He should have seen it coming.
He really should have.
After Shido; Takashi would never call that piece of filth sensei anymore; started to preach like some kind of televangelist in the bus, something he barely pay attention; as he was way more interested in how was the state of his pack than anything the bastard had to say; but Rei snapped badly at the words of the man.
She jumped out of the bus before continue listening to Shidos crap, however, she jumped right in front of a car, filled to the brim with those things, and of course, none of them had the slightest idea of how to drive.
Takashi was faster and tackle the girl, hugging her and taking the impact of the car against his body, shielding his ex-girlfriend from the crash against the metal front of the car; the impact send both of them flying, and between the cracks and pops of his bones and muscles, Takashi was pretty much convinced that he ear the voice of his pack calling for him.
Not half a second later, a burning bus slam against the car and made a loop in the air; If it weren't for the fact of the blood and broken bones, Takashi would whistle at the amazing stunt; before crash down like a meteor and completely collapsing the tunnel where he and Rei had been sent by the car collision.
Rei and the rest shout at each other between the flames, trying to make a plan for a possible reunion, despite the faint protest of Shido, who tried to convince everyone that both would be death, but none of his pack wanted to believe that shit, especially after how has he cheated death twice already.
Anyhow, the bus just went kaboom in all his faces and Takashi; limping more than running; along with Rei, had to jump outside the tunnel, Takashi was too slow and took the full brunt of the shock wave, acting again as living flesh shield for Rei.
The action that led to him being suddenly attacked by one of those undead things with a biker helmet; grabbing the thing by the throat with whatever was left of his left arm, Takashi was waiting for his right arm to heal enough to rip these clowns head out of his shoulders.
Rei intervened, and smashed the head of the biker zombie with a heavy stone; it was not needed but still appreciated, it would lessen the burden over Takashi body, his double stunt as meat shield has shown him an entirely new world of pain; he was not that wrecked since the van that kidnapped Saya run over him at full speed.
Not pleasant at all.
Any case, Takashi just cover his face with his left arm and grunted, leaving his body to take care of the burns, broken bones and torn muscles; he had soon learned to trust his healing factor but as Magnus/Plushy had already explained to him, his healing will be proportional to his will.
Lose the will to live, you die; as simple as that.
He used a strange word for that, something in his face, a glint of sadness that Takashi perceived, made him do not inquire more; the older Therianthrope seem to had bad experiences in the matter.
"Takashi?" the faint and worried voice of Rei called his attention " are you okay?".
It was a stupid question, but in all, Takashi could not blame the girl to be confused and just react in conventionalism, asking standard questions for non-standard situations.
"Peachy" grumbled Takashi when a sudden pang and pop reconnect his spine back into its place.
Rei flinched at the tone of Takashi and the sounds his body was producing as it heals himself, and the teenager Therianthrope felt like a major ass for made his ex-girlfriend flinch like he was about to hit her; despite all, despite all the history they lag behind them; the abrupt and not pleasant at all broke they had; Takashi could not hate the girl.
She was a teenager, and if Takashi had learned something of all the shit that he has had to deal with during the time his body was trying to heal himself, it was that the puberty is a very, very bad bitch to deal with.
Hormones screaming, bodies changing, appetites awakening; in resume a complete mess.
Takashi grunted and slowly begun to raise from the floor where he was laying, not even sparing a second glance at the body of the thing that Rei has killed with a big stone slab; it was a good thing, that Rei was a trained martial artist; as Saeko was a swordswoman, Rei was a spearwoman, a veteran member of the Sojutsu Club.
Rei was looking at him with tears in her beautiful eyes and Takashi just snarled inside his mind, he couldn't bear the sight of the woman he loved once, in such a state, even if she was the responsible for the state he was in, and the crazy stunt she pulled out of her sweet ass when she jumped out of the freaking bus.
Takashi stood up and stretched his body, with a loud series of cracks and pops; damn it had hurt like hell to recompose half of his body again, and now that he had a second to ponder about it, he was hungry and thirsty as hell. His healing had to come from somewhere after all, and a little grub to recharge batteries would be awesome, unfortunately, that would have to wait until he got reunited with his pack.
"Come" Takashi extend his hand to the girl on the verge of tears " let's get out of here".
Rei blinked a pair of times, and with a faint smile, clean her faint tears and take the hand of Takashi, that raise her like it was nothing, together, they went up the hill on where Takashi has been recovering from the wounds and damages of the double accident.
"Uh...Takashi?" called Rei to her, well, she was not entirely sure how to call him now, he was no longer boyfriend, and she had to admit that she has done a lot of stupid things and could have destroyed her friendship with Takashi, despite all the good reasons she had for it and...
"What?" simply answered Takashi.
He looked at Rei with a pair of honey brown eyes that she had to admit, never looked that intense, he was way too different; and handsome; than he was when they were dating like he has changed somehow and after whatever happened to him when those things bite him.
"I..Uh, Takagi-san said to reunite with them in front of the police station of the district" explained Rei about the conversation they had when he was still a little out from the car crash.
They had to shout at each other after the fire and the car crash but for what Takashi listened, Saya has given them a set of instructions about how to reunite them together, if not the same day, the next; in a place where they could find shelter and if they were lucky, someone who could explain to them what the heck was going on.
Being honest, Takashi had more than enough in his plate already with his newfound state as Therianthrope; despite findings, his new physical progress more than convenient for this shitty apocalypse; the sooner anyone could create a semblance of order in the middle of this chaos, the better for everybody.
"Saya is a freaking genius" chuckled Takashi who was proud of the intelligence of the pink haired girl, one of his oldest and more valuable friends.
Rei seemed to fidget a little for the comment, she would like to be praised like that too, but she knew that she was not in position to say nothing, it was her fault all this situation after all or better said it was all fault of that Shido bastard, that monster was the responsible for all of this with his cultlike bullshit that was eating the wills and the brains of a lot of the survivors of the bus.
"Cool!" the happy voice of Takashi snapped her out of her thoughts.
Takashi was raising from the sidewalk of the hill, a bike with a big bump on the left side, probably when the biker that had attacked them, turned, after being bitten and forgot how to drive.
Takashi was looking at the bike like a child would be looking at a very expensive gift that had suddenly found his way into his lap; he checked the bike with a smile that Rei had not seen in him in a long time; she really would love if Takashi could smile at her like that again.
But that was an already more than burned bridge, when she dated Hiashi, after breaking with the teenager in front of him in a very bad manner; she always feel bad about that, she had to do it, he wouldn't understand and he was always so..she didn't know how to call his attitude around her when they were dating, it was like he feared something.
And now she was the one that feared him, she was the one that has seen how truly dangerous he was and in a little corner of her mind, her heart and brain were having a very heated debate about what to think about the new Takashi.
Well, it was a turmoil more than a debate, first of all, because she saw him die in front of her eyes, and that shock, was buried under the necessity of survival, just add the impression of seeing him alive and well, and then how she almost lost Hiashi too, and how Takashi was just as dangerous and violent as all those things and...
