Yuuki has never considered herself a violent girl.

To be honest; she was a lover, not a bloody fighter. She loved sex and abhor violence; sue her.

However, almost gutting that asshole of Shido?, oh Kami, that felt really good. Shido-sensei, to address him properly, was a snake in the suit of a man; Miku knew it well, way before he showed his colors in the bus and blatantly started to form a little cult around his fucking personality.

The bottom line of that cult from Miku´s perspective?, her fate was to become Tsunoda´s; or any other jock in the bus; cum-dump.

No thanks, she had way more taste than that. Well, she had a thing for Tsunoda, so much was true, even if he was a jerk, he was a handsome devil and an athlete. Miku regretted her fling with the boy; physically it has been great but it did not compensate at all from the assholeness of the teenager, who believed himself the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Now she had a group people that she could even call real friends, a real pack; quite the novel experience for her. People that have protected and accepted her without thinking that she was an all you can fuck buffet. Sure, Morita has ogled her more than once, and Kohta still blushes when she teases him about his crush on Saya; that was obvious as hell; but none of the boys has ever done anything remotely sexual to her, treating her with respect.

That earned some serious points on Miku´s book. Takashi was an entire cake, she was eager to jump that Tarzan as soon as she could, the boy hit all her points something fierce, and Miku had little protests about sharing him with other ladies.

Miku was, possible, the more sexually experienced along the females of the pack. Hayashi-sensei seems like she has not found a good lay in forever; Miku suspected that Shizuka-sensei was a virgin; Saya totally was and Saeko has lost the V-card with the previous aforementioned Tarzan. Takashi was superhuman, that means that he could go for hours and hours.

Miku experienced something similar with a well-endowed soldier in Okinawa; at the end of that savage night she could no longer walk and was sore for an entire day and Takashi´s was bigger and the lovely wolfy has bigger endurance. In fact, she knew for certain that Takashi could handle more than one woman, she had a certain video of a certain youngster with dozens of ladies of the night that made her drool at the screen, wishing to be part of the orgy.

Let's be honest; who would any girl choose? the pack that has protected and treated her like a person or the personality cult of a slimy bastard that would reduce her to a sex-toy?. If anyone chooses the latter, then perhaps they should visit a psychologist.

That was the reason why she has stabbed Shindo-sensei.

She was on her way to the impromptu workshop of the manor, where she was working as a seamstress; she turned the corner of the entrance of the manor and found Shindo-sensei talking with Lord Takagi. She didn't know the stone wall of a man had returned. Grimacing, Miku tried to slip unnoticed; the less she talks with Shindo-sensei, the better but luck was not on her side and Shindo-sensei called her, way friendlier and respectful that he has ever done.

That´s where she knew that Shido-sensei wanted something from her. Miku has only listened to that flattering tone when Shindo was trying to manipulate someone into what he wanted or kissing somebodies ass. In any other circumstance, Shido-sensei was an arrogant and conceited bastard that threats anyone like yesterdays garbage. She has seen it happen more than once, and she has to admit that she didn't really give a fuck about it. Her upbringing didn't precisely bring out the goodness of the heart.

That was one of the reasons why she was convinced that she has hit the Jackpot with the pack.

Unfortunately, stabbing Shido was not one of her best ideas.

Anyhow, the deed was done and there is nothing that she could do to undo whats done. The bastard was as shocked as her, grabbing the knife deep in his stomach; Miku just stared at him with a mixture of anger and shook on her features, still in the pose of stabbing him.

Suddenly a couple of men of the Takagi´s grabbed and restrained her, something that was not very difficult for the two adult men. Miku just lets them restrain her, she was guilty of stabbing the bastard, after all, so much was true, although, do not expect her to apologize; she has done it with all the intention of the word. Sure it was a horrible idea, but Kami did it felt good.

The only thing that Miku was lamenting about all this mess, was that he has failed to end the bastard and that she has put her pack in jeopardy with her stunt. Miku was not an idiot, she understood that her attack on a guest of the Takagi was going to have consequences. If she had to guess, she would say that the pack was going to be expelled from the Manor, that would be the lesser of the consequences, perhaps, that wall of a man that was Saya´s dad would like to make an example of her and loop her head like he has done with one of his men that turned into one of Them.

Without losing the hate glare to the bleeding slimy man, Miku was dragged by the two guards of the Manor to the interior, possible to the cells that the Takagi had down the house. Why did the Takagi have those?, honestly, Miku didn't want to know but she was sure that, that was going to be her home for the foreseeable future.

Once they were out of the sight, Miku suddenly was slammed against the walls; the sudden and unexpected impact, made her groan in pain and surprise, the guards were looking at her with hateful eyes and Miku suddenly felt very vulnerable and a complete idiot for antagonizing a group that was infamous for being akin to Yakuza.

Well, she knew Saya and she has met the Lady of the house, and the place didn't look like a Yakuza house, but Miku was the first to recognize that there is black sheep everywhere and she has just stumbled into two of those sheep.

"You stupid bitch", one of the guards practically snarled at her. "What the heck you think you are doing, stabbing someone like that?".

"She and the other kids, are nothing but troublemakers", said the other guard, watching the hall, in case someone appeared to witness. "Perhaps, if we beat the living lights out of this idiot, the other will get their shit together".

"I vehemently disagree with you". A now voice appeared in the conversation and Miku had to blink a pair of times to focus on what she was seeing.

Magnus has appeared out of nowhere, had one of the guards by the throat with one hand and was resting the sharp edge of his ax over the shoulder of the other, all with a smile and perfectly calm. Damn, Miku knew that Therianthropes were badass, Magnus has just confirmed the assumption.

