supplies on it: ammo, a couple of water bottles, a few packets of instant ramen, and some toilet paper. The rest of the group ― including Rei ― followed suit.
"This doesn't look good," whispered Saya to Takashi. He nodded.
"Based on this count, we need to ration our supplies even further. Otherwise, we'll run out before we reach our next stop," Takashi warned the group. "From now on, we'll eat smaller portions."
"But for how long must we ration our supplies?" asked Kyoko-sensei.
"An extra four days. At the rate we're walking, we'll reach Shinkawa in about two days," answered Takashi. "And that's if we don't run into some detours."
"We already eat only two meals a day, is cutting it down to smaller portions really going to help us?" questioned Shizuka-sensei.
"We don't have much of a choice, sensei. We have to make the best with what we have. And right now, this is it," he pointed at the supplies on the table. "Hopefully, tomorrow we can move out and find some supplies."
The group took back their stuff and put them inside their backpacks. Eventually, night came and the survivors took out their sleeping bags and placed them near the fireplace. After an exhausting day, they went to sleep with the hope things would improve the next day, while the storm continued to rage on throughout the night.
Takashi leaned on the shop's doorway as he looked outside at the heavy rainfall. It had been more than four hours since the group had woken up the following morning, and the storm showed no signs of diminishing.
"Still going strong, huh?" said Kohta, walking up next to him.
"Yeah, I don't know how long we'll be here if this keeps up," replied Takashi.
"I just hope it doesn't last for the entire week," Kohta said, looking concern. "We can't find any supplies in the stores nearby, and this rain won't help us reach Shinkawa before we run out of them."
"I know. Let's just sit tight and wait for this storm to pass."
"And if it doesn't, then what?"
"We'll push forward to Shinkawa no matter what," Takashi said, with fierce determination. He turned to Kohta and grinned, "Don't give up, man. At least, we were able to fill up our canteens with fresh water," he pointed at the rain.
Kohta chuckled, "I guess, that's the silver lining in all of this."
They both laughed as the rain continued to pour down.
The next day, the group was more fortunate as the rain stopped. The sky was still partly cloudy, but that was good enough for them to embark on their journey. The group made its way to their next stop, finding some supplies along the way to keep them going until they reached their destination. With Saya's skillful guidance, they were able to avoid dangerous roads that could become ambush traps by them. Despite the detours, they managed to make up for lost time. After hours of walking, they finally reached Shinkawa. The group walked along a riverbank bike path. Grey clouds still loomed overhead.
"It should be right over this hill," said Saya, pointing at it while consulting her map.
"Let's go then!" Takashi exclaimed, sprinting towards the hill, with the group following him closely behind.
When they reached the top, Takashi and his group looked out into the area below.
"It's here! We finally made it!" he exclaimed with a beaming smile.
Less than a few hundred feet away from them, lay a white warehouse complex the size of a football stadium. Prominently displayed on the building, in its calligraphy font and famous logo, was the company's name:
Amazon. co. jp