Rei hugged herself, she hated to be alone, she has always been with someone, her mom, Takashi, Hiashi, she hated the solitude, and now she feared that Takashi hated her and this new Takashi was not the one she knew so well, the one that she fell in love with, but now? she was not sure anymore, he was better, he was worst, he was dangerous, he was handsome as hell.
In resume, the usual ramblings of a teenager girl, that only went through the roof in the face of a zombie apocalypse.
Takashi noticed the sudden change in the smell and attitude of the girl; it was easy for his senses to catch up those changes, especially in those important to him; she was part of the pack, well, she was in the past, even if she betrayed him and rip his heart out of his chest and stomped on it a couple of times for good measure.
Well, he didn't really like to hold grudges, and even if what Rei and Hiashi did to him was a very bad thing, the feelings he once had the orange haired girl was something that could not be forgotten; is hard to forget the first love after all, however, Takashi had to admit that he had other objectives now, and he totally blamed his Therianthrope blood for that sudden and brutal urges he had from time to time, at the most inappropriate of the moments.
Anyway, he should console the girl; truth to be told, Takashi was as scared as she was, but his Therianthrope blood made it appear like he didn't give a damn about anything, a thing that it was absolutely wrong; he would gladly give his life for anyone of his pack, the mere idea of losing any of them made his blood run cold.
"Out with it," said Takashi to Rei, raising from the side of the bike; leaving apart the dent on the metal, the bike was perfectly fine and would serve them to quickly rejoin the others in the rendezvous point.
Rei, blinked and look at him with a confused expression, she didn't understand for a couple of seconds, and then she relaxed a little, with a faint smile, just ask Takashi the real question she wanted to ask since all this debacle started and she saw him back among the living.
"Do you hate me?" there was a ton of emotions running on that question, none of them was easy to respond, and all of them were carrying thousands of different meanings, usual thing with teenagers, that were starting to walk into adulthood and had their bodies and hormones running rampant.
"No" was the quick and clear answer of Takashi " I should, but I don't" explained the boy leaning on the bike so she could see her eyes and face, and see that there were no lies on his words.
"Look, Rei" sighed Takashi "we...ah, hell, I don't know what to say to you" grumbled Takashi.
Rei was relieved, a lot; but even then, the coldness of Takashi, when she or Hisashi was in the room, was something she got never accustomed and even if she recognized that she broke with Takashi in a very bad way, she never wanted to lose him as a friend.
"I did wanted to beat the crap out of Hiashi and hurt both of you" confessed the boy and Rei flinched at the words and at the tone of Takashi, who was full of hurt than anger " but, the time pass and I had my own problems to deal with; among those, this new physical progress I posses".
"I am sorry" said Rei in a whisper, a little scared, Takashi was not human anymore, so much was true and despite the mess of feelings she had, she feared him too, any normal person would, if you saw him tear apart those things from the dozens, only with his claws or swinging a firefighters ax.
"Its all in the past now" shrugged Takashi and sitting on the bike, he ignited the vehicle with a loud and satisfactory roar that made the boy smile; he was still mourning his lost bike, that glorious piece of machinery that was wrecked by the mercenaries that kidnapped Saya in the past.
"Hop in" called the girl and she compelled quickly not really wanting to be alone in the middle of this nightmare.
He twisted the handle of the bike and the two-wheel vehicle roared as they moved into the main road to the city.
Just as Takashi suspected, all the place has gone to hell; not only for the groups of those things that were everywhere but for the crazy as hell survivors that suddenly started to attack everything in their sight, as it would do something to help them survive.
Sound only attract more of those things, and then you must be quicker than them to leave them behind and just live for another day, shooting a shotgun in the middle of the street, even if the street is on fire; literally; and the cacophony would only be a beacon for hordes of them.
Takashi was more or less convinced that he could deal with a large group of those things, if he had space for hit and run or in a confined space, where he only had to deal with one or two of them at a time; otherwise they would chew him little by little, like a pack of wolves would do to a mighty bear.
He was not invincible, just a lot tougher than the rest of the folks that had been already bitten and turned into a groaning, walking corpses; a destiny that he would not share, instead they would rip him to pieces, as he was fresh, not tainted flesh, ready to be consumed.
These things were just all about putting their mouths into the nearest piece of flesh, it does look like some kind of virus or sickness, or whatever; Takashi was sure Marikawa-sensei or Saya would have a theory by now about what the hell was going on; they were infinitely more clever than him.
The pack is all about covering each other weaknesses, Takashi was neither a brain nor a medic.
The kind nurse of the school; far more intelligent than people gave her credit for; and the heir of the Takagi were exactly those two things, and on the second order of things, Takashi was pretty much sure Magnus/Plushy would not allow any harm came to them.
Although, Takashi was not sure, up to where will the older Therianthrope risk his neck for Takashi's pack; Marikawa-sensei was part of his pack, but it was clear for Takashi that the older Therianthrope had already marked Marikawa as his, he was already living with the nurse; even if it was in dog form; and had already a relationship with the roommate of the nurse, a woman called Rika.
Takashi was a little surprised for the fact that Magnus/Plushy seems to have marked two women as mates, after all, for what Magnus/Plushy has insinuated during the crash course he gave to Takashi at the end of his first change; the mates were a deadly serious topic for any proud Therianthrope.
However, Magnus seems to have two wives?, mates?, Takashi was confused by now, and he will ask the older Therianthrope about that matter when they could have a break from all the madness surrounding him.
Speaking of which; and without even losing a beat of his own little ramblings, Takashi dodged another shot from a crazy idiot with a shotgun, and pull a couple of stuns with the bike so another crazy asshole with a carver knife didn't cut them or another with a metal bar didn't break Rei skull open.
Left, right, and left again; a zig-zag pattern that prevented the crazy psycho of the gun to full them of holes, like the car he just pass and that exploded not half a minute after between the holes in the deposit and the fires that surrounded the street; it looked like a damn war zone, full to the brim with all kind of violence; from the cannibal attacks of those things, to the violence crazy people do on each other.
"Why do they attack us?!" screamed Rei grabbing Takashi waist for her dear life "we are alive!".
"They don't care" simply shrugged Takashi and kick into a wall one of those things that got to close to be comfortable "everybody, are enemies for them, the living and the death".
Her grab his waist went stronger and hide her face on his already more than torn school jacket, trying to blind herself from the carnage around her.
Takashi know that Rei was not a delicate flower, she could be really nasty and violent when she wanted and she was an expert with a lance, she was one of the stars of the Sojutsu club; but this was out of the League of any sane person, only those with a very specific and crazy as hell kind of mind would be comfortable in this messed up world.
And monsters like him, but that was another can of worms to open another time.
Takashi was going to tell his pack all the truth, expect Magnus/Plushy; the older Therianthrope will reveal himself when he thought it would be appropriate; he will show them how animal he could become when the push came to the shore, and if Magnus/Plushy was right, it was going to be far worst.