"Now, we are going to have a deep breath and talk this out like proper adults", despite not raising his voice at all, Miku, and the guards were shivering at the implied menace and growl that hide in the voice of Magnus. They are in the presence of someone that you really don't want to mess with.

"I am going to escort the young lady to the cells", that was not an idea was a fact. "Then, you are going to continue with your usual schedule and we all going to forget what has transpired here; savvy?".

The guards just nodded and proceed to run the hell out of there, Magnus was scary, supernatural scary; perhaps another Therianthrope trick?; and has managed to intimidate the two adult men with just a few words. Miku was even more convinced that she has hit the jackpot with the pack.

"You okay, lass?", Magnus helped Miku to recover from the sudden rough treatment.

"Yeah, thanks", nodded Miku. "Sorry, I have done something idiotic".

"Indeed, but tell me that it didn't feel fucking good", laughed Magnus, and Miku smiled.

The older man accompanied her to the cells; thanks to her, now Magnus had an excuse to lazy around the cells, watching over the lass, just in case some of the less disciplined guards had a similar idea and wanted to make an example of the lass.

Curiously, he was not the only one with such a line of thoughts in his head.

Despite not being present in the event, Lady Yuriko Takagi soon knew of the events that took place. She was not acquainted with Miku, beyond the knowledge that she was part of the pack of Takashi, nor she knew Shido-sensei beyond the fact that he was a professor at the school of her daughter.

The lady of the Takagi Manor, knew very well, how it feels to be part of a pack. She was part of one before she met and fell head over heels for Soichiro, and it was a very united pack. Abandoning the pack was never an easy thing, it hurts, a lot, but she had found her soul-mate and that helped to overcome the sadness and the grief, not to mention the birth of her little Saya.

If anything, Saya has inherited the worst of some of her parent's traits, the stubbornness of Soichiro and her own overconfidence in her intelligence. Not to toot her own horn, but she was the reason why the Takagi was a power in Japan and why the family was a wealthy one. It does help that she still kept in contact with the pack back at home and the contacts were enough to grant the Takagi business to bloom.

The pack was a powerful sentiment and Yuriko was happy that Saya has found one. The downside of the pack was how they are too loyal to one another. Yuriko knew that more than one pack has been destroyed, simply because they can not leave anyone behind. In this apocalypse scenario, on the other hand, Yuriko was delighted that her daughter has found people that would never leave her behind, no matter how grim the situation could be.

Still housing a pack like this one, so young and still trying to make head or tails about their situation was a potential disaster. Case in point, the stabbing of Miku to Shido, without any further knowledge of what has brought such animosity from the young lady, Yuriko would assume that Shido did something in the past to the girl, and with the extra confidence that the status of pack granted her, she decided to eliminate a threat.

That was another of the dangers of the pack. The pack only saw things in three tones, ally, pack or enemy. Enemies must be eliminated soon, fast and without mercy. It was one of the reasons why the packs were having such troubles in this modern era, where taking justice into your own hands was seriously frowned upon. Entire packs have ended in jail, risking to reveal the existence of the Therianthropes, to a world that only wanted to believe in the power of science to explain everything.

The arrival of Them, as the young pack seems to have baptized the zombies all around them; has thrown a big wrench in the perception that humanity had on the world. It was something good and bad at the same time, with the apparition of Them, the world was experimenting a massive reality check, suddenly discovering that something that they thought it was impossible was happening in front of their faces.

According to the information that she and her team has been able to pick up from the sources they had left; the plague was worldwide; no one is sure where the heck did it start. Japan was one of the most affected, mostly because of their massive centers of population. Town and cities like Tokyo, Hiroshima, were populated to the brim, and the infection spread like a wildfire.

Well, Yuriko was not entirely sure how the heck Them work. Thanks to her years in a pack, she had her eyes open for the impossible and has seen things that would have to give nightmares to any physician out there, however, Them was a new, even for her. In the past, there were rumors that the packs had fought similar things, but not at this scale and much less with Them so in the open. Mythology was a bit blurry in that aspect, but for the most part, Therianthropes has kept themselves apart from humanity as a whole.

Thanks to her daughter, Yuriko knew that Them operated more through sound than anything else, and that, horribly enough, was capable of infecting even a Therianthrope, if the tale of the Busujima girl was to be believed. Therianthropes were a notable bunch to kill, the idea that a monster like Magnus could be turned into one of Them, terrified Yuriko to the bone.

Unfortunately, she had to work with what she had, and so far, the numbers were totally against her.

The survivors had come into her Manor, following the promise of refugee, food, water, etc. Frankly, she would kick half of that useless waste of flesh as soon as they came running to her home. They have been doing nothing but whisper at her back and still whine and protest as if they had any right.

With a loud sigh, Yuriko continued to work on the papers she had on the desk of her private office, separated from the common HQ that she and her husband organized the previous days, to dealt with the refugees, the chaos of the news and dozens of headaches that Them had provoked in Tokonusu, as soon as they started to chew people, left and right.

Far from lie herself with hope, Yuriko knew that soon they will have some serious difficulties to kept the commodities that the modern world considered them for granted. Water, electricity, food, it has begun to become a luxury, and with the pass of the days, things will get even hairier. Yuriko knew that her husband was a patriot through and through, and will never abandon his fellow countryman if he had a say in the matter, but soon it will be the time to make harsh choices. Unless they managed to secure a power source, the Manor will go out of light in a week or two, depending on how much does the auxiliary generators endure the strain.