Magnus/Plushy was capable of shapeshifting between human and dog/wolf at will and keep his mind completely intact, he was older than he let on and he was stronger and far more powerful than Takashi, not to mention he had the advantage of who knows how many years of experience with his powers.
Takashi was happy to have the old wolf around, he has helped him, even if he didn't appear so; once Takashi calmed enough, he recognized that the presence of the older Therianthrope helped him; in subtle ways; but it was there, helping through the worst seizures or simply with his presence, so he would never felt completely alone.
He didn't want to admit it; any pack animal would not want to admit it, but being alone was one of the worst things such animals could experiment, and Takashi, despite all his antics and own quirks hated to be alone; he prefers quality over quantity but still, he hated to be alone.
Now he had a pack and pretended to defend it at any cost; to the hell with whoever stood his way.
Once they made pass the worst of the blockade that this street seems to have become, between the zombies and the crazies with weapons, the rest of the road; if you could dodge the abandon cars or the ones where those things were still lurking and just laze around, waiting for their next prey; was pretty clear, easily allowing them to cover a lot of ground.
They were crossing a river through a bridge when suddenly a jet plane of some kind pass right at his side; Takashi senses picked up the roar of the engines and the flash and sudden reflect of the light of a camera; he almost flip the bird to the plane; Rei saluted at the plane, thinking that it was a good sign, that the military was doing something to fight back and all.
It must be the pessimistic inside of Takashi, but he did not have any high hopes on that front; after all, he did saw a lot of choppers at the beginning but right now, he had seen anything that indicates that there was any kind of rescue; of course it was still early to judge; after all it has passed barely half a day since he ever started to live in this nightmare, and if one had to judge based on the movies; such a massive rescue operation is not something one call put out of his ass like it was nothing.
Anyhow it did seem to lighten up the spirit of Rei, and even if it has only served to that, he appreciated the help; Rei was a teenager girl at heart, and despite all her strength and valor, she was not the one with a healing factor, increased and impossible physical strength or three inches claws capable of tearing steel and concrete like it were wet paper.
Being a Therianthrope does have its perks, although after the years of bullshit that Takashi had suffered before it, were no worth it; not to mention, he was physically much better now, but the mind part...well, that's a tricky one, his urges were way more focused.
To be blunt, he was horny as hell ninety percent of the time, looking for a worthy mate to claim and ride until both passed out of pleasure.
Takashi growled under his breath, it was getting worst and how the perky and soft mounds of Rei; a total bombshell, by the way; squeezed against his back, was not helping, in fact, it was making it worst and he noticed a couple of pangs in his pants, as his little wolf was starting to awake for the sensations.
This was not the time, really not.
Twirling the handle of the bike; increasing the speed of the machine, Takashi drove into the exit of the main road, if his memory was correct, this shortcut would be relatively free of traffic, as all the cars would be swamped in the middle of the city during the first hours of the outbreak.
However, soon they found a police car, crashed against the exit that they were going to take to get out of the main roads; the front car of the car was totally mess up against the wall, and Takashi had to put the brakes, he had little space to maneuver and surpass the wrecked car.
Pulling a stop, he let Rei get down the bike and she walked with a scared expression to the car, looking at the corpses with fear and then with relief, an action that did not go unnoticed by Takashi; he suspected that the girl feared that her father was among the two corpses of the car, fortunately, it didn't seem so.
Much to the surprise of Takashi, the girl started to look for something inside the car and soon, she turned to him, offering him a little pistol, a standard pistol for all the police officers of the city; trying to remember what Kohta explained him about firearms during all those chats in the roof, he believed it was a Smith and Wesson model 37 Airsmith, if he recalled correctly.
"Thanks, Rei" smiled Takashi to the girl, and with a soft sound, made his claws appears on his fingers " but I am already more than armed, don´t you think?".
Rei blushed a little but still she insisted on keeping the gun, she said they would be safer with it around; and Takashi agreed with her, after all, he was quite limited in reach, only at arms range, and the gun could eliminate one of those things before he even had the time to move.
Walking down the bike, Takashi gently moved Rei out of the way and with a flex of his arms and neck, grabbed the back of the car, tensing his muscles and dragging the ton of scrap metal out of the way with brute strength; considering that he was a teenager and had pushed out of the road about a ton of metal scrap, it was quite the feat.
Rei was freaked out by the feat of strength of Takashi, nothing human could have pulled out that one out of his sleeves and still look it was nothing but a bit of an effort.
"Well, that would suffice" snorted Takashi, flexing his shoulders for the effort; he was pretty much sure that if he wanted, he could have tossed the car over his head and into a building, but that would take a lot from him, and he was already hungry and thirsty for all the healing and fighting he has done during all the day.
And what a fucking day, it has resulted to be.
Rei just kept staring at the boy, and her mind just wander to those steely muscles that rippled under his open and torn jacket, this was not the body she remembered, in fact, this was not the Takashi she remembered at all; the boy she fell in love with was not this, wolf in human skin.
Rei just stared at him with a mixture of worry, fear and tiny spark of teenage lust, and Takashi noticed it but as the proverbial ostrich, he just kept his head buried in the earth; despite all the cold shoulder he was giving to the girl, old loves did not die so damn easily; in fact Takashi knew that at some point, his lust was going to be dangerous to control.
Especially if the Therianthropes had some kind of mating season; that was to be quite a problem until he had found his mate or mates in the plural; damn instincts again, playing dirty tricks like that in his mind when he slipped his defenses a little.
Rei sit on the back of the bike, as Takashi drove it past the broken barricade, they didn't even spare a second glance to the corpses, none of them seem to actually wanted to be back and biting, most probably because both their heads were smashed against the front of the driver and co-drivers seats; the airbag could do nothing to prevent their deaths.
There was never too much traffic on this road, it was a relative secondary one, and only those who lived in the nearby did really make good use of it, allowing them to a quick access from their homes to the road, when they were back from the job or going to their jobs.
Takashi's father was one of them, and the boy had extra care to drove around with his bike when he was sure that they will be no one in the road who could denounce him or to be caught in a traffic accident due to his poor driving skills, with the years he became quite good with a bike, although he was eager to put his hands on a real bike and not the ones that the law established as legal for his age.
He was pretty much sure, then in the middle of this zombie apocalypse no one will ever give a damn about a teenager driving a bike; they will far more interested in survive another day.
Takashi feel how the breast of Rei bounced up and down his strong back on each dump of the road and Takashi growled in his mind; in part absolutely enjoying the experience, on the other hand, feeling quite conflicted about that.
Rei was Igou girlfriend now, and he was not going to do what they did to them; no way in hell, he was way better than that.
Although, Takashi could not know that Rei was as flustered as he, she was riding on a bike, hugging the perfect body that Takashi possessed now, sensing the steel like muscles of his back and his diamond-hard abs move under her hands, not to mention that she had taken a good and long sight at the bulge in his pants and had to hide how she was blushing to the root of her orange hair.
Both teenagers were having less than pure thoughts, but fortunately, Rei found a theme of conversation that will not end in a very awkward manner.