The problem was to occupy the power generation factories, her people had a rudimentary knowledge and the men of the garage could make it work to a point, but maintain and defend the building from Them and the most than assured cretins that will try to just raid the place. Humanity was quickly devolving into a medieval state where strength was the only thing that mattered.

Yuriko knew some of the tales that the packs shared, tales that reached far into the past, up to a point where the humanity was little more than Neanderthals. The memory of the Therianthropes was long and vast and Yuriko remembered how little the packs liked the Spanish Flu, the Black Death, the Inquisition, the Crusades and all kind of colossal messes that story had.

So far, Yuriko was confident that her "pack", so to speak, was safe and sound, but the odds are quickly raising against her, and soon, she will have to implement some harsh or directly cruel rules for the survival. It would be a bit of survival of the fittest, but it was the only way to make sure that the humanity had a chance to survive as much as they can until they found what the heck was going on or how to fought back.

Over the desk, Yuriko had series of papers that she had managed to pull together from the little tests that she has been able to do in the infirmary of the Manor. And the results were total nonsense. Them were viral, and infection that spread like a virus, but the "virus" worked like anything she has never seen. It was blotches of some kind of dark matter that defied all classification.

It was maddening, Yuriko wanted to spoke Magnus about, to see if the oldest Therianthrope that she knew had an idea of what the heck was these. Anyhow, no medical treatment seems to work at all of the blasted things. No antibody, no antibiotics, no single medicine in the cabinet; even if it was household kind of medicines; had the slightest effect, the best that she has been able to do, was to slow down the infection with a mixture of drugs that would kill a person on an overdose.

Sighing, Yuriko kept all her discoveries in a red folder and left on her desk, for later comparing notes with Magnus. She had a house to govern, and it was time to cut short some of the commodities that those smoochers of the front yard took from bloody granted.

The door of Yuriko´s office opened and she raised an eyebrow at the image of her daughter, frowning and with a frustrated expression that mirrored Yuriko´s own. Quickly deducting what was going on in the head of her daughter; Saya has always been a clever child; Yuriko waved her to entering and mentally prepared for another shouting match.

Dear Kami, Saya was her child through and through and had the inherit the stubborn and thickheaded of her father too.

As the two ladies of the house "discussed" things, and the rest of the pack of Takashi was busy around; slowly they will run to the cells to check on Miku and to know that the hell has happened; other individuals were plotting their own, judging that they were on the right on all this mess and it was only fair for them to make it know for the rest.

Humanity was capable of greatness, both good, bad, and worse. Sometimes the primal brain takes control and makes people do things that they would never ever believe they could. Desperation, anger, frustration, the mind is a complex and beautiful thing, but sometimes, it unleashed horrors.

In the case of Shido, more commonly know as Shido-sensei; it was born from a deep-seated anger and resentment for the man that he called father but despised more than anything else in the world. A politician with too many fingers in too many not-so-legal pies; Shido´s father was one of those corrupt politicians that you see in all kind of movies, series and the such.

Shido tried to become someone that his father could be proud, but with the pass of time, it was clear that his father cared three fucks about him. From Shido´s father perspective, the boy was little more than a useful tool, in fact, Shido discovered that his own father was going to disown him and legate everything to the son that he had with one of his mistresses.

One of the multiple whores that man had fucked become the heir of all when Shido was disowned and forgotten. It was a harsh pill for Shido, and perhaps the start of his own descent into perversion and hate. Hard to blame the lad, for his resentment and scorn. However, all empathy get down the drain when he started to become an asshole of massive proportions, voluntarily, as a way to cope up with the daddy issues that Shido had.

Frankly, all this apocalypse thing was almost a blessing for Shido, a way to getting out of his father shadow and to make a name for himself. It has even begun perfectly, well, except for that thing called Takashi, but the monster left them, to protect that bimbo idiot of Miyamoto. The teenager that Shido hold back a year to warm her father to do not meddle into Shido´s father business, was one of her students, and Shido will admit that the girl was a very beautiful girl.

Morals have gone out of the window in this new paradigm, cannibal zombies running around, crazy ass motherfuckers killing people as they are unable to cope with the disaster, and when things were starting to go his way, that whore of Yuuki stabbed him in the guts. Fucking whore, she was one of the few that Shido would have believed would swallow; in more than one sense; all the things that Shido was trying to sell to the teenagers that had survived the carnage of the Academy.

If anything, Shido was grateful to that monster for saving their hides, but Shido was clever enough to realize that Takashi will never believe anything Shido would tell him. The body was more a beast than a human and Shido would have preferred to kept him on a leash or directly killed than always pointed at him like a bloody furry missile.

After all, the teenage drama of the bus, where the dog has saved the slut´s life after a car rammed him into a burning tunnel; Shido saw his chance to do something useful with the rest of the fools around him. Tsunoda was quickly his ally, Shido has been carefully cultivating the loyalty of the jock. Tsunoda and the rest of his friends, now reduced to a couple of idiots, were Shido´s personal enforcers. Shido allowed them to get a bit handsy with female students and they paid Shido with loyalty.

It has worked so far, Shido even enforced their idiocy with a lot of bullshit about how they have survived and they deserved the future that they are going to build together. It was the beginning of the era of Shido, one on where he would be the one calling the shots and not toss aside for the bastard child of a freaking whore. It was a pity that the two idiots that followed Takashi around like good bitches decided to leave, along with the best females of the group. Not only in looks, but in skills too.

But Shido was not relented, in fact, it was a blessing in disguise; it was easy for him to convince the rest to follow him like lambs, starting a cult in all but name. Shido was a generous and benevolent lord, he allowed his children to stave off the horror of the zombies with the pleasures of the flesh. It was a most generous blessing, and quite an effective one, as love was freely given and received.

Only a stupid boy did not see the benevolence of his mind and was soon tossed out of the paradise. It a sick reenactment of casting someone from heaven to hell, the group in the bus, toss the infidel to the zombies and laughed when he was eaten alive. Shido felt more justified than ever, in his belief that humanity was nothing but a bunch of animals that liked to appear human.

During an entire day, they did nothing but fuck like animals, mocking and laughing the stumbling zombies outside of the bus. At the end of the glorious orgy, Shido, as the real and wise leader that he was, they rammed any zombie on their way with the bus and look for a place where to find food and water. They scavenged a supermarket, easily crushing the zombie's thanks to Tsunoda and the other two meatbags that accompanied him, and then they moved out to the next objective.

Find a shelter or at last, a place where Shido could slowly convince the rest of the survivors that his words were akin to the bible. Shido always knew that he had a silver tongue, flattery and cunning has brought him far in life, despite being a lowly teacher, but in one of the most reputed Academies of the country.

When Shido discovered the fortress that was the Takagi Manor, he didn't even doubt about it, that bull of a man of the Takagi was a long ally of his father in the political arena of Japan, even if it was clear that his father was all that Takagi despised. More than once, has Shido pondered about, anonymously, tip the Takagi with the real shit that his own father had and see the spectacle.

Now, Shido was grateful that he did not take that choice, as right now, the goodwill of the Takagi was perfect for survival. Shido´s smile grew bigger when he saw the tents and the people that have conglomerated on the Takagi´s yard.

That was the perfect bunch of pawns that Shido could have asked for. After all, they are living under the tyrannical rule of an individual that fancied himself as some kind of Shogun, surely someone more moderated and people friendly, like a professor that had the love of his students, would be far better to call the shots.

Of course, Shido would discretely and carefully seed those thoughts on the cattle in the tents; never underestimate the power of the mob and the idiocy of the average human. Japan is a land of tradition and deep customs, and the apocalypse is still too fresh for this lambs to realize the kind of shit that they had landed into.

Still, the entire plan went into flames when he stumbled, along Takagi senior, into that slut. In the beginning, Shido though that it would be a good opportunity to soothe the tensions with the group of that monster of Takashi. It was bad luck that they were at the Manor too, but considering that the daughter of the Takagi´s was one of the bitches of the boy, it was hardly a surprise that they had come to the best place possible in the middle of this madness.

Trying to appease the girl, and present himself as the caring teacher that Shido was putting to the gallery, he tried to speak with the girl in friendly terms and in a polite manner. Then the slut stabbed him in the gut and boy did that hurt. It was a good thing that the Takagi had competent men and could prevent him from dying but the stab in his guts hurt like hell and it was the worst possible time to get such a wound.

Also, Miku screeched about how she was no longer her toy, making the Takagi frown before ordering two of the guards to escort the bitch to the cells of the Manor. Who would have thought, this manor had cells and all, the Takagis are hardly as clean as they like to appear.

Shido was now resting on the infirmary, but he was sure that he and his group will not keep the status of guests for much longer. If Shido´s suspicions were right, the samurai wannabe of Takagi senior was going to interrogate the slut, and she will tell a very sobbing tale of how Shido was the next spawn of Satan, the ungrateful slut. The girl had nothing but a bombshell of a body, Shido has protected her and that´s how she paid him.

However, vengeance was still at their hands, it was just a matter of moving quickly and get out of there; with all, they could get; before the hospitality of the Takagi become hostility.

"Tsunoda", called Shido to the loyal pets that he had.

Practically all the survivors left in the bus; about a dozen or so of children; were fanatically devoted to him, as he was the anchor that kept them safe and loved in this chaotic world. Oh, Shido took mental note of adding that to his next speech, it was a very nice line to spout.

"The party of that monster is here", it was hardly news as his pets knew who had stabbed him, but he had ordered them to wait before doing anything reckless. "That means that this place is a den of monsters, a place no worthy of you my dear children".

They melted with his words, paying absolute attention to him, damn, Shido felt really good, basking under the adoration.

"Our presence here will be no longer tolerated very soon, but before that, we can strike first and gain everything we could to reach our heaven", continued Shindo with his bullshit. "Tsunoda, took your more capable boys and try to locate our nurse, taken from us by the beast".

Well, Shido wanted someone with medical expertise; considering the orgies that had taken place in the two days before, it would be a miracle if any of the girls of the group are not already pregnant. Also, that nurse was the hottest woman Shido has ever seen, pity she is half retarded and fiercely protected by that monster dog of hers.

It was also a bloody stroke of bad luck that the titty monster was not present in the infirmary, the man that has bandaged his wound has told them that she was helping a young mother in the tents on the yard and taking care of some of the children that had come with the refugees.

"Another group of you will try to discretely fill the bus with anything useful you can find", commanded Shido, seeing a good chance to replenish their reserves and in the process fuck the Takagi. And speaking of which, perhaps it was time to show the world that Shido was not a pushover.

"The last of you will have a vital mission", suddenly said Shido, hit with an inspiration. "You will try to find the women of the beast, preferably the pink banshee, the redheaded betrayer or that slut that has stabbed me; unfortunately, the armed thugs of the beast of the demented swordswoman is out of your reach", yeah, Shido wanted to attack those that lacked weapons or the skill to defended themselves.

"You will watch over them before we leave, and if the opportunity arises, hurt them or even kill them if you could, but never let any witness". Inform Shido, wanting to inflict as much damage as he could, before he left the place. "Now, my children, go and knew that I am deeply proud of you".