"What happened to you Takashi?" asked the girl over the noise of the bike " when did you change like that?".
Or perhaps she did not have that insight.
Takashi answered from the deep of his soul, it was a too good opportunity to let it pass.
"You wouldn't understand" deadpanned Takashi as an answer, mind you, that in his mind, he was laughing like a madman.
Rei flinched and slumped a little, leaning the side of her head on the broad and powerful back of Takashi, those were the exact same words that she toss at him when they broke up as a couple.
Not long after her own father came to her in tears; the man that she always had as an unbreakable pillar; and confess to her that she was going to be held a year, as an advertisement for her father that any more diggings into their business would lead to bigger consequences, next time instead of holding her a year, perhaps they will snatch her and broke her like a good bitch before sending her back to her father.
They had been very descriptive of what they would do to her if her father kept with his line of work, an investigation that had already cost him his job, and if he kept pressing on, it would soon cost him his daughter or his wife in a very crude and brutal manner.
She was broken that day, she cried rivers and when she saw Takashi the next days, his usual reserve and always careful actions around her like she was some kind of glass doll, it made him snap badly at him, pouring a lot of pent-up frustration and rage into the boy that had done nothing but love her, even if it was in his own cautious and always tiptoeing way of doing things, the ones to blame for her outburst.
"Takashi.." just whimpered her, and Takashi growled, he was as weak to the pledge of a beautiful girl as any other hot-blooded male, and if said girl was your first love, that pledge was thrice effective "I know, you are angry with me, but please, can you just act like we did in the past?".
"No" was the dry and quick response of Takashi " we are way past that now, Rei" sighed Takashi who did his best to do not ear the cries of the girl behind him; those tears were not his problem, even if each one of them was like a dagger to his heart.
"Just for old times?, please" that was a beg, and Takashi started to see the problem here.
Rei was alone, alone with an ex-boyfriend who was capable of tear apart a person like it was made of wet paper and had all the reasons of the world to be mad at her after the idiotic stunt that had almost cost her life, he has saved her life; thrice now in the span of several hours and the girl just wanted to believe that she was safe, that she was with a friend.
The protest of the bike cut short the answer of Takashi, the marker of the gas tank was dangerously close to the big E of empty, and he grunted, raising the eyes to look out for a nearby station, fortunately there was one nearby, and with a sudden pull, he drag the bike out of the road and into the detour for the station.
Saved by the bell, however, he knew that Rei would not let it go; it was deadly serious matter for her, to know that her ex-boyfriend was not going to tear her apart like he was doing with any of those things that he came across, or abandon her in the middle of this mess.
Despite having tackle her out of a car accident, taking the hit instead of her; a hit that should have kill her without a doubt; she feared that it has been the straw that broke the camel back; that because of her actions, Takashi would saw her nothing but a nuisance, and his cold demeanor and responses was only adding more fuel to the fears of the girl.
Takashi parked in front of the fuel dispensers and look with a raised eyebrow at the machines; Rei just get out of the bike and wait patiently on the sides, nursing her spear and the pistol that she got from the dead policemen, she had never refuel a bike, she didn't have one, so she never learned how to do it.
However, Takashi grunted and put his hands into the empty pockets of his borrowed pants, his wallet and all his few possessions were left on the school when he had the first change, and that included the medicine of Doctor Morgan, his cigars, and his MP3.
Right now, Takashi would gladly give an arm for a glass of his medicine and a cigar; even if he had got much better after his first change, now that his animal side was no longer at war with himself, that side of him was slowly slipping some manners and thoughts into him.
Namely his even bigger brutality than before, his harshness, his increasing appreciation for the feminine form; a euphemism for his urges to jump at his females and ravish them until they could only scream his name in the highest peak of pleasure.
"Ey, Rei" called Takashi the girl as he eyed the surroundings, there was a lot of those things and a few survivors running around, nothing to be worried off.
"Yes?" answered her with a flinch for the growling tone of Takashi, he did seem pissed off for something; she hoped she was not the cause.
"Did you managed to keep some cash with you?" asked the boy.
"No, sorry, I lost my wallet and purse back in the school," said her and Takashi just sighed, before raising an eyebrow and smile with a wicked smile.
"Give me a minute, will ya?" Takashi lock his gaze into the shadows of the gas station shop " I have something to do inside".
"Oh, sure, I will be here" she smiled and Takashi smiled back to her, something that give her hopes that perhaps he had not forgotten her completely.
Takashi entered into the shops and Rei moved a couple steps ahead, a little curious about what Takashi was doing inside the dark shop; she feared that there could be some of those things lurking inside the shop, waiting for any living person to enter and then devour him.
Much like Takashi had done.
The sudden and violent sound of something being smashed and something metallic being torn apart, startled Rei who stiffened in sudden worry and fear, but when the laugh of Takashi reach her, she just sighed, relieved that it was Takashi having fun by ripping open the cash machine and if the sounds of crystal being broken violently were a hint, she suspected the tobacco machine too.
"Someone is having a lot of fun" she slumped a little in her posture, relaxing for a second after all that has happened to her in during all this day, it was overwhelming and she was not entirely sure of what the heck has happened when she was not looking.
It has been a rare week anyway, Igou was extra careful with her, Takashi just ignored them, giving them cold shoulders at every turn, and then the rumors about his growing relationship with the Ice Queen Busujima reach her and she felt a knot in the gut.
Ok, he was no longer her boyfriend but even then, the mere idea of losing Takashi, one of the few that she could really call true friends, was something that she was not ready to accept; she respected Busujima-senpai, she was one of the most capable swordswomen that she had ever seen, and the number one beauty in the school for what that cretin of Morita keep babbling.
There was a real, tiny, but present; the chance that Takashi could fall in love with the Ice Queen and forget about her, enough she had with Takagi, and how she has become such a bitch after she and Takashi broke up when her dad broke in tears in front of her.
Rei had; surprisingly from her point of view; very few true friends, and among those, two names came at front in that list, Takashi, and Igou, and for a long time, Takashi was all she needed, until she got tired of how he treated her like she was made from glass and always minding his steps around her.
Rei was not a bad girl, far from it; but as all teenager, she was as confused and lost as the rest of the youngsters of her age; however, puberty can be a real bitch for anyone, especially when love matters came up front; a lot of couples on this day do a lot of harm to each other; not by real malice, but simply because they were still trying to find their place in the world.
However, and this was a great, however; Takashi was not your common everyday teenager, instead, he was a powerful Alpha Therianthrope, whose instincts and thoughts process were irremediably changed when he suffered the first change, and at last could get a hold of his own powers.
Rei thoughts were abruptly cut off when a rough arm passed at the side of her head and put a knife into her neck, the sudden appearance of a tall and ugly boy made her scream in surprise and fear.
Takashi was, just on that moment, smashing the tobacco machine, this place had a brand of little cigars that he had never smoked before and he was about to pick up his cigars and a lighter when the scream of Rei and the sudden smell of the assailant hit him like a train.
Fear, lust, anger, all of those emotions were like an assault on his senses, nagging and hurting his nose; he punched the wall of the shop and created a crack of two meters all over the place, snarling, he took rein of his senses and picking up the tobacco, walked outside the shop.
As soon as he exited the shop, he saw what had made Rei scream, but for Takashi, what really made him cringe, was his smell.
He was taller than her by a head, and twice broad, but there was little muscle in him, his arms were strong but the rest of his body lacked the definition of an athlete, he was a very tanned young man, dress with a purple basket shirt and green short pants with a bandana of some kind on his head.
What really called Takashi attention was the metal on his teeth; the boy had a very expensive dental work on them; and apart from that, the eyes of the boy; who were moving all over Rei breasts and him in alternate shows of fear and lust.
"Yo, bro" laughed the man, slowly pressing the knife on his left hand over Rei neck, she was struggling but the sudden cold sensation of metal over her neck stopped her before she cut her own throat.
"Nice bitch you had here!" approved the crazy boy "these are some A rank tits" he brusquely grabbed and squeezed one of the breasts of Rei who whined and protest in embarrassment for the manhandling.
Takashi didn't even react; at last physically, he was having a very hard time putting a reign in his instincts so he just not jump and tear apart the boy; in fact, he just open his new cigars, hit the button of the package on the back of his hand extracting one, and with a lazy movement, lighten the cigar and took a big inhale of the strong taste of the tobacco.
It was not bad, but he really missed his cigars, this was a good substitute until he could found his brand.
The youngster with the knife just stared at Takashi dumbfounded, and in the back of his mind, there was a nagging sensation of urgency, a primal voice that just kept screaming at him to get the fuck out of there.
The boy just walked to the bike, and with an alarming tranquility, he just opened up the plug of the fuel deposit and taking one of the hoses, start to put money on the machine, as the feminine voice of the machine advised him about security matters and how to proceed to refuel the bike.
All of it, without losing the cigar he had hanging in his mouth, don't really giving a fuck about the fire and the ashes that could bring all of them to hell, if one of the embers fall on the deposit.
Reis mind was torn.
Leaving apart that she was being groped by this ugly pig of a man, she had not expected the cold behavior of Takashi, like they were something that wasn't his problem, something irrelevant against his cigar and the refueling of the bike.
Leaving the hose inside the deposit; Takashi turned his attention to both of them with a glare that made both shivers at the ruthless and predatory glance of the boy, looking at them like they were some unexpected entertainment on a boring night.
"So...you want something?" asked Takashi taking his cigar with one hand as he inhaled some smoke into her mouth; thanks to his reinforced healing factor, any health problems from the tobacco was something that didn't really worried him.
If a zombie infection had not killed him, neither would do the tobacco.
"Oi, don't fuck with me, asshole" gritted his metallic teeth reflecting the dim lights of the gas station "pass me the keys of the bike, and get lost".
"Nah, don't think so" shrugged Takashi like it was nothing.
"I said give the fucking keys!" roared the older boy glaring at Takashi with a mad glare "I would kill you!, I would kill you like I did with pa and ma!, they became like those shits out there, I have to kill all of them..even my little brother!".
"Shitty luck, yours" simply replied Takashi taking the cigar out of his mouth and leaning on the bike.
"I would kill you like I did with them, I will carve your fucking skull..." continued the poor bastard.
In any other situation, Takashi just would have mercy on the poor fucker; he was nothing but another horror history in the middle of this zombie apocalypse; the accursed city would be flooded with that kind of stories by now, as the zombies would transform normal lives into complete horrors and nightmares.
He was not scared of the boy, and his bestial side was keeping him waiting for the chance to jump at him and rip his head off his body, no one threatened someone closer to him; even if that person had already ripped his heart from his chest and stomped on him badly; even if she was not part of the pack, Rei was important to him deep down, even the beast knew it, and in a sense Takashi knew that the beast was just trying to influence him to ride Rei until she became his bitch.
Like Saeko, Hayashi-sensei, that sexy blonde Miku and...
Takashi growled and massage his forehead, forcing the lustful thought back to the corner of his mind, he was not in the mood right now to deal with that shit; he had other worries, however, the older teenager just made a comment that made him snarl.
"I would fuck this bitch" the rant of the older boy lose all strength when Takashi snarled and with a loud and nasty sound, his three inches claws manifested in the forefingers of his right hand.
"Rei" called Takashi, exhaling the smoke of the cigar into the growing night of the city, the claws on his fingers clearly visible " this would be a perfect chance to shoot this asshole".
The girl blinked and the man who held him blinked too; during his last anger rant, he had raised his knife into the air as he was about to menace or charge at Takashi; what he failed to see was how the girl pick up a pistol from her hip and pushing it against his chest, pull the trigger shooting the little but lethal gun at point blank.
Takashi grunted from the sudden echo of the shoot in the night; for his ears it was like a thunder, and without any real care in the world, pick up the fuel hose and toss it to the floor, leaving the extra liters that he had paid with the money of the shop to flood the surface of the gas station.
Moving the bike, so the wheels would not touch the gas, Takashi came closer to Rei, who keep looking at the boy on the floor; despite the shoot at point blank range, it was not a lethal shot, instead he had a very painful bullet wound, on his left shoulder, a bleeding wound that was making him scream like a madman.
She was in shock; despite being the daughter of a policeman, and the strength of will she possessed, it was the first time, she actually shot anybody, she was a spearwoman, not a gunfighter and the blood on her hands was a very unpleasant surprise.
Those things blood was cold, nasty, she rationalized every time he bust the head of one of them; heck, even when he took the gun from the police patrol, it was cold and mostly dry but this was not it; this blood was red, warm and fresh; not to mention how the man she had shot was squirming in pain, howling and swearing a storm grabbing his wounded shoulder.
The strong arms of Takashi surrounded her, she flinched at the beginning, fearing that she would be hurt, but the arms hugged her, taking her into the chest of Takashi as he hugged and comforted her with words that she did not pick very much, but that carried worry for her well being.
Like an open dam, her tears flood, and she turn around to hide her crying face in the strong chest of Takashi, that hugged and comfort her for what she had done; even if she has done it by necessity.
Takashi had remembered how Kohta explained to him, after he almost killed one of those idiots that pester him; still didn't know exactly why; how the military officers, veterans with several kills under their belts, had to take care of those rookies that made their first kill in combat, helping them to go on with it.
Takashi was doing something similar, but with a couple of twists, first of all, Rei had not killed the boy; sure, it was a nasty wound and if he kept squirming like that he was going to die from blood loss; and on second hand Rei was not a soldier.
She was strong sure, and had a fiery temper; Takashi knew it very well; but she was not a trained professional, she was not a soldier, not a warrior, just a teenager girl, dragged into a very nasty situation, forced to made some cruel decisions and took some hard choices in the middle of this nightmare.
"Rei, he is alive" whispered Takashi to the girl, who keep embracing his chest, taking comfort and strength from the powerful boy; she sobs and slowly turn her head to see the boy laying on the floor, blood still wetting his shirt, as he gritted his teeth and swore a lot lesser loudly.