Cattle, they were as much cattle as the people out there, but Shido would never say that out loud, of course, so far, Shido has earned the loyalty of the children by baffling them with bullshit and practically brainwashing them into a cult around his personality. It helped that they were teenagers with little brains and less willpower, but it was the beginning.

As all these events unfolded, Takashi was napping relatively in peace.

His transformation into a seven feet tall monster wolf has been quite the curveball that his powers and the Beast that he had inside has thrown at him. Do not get him wrong, the powers were welcome, the sensations are indescribable, but at the same time, Takashi was confused and a bit lost. Takashi was originally human, even if the Beast helped, it was hard to learn how to move and react like the quadrupedal wolf that he was now.

With all that has happened lately, Takashi was happy to have five minutes to himself, in the middle of this bloody disaster. Takashi felt way more centered than usual, and it was a good thing. Perhaps the Beast and he are starting to see things eye to eye, libido topic non-withstanding. The Beast was delighted with Saeko, but the Beast was also strongly suggested to take Miku and Hayashi-sensei; also to make head or tails about Rei and Saya.

That was topic that Takashi did not want to dwell much on it. With Sako, Miku, and Hayashi-sensei, Takashi was sure that he had more than enough. Also, Takashi knew that Kohta, a real friend and member of his pack, had it hard for the pinkette genius and the last thing Takashi wanted was to hurt any of the two.

Something that he could not say about Rei and Igou. To be honest, Takashi new perceptions, sensations and morals were different from the past, and that means that Takashi has started to see things in a completely different light. Along with that new ideas and morals, comes the knowledge that both Rei and Igou were in thin ice with the pack.

It may seem unjust, scratch that, it was unfair. The pack was forged on loyalty, and so far, none of the two aforementioned teens had done nothing to increase their reputation or standing on the pack. Acting almost as foreigners and keeping a tense and not so subtle fear about Takashi´s inhumane powers.

The pack did not like it, of course, the other two were following the pack, but keeping them apart from the pack. That was something that did not sit well with any of them. The history that Takashi had with them both, did not help at all. Rei was Takashi´s ex-girlfriend and Igou was the best friend of Takashi before he started to date Rei. That was a hard pill to swallow at the time, and even today, Takashi was proud of himself for do not rip them to pieces when he discovered the truth.

Having such unreliable elements in the pack was something that was giving Takashi headaches. The Beast, pragmatic as always, just wanted to kick their ass out of the pack and be done with it, even killing if they become a nuisance; on the other hand, Takashi was having difficulties. Takashi still had feelings for Rei, not as strong as they were in the past, but he cared about the girl, and Igou has been a friend for a long time. Still, what they have done has done numbers on Takashi and that was something that he could simply do not forgive.

Focusing on the more important matter, Takashi debated with himself about what would be the next steps of the pack. This Manor was a nice place, so much was absolutely true, but it was not the home of the pack. It was a stepping stone in the search of a place to call their own and to defend adequately.

The idea of a castle in the historical ruins on the forest and mountains around Tokonusu was appealing, the Beast found them interesting and acceptable, but the idea of occupying an island had its own merits. The only problem was that the Beast did not like very much the idea of the island, it was constraining unless they go for the biggest islands of the Japanese seas. If Takashi was not mistaken, about three or four days by boat, there are several abandoned islands that size of the city where he stands.

But the pack has commented about the artificial and abandoned islands that were close to the floating airport. That was something that Takashi considered interesting. Sure, none of them had the slightest idea of how to fly a plane, but the airport is going to be overloaded soon or abandoned without anyone capable of keeping the facilities up and running.

Trying to think in the long run, Takashi knew that his pack would grow or they will join other survivors, much like the Takagi are doing in their home. However, Takashi was not all that eager to mix with other people, far from it; Takashi was happy with keeping his pack close and in low numbers. Right now, he had his hands full with all of them, the last thing Takashi needed, was to took care of idiots that were unable to accept the new status of the world.

So many problems and they kept pilling one after another; Takashi was seriously considering the idea of raiding a pharmacy for all the Tylenol he could found; Takashi had the nagging sensation that he was going to need it by the buckets. Then the smell hit him like a truck.

One of the things that Takashi less understood of the senses that he had now, was how he was capable of always known where Saeko was, how was she felt, no matter the distance. It was something that he could never block, even in this dire situation and with all the grime and pollution of the city, not that Takashi will ever try to block it, he loved the sensation of Saeko close to him.

That´s why he was feeling restless, the Beast was already tensing the muscles, Saeko, the smell of her seem distressed, there was something wrong going on. Raising his head, Takashi smells the air and tried to force his hearing to locate the problem. There was blood on the Manor, Takashi did not recognize the smell of the blood, but he did recognize the adrenaline, the fear, that acrid smell was unmistakable.

Hayashi-sensei, the smell of blood came from Hayashi-sensei.

Takashi was on the move before he could ever think about it, his entire body reacted like spring, jumping over the distance of the garden and into the halls of the Manor in the blink of an eye. Of course, the walls did not take well the sudden presence of the massive wolf, but Takashi was not in the mood for being careful, one of his pack was in danger and that put him into overdrive.

Without thinking of the consequences, Takashi ran over the halls of the mansion, looking for Hayashi-sensei. Considering his size, it was an easy task for him. The problem was the heart attacks that he gave to the few men of the Takagi that he passed or accidentally run over; later he would try to apologize, but right now, he was a wolf in a mission.

Takashi found Saeko crushing down a student from the Academy, something that surprised Takashi, who didn't know of the presence of other students in the Manor. Another duo of students had Hayashi-sensei under them, the older woman was bleeding from a wound in her head, and was about to smash her head again with a statue of the Manor.

Even much later, Takashi would always say that he didn't remember what happened, on that moment, the boy took the backseat and the Beast got the driver´s seat. In a flash of fury, fur and fangs, the one with the statue was a splat on the walls. The kid´s torn to pieces body was sent flying all over the halls and the windows, one limb out of one and pieces of the torso out of another.

Before the second student could even react, his mangled body flew through the halls, sliding over its own blood almost ten meters.

Like a beast of the nightmares of humankind Takashi growled at the corpses, before turning his attention to Hayashi-sensei, he didn't even need to look out for Saeko that had broken several ribs of her rival. It spoke volumes of the control of Saeko; the one that supposedly had the anger and bloodlust issues; about leaving one of them relatively intact to interrogate about why the heck did attack Hayashi-sensei like that.

Unable to help due to his wolf form, Takashi could only whimper in worry as Saeko check the injury on the older woman head.

"Is a nasty hit, my love", said Saeko to Takashi that lowered his back, easing for Saeko to put the wounded woman on it. "I have seen similar things with bokkens, we need to take her to Marikawa-sensei and fast".

Takashi inhaled deeply, filtering, searching, the smells of the Manor were overwhelming but that did not deter the Beast, it was only a matter of effort and focus, to locate the smell of the blonde nurse and track it. It was on the floor under them, just outside, along with the smell of grass and the other refugees. With a powerful jump, Takashi moved and traveled to the Manor in a matter of seconds, leaving behind astonished individuals and a very unamused Lord Takagi.

Soichiro was on his way to the infirmary to have a conversation with Shido-sensei. Soichiro has always thought of himself as a just man, the reaction of the young girl has taken him by surprise, especially considering it was a girl that went to the same school as his daughter. Such a visceral reaction to the presence of Shido-sensei was a bit over the top, but such reactions did not come from anywhere.

The girl had hate in her eyes, something that surprised Soichiro a lot, ordering for the wounded man to the carried to the infirmary and to the girl to be kept into the cells that he had in the basement, he bowed to discover what has happened to the girl to react like that.

Not much later, Soichi found the girl in the cells, looking quite dejected and exhausted; being kept company by Magnus, who was resting on a chair and drinking a beer. Magnus and Soichiro had history, and even if Soichiro could respect the brute power of the older Therianthrope, it must be said that his personality was not of the approval of Soichiro, who was a military man to the bone and a samurai at heart.

Magnus was too much of a beast, unhinged by the rules and discipline of the humans, but instead acting by what his experience and instincts could tell him. That was one of the reasons Takagi dad was so frustrated by how his younger daughter has taken a liking to Takashi and his pack.

In the past, Soichiro had to pass hell to be able to court Yuriko, that was love at first sight, something that a pragmatist like him would have never, ever, considered anything but nonsense. Oh, but Yuriko was something out of this world, the perfect woman for him; pity that her family; her pack; was quite the collection of characters.

Magnus was the alpha of an old pack of the States, Yurko was the daughter of one of the pack members and Soichiro, essentially took her from them. Luckily, Magnus set things straight before too much blood was spilled. More than once had both, Yuriko and Soichiro, wondered if Magnus did not have everything planned beforehand, the coincidences were starting to pile up.

Anyhow, with the older Therianthrope practically giving his blessing to Takashi´s pack, and how Saya was part of that pack, there was little that they, as parents of Saya, could do to dissuade the girl. Once a pack is formed, loyalty was a bless and a curse.

After talking with the girl, and getting a very grim picture of what really happened out of sight in the freaking academy; Soichiro was eager to have a very serious "talk" with Shido. Now, Soichiro was a realist, the girl was a teenager and could very well projecting her rage, frustration, and terror in the man, but she was part of a pack. That was not only a title, it was something that soon puts the member of a pack, into a different mindset.

To be honest, if Soichiro could instill a sliver of the loyalty and iron will of the packs into his men, he would have conquered Japan in less than a year. That was one of the reasons why packs have survived for so long and why the man was partly inclined to believe the girl. Also, Magnus has been living with the nurse of the school, protecting her in plain sight, and corroborated the tale of the young girl.

In all, it was a bleak picture. Soichiro never expected the reputed Academy of the city to be like that. Sure, the competition in Japan for the top schools was fierce, but never in his life would have suspected that they were hiding such distasteful actions under wraps to keep the pristine image of the school.

It was one of the reasons why Soichiro had such a right-wing ideology. He was a firm believer in tradition and order and wanted to show the Japanese people that they are great, that they are a great nation, but that they need to recover tradition and respect, so lost in the modern ages.

Leaving the girl with one of her friends, the Mohawk kid, Soichiro walked back to the infirmary as Magnus walked to the tents to make the nurse company. Ironically, Magnus has not revealed himself as he truly was to the nurse, arguing that his Alpha-female, wanted to be present for that. Rika Minami was a police officer, the best sharpshooter of the city, unfortunately, she was somewhere in the city.

Magnus knew that she was alive and well, something along the lines that no Therianthrope could block their Alpha-mate. Apart from that, Magnus did not know where she could be. They would have tried to contact her phone, but she had it shut or out of range.

What Soichiro would have never expected, was to be almost run over by Takashi, as the wolf run over the Manor, carrying a wounded woman; the redhead professor, Soichiro managed to see; and his Alpha-female, the daughter of Busujima-sensei. Recovering from the sudden impact, Soichiro wondered what the heck was going on, how has the redhead sensei of his daughter ended up with that wound?.