"Get to the bike, Rei" ordered Takashi to the teenager girl, slowly and gently pushing her to the machine, taking the gun out of her hands and cleaning a little of the blood on her hands "I will take care of this, move the bike out of the fuel".
Rei protested a little for being out of the arms of Takashi, she wanted to fell that again, she felt as protected as she was now, but there was no space for it, and Takashi orders were absolute, however, the tone of his voice was warm and tender, exactly like she remembered it was when they were together.
She took the bike and move it to the border of the gas station, realizing that there were dozens of those things slowly converging on the place; with an expression of surprise and fear, she called Takashi to get back into the bike soon.
Takashi knelt in front of the boy, who tried to stab him with his knife and Takashi just grab his wrist and broke it with a quick twist; the extra shout was not something that he minded; taking the falling knife with his free hand, he raised an eyebrow at how light it does seems to be and simply toss it over his shoulder to the already more than flooded floor of the gas station.
"I was going to offer you the last smoke, but fuck it; you threatened to rape one of my girls" said Takashi colder than the winter wind; not that the boy could listen clearly between the shot and the broken wrist " so, I am going to leave you here, with more than enough time for those monsters to feed on you and then, I am going to toss this cigar into the fuel of the floor".
Takashi just raised from the kneeling position and walked to the motorbike where Rei was waiting, killing a couple of the quickest of those things that got close faster than he thought, before taking the road out of the gas station.
Rei did not say a word, as she has ear part of the conversation, and when Takashi had called her one of his girls, her brain freeze not really paying attention to the rest; her heart was beating like a drum, her mind was running on a dozen different directions, all of them were interesting to say the last.
Unconsciously, she leaned on the strong and wide back of Takashi, taking comfort in the presence of the boy, hugging his waist and discretely taking discrete pleasure on the diamond-hard abs he was sporting now.
Takashi just grunted in silence, as he had a lot of thoughts to chew meanwhile he drove out of the gas station; not after tossing the cigar on the way of the gasoline and do not given a fuck about the screams of the boy Rei had shot, being devoured alive by a bunch of those things.
Not ten seconds later, the fire reach the gasoline, just in time to create a path of flames directly at the broken hose of fuel and with a sudden bust of wind, as the flames introduced themselves into the gas deposit; all the place erupted in a geyser of flames, obliterating the twenty or so zombies in the zone; among them, the recently turned teenager with a bullet in the shoulder; into a blaze of gasoline fire that soon spread to all the nearby zombies that had come; called by the boom of the explosion, the shouts of the boy and the roar of the bike.
Takashi had already got the hell out of there, as the bike has dragged them into a safety distance easily, thanks to his acceleration rate; not for nothing it was one of the best pieces of the market; however, his passenger was stunned by what has just happened in the place behind them.
She observed how the place burnt and before saying anything else, she smiled and hugged the body of Takashi strongly; she was convinced that he has done all of it for her, avenging her for what the tall teenager that has groped her had done, and in a sense, she was not mistaken.
Takashi was pondering why the fuck had he done something like that?, he could just tear the throat of the fool, in a single swipe of his claws and be done with it, but for some inexplicable reason, he had pulled that stunt out of his ass; calling the attention of half the zombies in the damn city to the gas station.
In a sense, he knew that the zombies will be incredibly distracted by the explosion and the fire that now was spreading through the area; fortunately there were not any near houses that could spread more the fire; but he was sure that several of those things were going to burn and they were stupid enough to walk around in flames until they were consumed by the flames; carrying the flames to nearby buildings..
Good thing that the electricity was still running, along with the water systems and the heating, otherwise it was going to be a reenact of the Great London Fire but in a Japanese zombie apocalypse version.
As much as he suspected, the city was a complete chaos, even when they hit the secondary roads and move onto the familiar road that he used to drive his motorbike out of the view of possible patrols; as he was still underage for a driving license; at the sides of the road there were abandoned cars and in some of them, one could saw the tumbling forms of those things; trapped on the inside of the cars and unable to open the doors unless they were lucky enough to manipulate the handle.
Takashi moved the bike in a zig-zag pattern each time they come close to one of the few things that were outside of the cars, just tumbling around, looking for the next prey to infect and consume his flesh; he didn't want to risk any lucky shot to Rei, as he could be bitten or scratched by those things if they were lucky enough.
He had not risked his life twice already for one of those things to turn her into one of them; it would be an absolute waste of young and deliciously supple womanly flesh and...
Once again, his more bestial part was trying to slip some not precisely pure thoughts in his head, about being laid as soon as possible; strangely enough, he only has thought about getting into bed with some girls that were precious to him; even if he knew and had met some very beautiful girls in the school; all of them into the Morita and Imamura list; only a few of them had called his attention beyond simple being attracted to them as any straight male would be.
Saeko was number one on that list; she made him hard just by smiling at him with those azure eyes of her, one of her smiles and he needed all his force of will to do not grab her and bang her until she was fucked senseless; and she was not the only women that he had thought that way.
Hayashi-sensei was another big one in his personal, women that he wanted to claim as his, list; her voice soothes him better than any lullaby, not to mention, redheads were a personal fetish of him, and the older woman had a body to die for, with a red mane to make it even more alluring to him.
Speaking of fetishes; it was quite a surprise for him not to thought about Marikawa-sensei in a similar way; she has been nothing but good to him and, on a more mind on gutter line of thought, those massive knockers of hers were very, very alluring for Takashi, but the mere thought of pound Marikawa-sensei like he would love to do to Saeko or Hayashi put an unpleasant sensation on him.
Not to mention Magnus, would rip his dick off if he even dared to put a hand on his woman; even if the nurse had no idea that Magnus/Plushy and Rika Minami; the nurse roommate; had been in a relationship since the days Magnus/Plushy enter in their lives.
Although, even if Marikawa-sensei was out of his reach; he would still deeply love the nurse for all the kindness she had with him, and how she did all he could to make his worst seizures as comfortable as she could, acting like the real doctor she should be.
That was something that intrigued him; why the hell did Marikawa-sensei foregone the medical university, to be the nurse of a school; as prestigious as it was; in the middle of a little town?. That made no sense, Takashi knew how knowledge the nurse was, especially after the talks she had with Doctor Morgan in the Americas, a true medical genius.
He drove into a side road and his nose picked up the familiar smell of his pack.
A thousand of emotions run through his head at that moment.
Saeko; even if she carried the smell of adrenaline and controlled fear and worry; was like a light in the middle of the night; the soft cherry of Hayashi-sensei and her voice trying to get a bunch of unknown scents into order; the soft metal and oil of Kohta, with the constant sound of his improptu gun running out of ammo and the mix of wood and hair gel that was Morita; the medicines and spring like aroma of Marikawa-sensei; the book and fruits smells of Saya; the equal to his own animal and powerful presence of Magnus/Plushy.