This was starting to get annoying, also, Soichiro suddenly noticed that Takashi was not running to the infirmary, but to the tents. Well, considering the respect and affection that the blonde nurse had for the pack, it was hardly a surprise that Takashi would prefer to put one of his pack members into the hands of one the persons he trusted the most.

Grumbling under his breath and taking good note of chewing Takashi´s ass later; Theriathrope or not, this was unacceptable in his home, even if Takashi had a very valid cause to justify his hurry; Soichiro continued his walk to the infirmary to talk to Shido-sensei and get the truth out of him.

In any case, Soichiro was already convinced to kick the man out of the Manor. There was no place for a person like him in the Manor, much less if the girl was speaking the truth and the professor was trying to build a cult around his person like he was some kind of generous father.

Soichiro had dealt with the man in the past, and even if it was a necessary evil, Soichiro was always left with a bad sensation. If the professor was half as a bastard as his father, then he was the proverbial snake in the garden. The best will be to kill him and be done with it, but Soichiro was not a cold-blooded murderer. A killer? Yes, any soldier is a killer, a murderer? No, that is an entirely different matter.

Thanks to the appearance of those things that stumbled around killing anything around, the old world has collapsed, perhaps, in time, the old world will reborn, but frankly, Soichiro was not all that convinced of that. With the inevitable collapse of the city; and for what the people on the radio were able to catch from the transmissions, it was the same in the entire world; and the fall of the structures that all of Japan took for granted, new, blood and violent orders, will inevitably raise.

That´s why Soichiro was doing all he could to keep as many of his kinsman alive as possible. In the future, he will move to a different location, trying to establish a safe haven of some kind, and that haven will need manpower. As much as Soichiro would have preferred to keep only his men and families around, this crisis has hit them like a sledgehammer.

Soichiro opened the door of the infirmary and once he entered the room, he growled and rushed to check on the man that was on the floor. With a quick check, Soichiro saw that the man was alive, he had a nasty concussion on his head, but he was alive. With a quick glance around the room, he repaired the broken and looted cabinets and crystal shelves. Shido and his teenager minions have looted the place.

Growling, in a very similar manner to Takashi, Soichiro bowed to cut that worms head with his sword.

Unfortunately, Shido has already left the place. Faithful to his plan, the man distracted the man who bandaged him as one of the girls of his entourage smashed his head with a flowerpot. Then they looted the infirmary and reunited with the others in the bus outside. Shido´s minions have been diligent and they have taken as much as they could, and more or less complete the instructions that Shido has left for them.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Shido decided to take the bus and abandon the place; leaving all who was not already there, to their fates; before they raise the alarm and decided to arrest them or worst. Shido did not want to test his luck against the fucker of the Takagi senior, the samurai wannabee was dangerous as it comes, and Shido lacked enough meat shields to even begun to risk a confrontation.

Shido´s minions are loyal, cult-like loyal, but apart from Tsunoda and a couple more, they are not apt for any kind of fight. Shido needed a lot more minions, unfortunately, it was hard to achieve such objective in this environment. Alas, it was a matter of finding another group of survivors and get to the top again.

With the bus on the road, Shido was relatively happy, he had minions, he had supplies and he had a goal. Found a safe place, where he could nail the brainwashing among the idiots behind him.

About a minute later, Shido was going to change his tune, when a low orbit nuke, will hit the skies over Japan and generated a massive EMP, making the lives of everybody way more complicated than it already was. Also, the sudden failure of the bus that he was driving, ended in him crushing over the barricade that prevented the entrance of a big horde of Them into the road that guided to the Manor.

That was the beginning of a massive cluster-fuck.

Slow and tumbling, but totally determined, with the kind of tenacity that only Them could show; hundreds of them throttled the broken barricade. Shido and his minions had enough sense to pick all they could and run the hell out of there. Thanks to the fallen bus, the only obstacle in their path was no longer there.

In a series of the worst possible moment for something to go wrong, the guards had their radios shut down by the explosion on the sky and the EMP that follow the bloody nuclear blast. They had to run back to the Manor and raise the alarm, in a physical manner, meaning screaming, and with the echo of the explosion, the bus, the fires of the wreckage and the panic that spread among the survivors; the dinner bell was practically chiming.

The majority of Them were still fresh, their bodies were mostly entire and with enough mobility to be a serious menace even for the trained men on the Manor. Unfortunately, with the numbers that were pouring in the road hill to the Manor, soon they will be overrun. The people of the Takagi had not enough bullets to stop the horde and will have to engage in close combat with Them, something that it was dangerous for the Takagi men and directly suicidal for the Militia.

In a demonstration of surprising speed from Them, hundreds managed to reach the entrance of the Manor, despite the effort of the guards of the Manor; helped by Kohta and Morita, that tried to cooperate with all they had. The pack was inside the Manor, so this place was going to be defended no matter what.

Speaking of the pack; the sudden news of the attack to Hayashi-sensei had put them on edge, especially Takashi, that carried the woman to the presence of Marikawa-sensei, the only medic on the Manor that the pack trusted. Also, she has taken a liking to the children. She was protected by Magnus and helped by Alice and Zeke, dealing with the problems of a young mother in the survivors' pack.

When Takashi and Saeko appeared, Marikawa-sensei, knew that something was wrong, Magnus cursed under his breath, it has been one thing after another. First the skies explosion; that has rudely cut short a call between Rika and Shizuka, enough to made her knew that she was well and well protected by her students, also Magnus has managed to insert a line on the background, to made Rika knew that he was there.