His pack was in danger, and Takashi felt a surge of power inside of him, a desire to kill whatever threatened them, to rip apart his enemies, to tear them into pieces and feed on their bleeding hearts; violence surge, on his body like a wave, and he noticed how he was scratching the handles of the bike with his claws and how his teeth were slowly growing bigger and into a wolf-like shape.
He turned the bike to the next exit and twirl the handle of the bike to increase the speed of the bike to the max; the roar of the engine, called the attention of all the things that filled the tunnel on where they were driving; and Takashi didn't really give a fuck, as he picked up Rei from her waist, much to the surprise of the girl and; in an amazing display of acrobatics, dexterity and strength; jumped the near ten meters that separated them from the edge of the bridge.
Takashi couldn't know it, but his body was already started to change, so when he jumped from the bike, his body has already bulged out his muscles, take out his claws and made his appearance change slightly, bigger, nastier, fangs, a little fur, strong physical features, but the most drastic change would be his eyes.
Golden, honey-colored, wolf-like eyes that irradiated power.
With Rei in his left arm, Takashi just pass over the edge of the bridge; roared in defiance at the little horde of things that had surrounded his pack, the echo of menacing growl filled the bridge, as he landed, taking the full brunt of the fall before Rei could touch floor so she would not suffer any consequence of his astonishing stunt.
In a semi-crouching position, he was a terrific image; especially when his claws and fangs are in open sight.
Leaving Rei behind, Takashi moved.
His pack was in various states of amazement, subtle fear or simply flabbergasted by his sudden appearance, not only for the roar but for the extra muscles, the claws or the fangs.
And Saeko, who was smiling widely, noticed the totally fascinating honeyed eyes Takashi had now, finding her predatory glance more than attractive to her, and she was not the only one among the females on the survivors that found this bestial Takashi roughly attractive.
"Great entrance, Bro!" laughed Morita, smashing the head of one of those undead things with a wood bat.
"Kohta, catch" growled Takashi tossing the pistol that he took from Rei with his free hand as the other was cutting the head of one of those things in ribbons.
Kohta saw the pistol coming his way and with a wicked smile caught the pistol; really, Takashi swore that Kohta´s eyes just gleam with anticipation, before he made a perfect two headshots into the heads of two of those things; Takashi, once again, fell relief of having such a sharpshooter in his pack, a skill more than useful in the middle of this zombie apocalypse.
He passed at the side of the girls and Igou, tearing apart the few that had passed through Saeko, Morita, and Kohta; despite all their efforts, the numbers were against them; winked an eye at them with a fanged smile, before he just leap along Magnus/Plushy, right in the middle of the horde; proceeding to butcher them like cattle inside of a slaughterhouse.
It took them a minute, more or less, to clear the bridge on where his pack and some survivors had appeared; Takashi was a little confused about why they were not in the bus and on their way to the next bunker or shelter or evac point of whatever the hell was the plan of the government to deal with this.
Although Takashi has to admit that he didn't really give a fuck about what the government would want, he was going to make a path into the woods and the mountains surrounding the city; if he was not mistaken there was a lot of old fortress and other refuges that he and his pack could use.
Together with Magnus/Plushy, they would be the kings of the mountain, and none of those things would ever come close to their packs unless they came by the millions, something he had not entirely dismiss; so far the universe had already taught him to be prepared for the worst that could happen.
The reunion with his pack was emotive and a little tenser than he expected; Morita, Kohta, Saya, Hayashi-sensei, Marikawa-sensei, Magnus/Plushy and surprisingly Yuuki Miku; A girl that somehow has ended with his pack; did receive him with open smiles, although they were a little taken aback from his feral appearance.
Well; not all of them, there was a glint in the eyes of Saeko and Yuuki that made something inside of Takashi throb and send a jolt to his groins; he almost jumped at them and started grinding his hips into theirs as he kissed and licked their tongues, mouths, and tits.
But he cornered those thoughts for later; it was about time that he did something about his over the roof libido, it could be dangerous, seriously dangerous in the future if he lost focus because he was too busy ogling the bodies of some of the members of his pack.
In a sense, it was time for his to choose his mate or mates; not too sure about that, his reactions to the different females around him were difficult to understand to say the last, opposed to any common sense he has been taught since he had memory.
Polygamy, or better said, getting laid with all the women you can, was something frowned upon in the Japanese society; and he didn't want something like that either, if there was no real connection with the girl, it would not even be pleasurable, at last, that was he felt, that he needed a mate, a female that could stand at his side, then the sex would be amazing.
On another order of things, he was once again covered in the blood and body pieces of those zombies, and it was starting to get really annoying at this point, it overloads his sense of smell and tact; one of them was vital for him.
It was kind of ironic how he would have sold his soul for dull his senses like this, not a year before, and now he found himself desiring them to go back to his hypersensitive state, a state on were he could detect all enemies around him in miles and know without a fault where his pack was and what was their states.
Magnus/Plushy trotted back to Marikawa sensei side, after shaking his fur of all the fresh blood he had on him, Marikawa-sensei was hugging Rei and she pet the enormous dog behind the ears, earning a tongue roll of his mouth and a furious tail waggling.
Takashi just smirked and made something similar, cleaning himself of the biggest and bloodiest chunks of flesh that had fall on him after the torn to shreds the incoming zombies that threatened his pack, after that he walked back to his pack, reuniting with them and discovering why were all they on foot, instead of the bus where he left them.
Once they told him the tale, Takashi had to clench his fist, burying the nails in the flesh of his hand to subdue his anger.
As soon as Takashi was out of the bus; Shido made a move to become the leader of the survivors, starting to talk in a sense that Saya call, " more proper than a cult leader than a teacher"; and a lot of the survivors paid attention to his words and soon, his pack found themselves trapped into the proverbial wall and sword.
There was a lot of sexual innuendos made among the threats; led by Tsunoda; the ones that were accord with Shido just wanted to fuck all the girls in the bus and start a new human race with Shido as his honored and revered leader.
It was crazy, but in the apocalypse, worst things will happen, when the humanity start to turn against each other for survival; Shindo just shot the first bullet.
Fortunately, after Kohta almost put a nail in the head of Shido; covering the scape of the rest of the pack and the survivors that decided to come with them.
They were not as numerous, their numbers were not that worrisome.
Saeko, Kohta, Saya, Morita, Marikawa-sensei, Hayashi-sensei, Igou, and Rei were the original pack, not sure about where allocate Plushy/Magnus as the older Therianthrope was there only because of the nurse bombshell.
Only one more addition, Yuuki Miku had joined his group.
The night was falling on them, and despite Takashi know that the darkness would not be a problem for him, it would be for the rest of his pack, so they need a safe house, as soon as possible, eying the surroundings, he looked out for some house that could be easily barricaded, so his pack could rest.
That was the point on where Marikawa-sensei suggested going into her friend apartment; that was just on the urbanization at the end of the bridge and they would have a lot of space to rest and pass the night, not to mention food and a big car of some kind; although what made all the females nodded in agreement, was when she talked about a spacious bathroom.
Knowing full well, that he would be lynched by the females if he ever dared to say something opposing to the bath idea, Takashi and Magnus/Plushy shared a humored snort and just led the blonde nurse lead the way, it was a little walk anyhow, as it was at half a kilometer far into the nearby urbanization.
Takashi stretched his hands, flexing the muscles and preparing the claws for the inevitable fight that would come their way, as soon as they enter the streets of the residential zone; in part he was annoyed by the sudden loss of sharpness in his senses; dulled by the blood and grime that covered his entire body like a cloak.
They soon move out, Takashi taking point with Morita and Saeko at his left and right, a little behind them Kohta had their backs covered with his pistol, even if he only had ten shots left, he was the best marksman and Takashi felt safe with his friend keeping an eye on their backs, just in case something pass through them.
Igou, Rei and Magnus/Plushy were surrounding the non-combatants, they were the few that had a semblance of combat training, and even if Yuuki and the rest had to pick up some improvised weapons, they were more a support than a real combat asset.
In a state of alertness, the group moved quickly into the streets of the residential zone, where the apartment of the friend of Marikawa-sensei lived; Takashi assumed that it was Rika Minami's apartment, the one that Magnus/Plushy had already claimed as a mate and a very good friend of Marikawa-sensei; very, very intimate friend, Takashi suspected, but it was not his problem.
He loved the nurse like a big sister; a bit clumsy and airheaded big sister, but a sister nonetheless, and he would forever be grateful to her, when she helped him to endure the worst of his seizures, and how she did all in her hands to help him by contacting Doctor Morgan and giving him the recipe of the medicine that did wonders on him before the first change came.
He desired the best for the nurse, and if she was happy with Rika and Plushy, he would not say a word otherwise.
Takashi was moving on autopilot all this time; his senses alert him about when one of those things were close and then he dispatched it, quickly and brutally, not even really thinking about it.
When there was more than one, Morita and Saeko intervened and help him deal with the menace; in all the walk they had to do, Kohta only needed to shot once, killing one thing that was about to fall from a fence directly over the main group.
Soon they reach the place, and Takashi had to admit it was a very nice place, it was a two histories tall apartment, with his own metal fence and a damn Humvee parked in the garage; so this was the tank like car Marikawa-sensei was talking about, well, she was damn right about the car , being like a tank; and it was a godsend right now.
They soon clear out the place, barricading the fence, so even if they all fall sleep, none of those things would be able to slip past the defenses, something highly improbable in Takashi's opinion, but he will not leave anything to the luck, given the situation they were in.
Once inside, he had to admit it was a very nice place to take a breath after all the craziness that they had been suffering all day long, and not only speaking for him and his newfound status as Therianthrope, but at the same time, speaking about all the bloody and ruthless deeds all of them did in the past hours.
For Takashi it was not really a worrisome matter, his more beast-like side just saw all the butchery like something that it must to be done in order to survive, it made him ruthless, cruel and merciless; much like a real wolf hunting his prey would be.
But none of the other had such advantages, in fact they were nothing but teenagers, neck deep in something way out of their league; so far the presence of Hayashi-sensei and Marikawa-sensei had done wonders for the morals, as the two adults; one of them a nurse; was more or less capable of gave them reassurance and guide them to safety.
Leaving apart the crush Takashi had on the red-headed beauty of a teacher; she had done all she could to somehow make it out for the sacrifice Takashi did on the school when he saved her life from being devoured alive by a bunch of those zombies, when the door of a class suddenly opened and a dozen them burst into the halls where they were running, trying to get out of the school.
Between the two older women; well, Takashi suspected more thanks to Hayashi-sensei than the lovely but a bit air-headed Marikawa-sensei; the group soon start to take a schedule of some sort about the bath, the dinner, and the sleeping arrangements.
They were a big group, Takashi suspected it would come to bite them in the ass in the future if the things continue as they were going right now.
At some point in the future, his pack would grow bigger, as he would found more worthy possible members among the survivors that he could find during their travel among this horrid zombie world.
Takashi didn't participate in the conversation they had in the big main room on the entrance of the house, if he was around, the place would smell like a slaughterhouse and he just took some food from the fridge, and a very needed couple of bottles of water, making a beeline to the balcony, on where he could eat in peace and had a very needed cigar.
The balcony was right along the main bedroom; and Takashi took note of the big ass TV in front of the bed and the metallic wardrobe near the stairs, he was tempted to bet that it was some kind of weapons locker; for what Magnus/Plushy said about Rika, she was some kind of elite cop; not really a surprise if she had weapons on her residence.
Opening the door of the balcony, Takashi moved outside and with the hunger of an entire day, he devoured the trio of raw meat trays that he had picked from the fridge, swallowing them down with a couple of liters of cold water.
That really hit the spot for the teenager, he just tossed the garbage into the streets, hitting one of stumbling around things on the head, making him look around and smash against one of the walls of the street.
The situation could not be more humorous if it wasn't for the dozen or so survivors that were trying to do exactly like they had done, and trying to find a shelter; no matter what they have done; surrender or fought back; at the end, they were surrounded and torn apart.
However, Takashi noticed how the zombies or whatever the hell were those things; despite their initial frenzy for flesh meat, at some point; and he would have loved being able to chronometer it; they stop eating and leave the mangled piece of flesh alone.
A few seconds later, the mangled piece of flesh, join the rest in their groans and tumbles all around the street.
Takashi was relaxingly smoking a cigar, looking at the chaos in front of him and chewing a couple of theories about those things, how they attack everything in their path; even sometimes others like them, in their path for flesh, but how they did not consume completely the preys they caught.
He will have to run those thoughts by Saya later, she was way more clever than him, and could make a better analysis and hypothesis than him hands down; he would felt a lot more relieved if she could make some head or tails about all this madness.
The door of the balcony opened and the scent of Hayashi-sensei hit him like a train, she smelled divine, even under all those capes of blood, sweat, fear, and anxiety that she had blocked under a wall of a sense of duty and necessity.
"Yes, sensei?" asked Takashi without even look back "what can I do for you?".
"I, we" corrected herself, and as usual, Takashi found her voice soothing and alluring "were thinking if you would be so kind to...enlighten us about your recent changes" explained the woman, as curious as the most, but leaving the teenager the space he could need after survived a death experience twice in a day; one of them, saving her life.
Takashi stood silent for a second, toss some smoke to the night sky and turning off the cigar against the railroad, he smiled at her.
"After you sensei" bowed Takashi in mock elegance, making the older woman giggle a little for the clumsy bow.
They went down the stairs that separated the main bedroom from the main room and the kitchen, where the entire numbers of the people they rescued were waiting in little groups, resting on the couches and the carpet of the living room, eagerly waiting from him to start his tale.
Takashi eyed all of them, smiling at his pack and with the practice of whom had done it a hundred of times, took out his cigars, tap the bottom of the package against his hand, making one stand among the rest, picking it up with his white teeth and fangs and lighten it with his new lighter.
This was going to be interesting, to say the least.