All worries, however, had to be put at second thought, as Takashi; all wolf, entered the tent with Hayashi-sensei over his back, bleeding from a nasty wound in her head. Worse of all, the screams of the guards reached their ears, and they knew that the shit has hit the fan, violently.

Takashi was already out of the tent, Kohta and Morita were already running to the gates, joining the shooters; Saya and a liberated Miku; freed by Morita when they listened to the commotion outside and felt that something was seriously wrong, appeared on the doors of the house and saw the horde that was coming their way.

Impulsed by adrenaline, Takashi jumped from the tents, scaring the shit out of the running survivors that were making their way to the house; and ripped to pieces the first of Them that reached the steel fence of the Manor. It was easy for Takashi to tear them, his mandibles were strong enough to bite their heads in a single bite; they taste awful, the taste was horrible and for a wolf, like him, with enhanced senses, was horrible; smash their bodies under his pawn and mass.

Any of the first ones that pass the assault of Takashi soon found its end at the blade of Saeko; the blade of the temple was serving her very well; or under the bat of Morita or the bullets of Kohta. The was too many of Them to hold the road eternally, and Takashi did not want to be drowned under a horde of Them. Magnus and other guards pushed the metal doors with a loud clang.

The metal door, not empowered by the electric system, should have been a drag to move, but with Magnus pushing the thing, it clanged against the other end without a hitch. It was nothing but a short respite, and everybody knew it, the mass of Them was going to crush the thing, only by pure weight. With any luck, they have won enough time to settle some kind of defense.

Magnus, Takashi, and his pack were the first on the front line, observing the raging Them, pushing and moaning against the metal door.

"You are screw, lads", said Magnus. "You are trapped between the wall and the ax".

"You tell me", chuckled Morita, recharging the shotgun.

Saeko was leaning on Takashi, as he leaned the side of his head over the scratching hand of Saeko. They were having...something akin to a conversation. Between Therianthropes and their Alphas, sometimes, communication was different from what people believed.

It was clear that they could not abandon the place, Saya would be devastated if the Pack abandoned the Manor, not to mention that they were rooted, until Marikawa-sensei could end the treatment of Hayashi-sensei. The nurse was in the tents, trying to move them to the house was the priority, but the woman needs medical treatment, and running from a horde of Them was the worst possible.

"So...we defend the fort?", asked Morita, putting his shotgun over his shoulders.

"We have no other choice", pointed out Kohta, "Marikawa-sensei need time and medical supplies to treat Hayashi-sensei".

"Ah, shit". Eloquently sighed Morita.

"Let´s go", said Saeko to the other two teenagers. "We have to protect the tents as we move Hayashi-sensei inside of the house".

She shared a last hug and gesture of affection with Takashi, before she moved along the other members of her pack, to the tents; leaving Takashi and Magnus in front of the metal door that was about to fall. The older Therianthrope just bury the head of his ax in the ground.

"So, lad, when are you going to change and tear them apart like a proper Therianthrope?", asked Magnus as his own eyes started to change into golden orbs and his muscles slowly bulged and grow hairy. Soon he will change too into a war form, adequate to rip and tear. It has been a while since he let loose and he was eager for some action.

Takashi just stared at him with the wolf equivalent of raising an eyebrow. Takashi was already a seven feet tall wolf, big enough to crush a small car and chew them as a toy. Takashi didn't understand what Magnus was talking about, change? He had already done that.

"Not look at me like that, you are a Therianthrope, you are more than a human and a Beast", huffed Magnus. "You and the Beast must stop fighting each other at each bloody step and realize something so simple and obvious that it a miracle that you had not tripped on it".

Takashi wolf deadpan face was worthy of a poem.

Takashi and the Beast were working together, so much was certain, they have been like that since they become aware of each other and more or less; libido was still a work in progress, and they have been centered in protecting the pack. So far, Takashi was pretty much convinced that he has done a relatively good job. Sure, Takashi has had his ups and down, but he was playing by the ear most days and it was hardly a surprise that he is a bit lost about what he can do and what he can not do.

"For the love of Fenrir, lad", Magnus started to change, growing and easily surpassing the height of Takashi and growing more feral traits as he was changing.

"There is no Beast, lad, it's you, all the time". Even his voice was changing into a bestial snarl that would have scared any predator in the area, alerting of the presence of an even bigger bastard around. Whoever, Takashi was more occupied with the content of the words of Magnus.

The bloody bastard was pulling his leg here, the Beast does not exist? Yeah try another one, Takashi was sure of the existence of the Beast, he sensed him, always there, always, the beast has been always there, since he was a child since he was born, perhaps muted, but the Beast has always been there.

But, Takashi knew the Beast, he has seen him? Right, he saw him, he felt him whenever they fight, whenever they...whenever Takashi wanted something, never the Beast, the Beast had any desires of his own, only what Takashi desired, it has never had manifested a personal desire, just an echo of his own.

The Beast was him, the Beast was Takashi inner desires, instincts, everything that his rational mind considered inadequate or wrong or...well, whenever it would not be right, whenever, Takashi´s morals said that something should not be, his Beast said that all that was bullshit.

So, after all this time, it resulted that Takashi and the Beast were the same. It was only Takashi inner voice, his real self, trying to say his persona, this Takashi that he put to the front, that he was being an idiot and it was only hurting himself and everyone around.

That was something that Takashi didn't see coming.

Them broke the fence, crushing it under his mass of putrid flesh and unnatural desire to feed on the livings that reside at the other side of the obstacle.

But it did not matter for Takashi any longer.

There was no Beast, There was only Takashi, there was only power and the blood of the Therianthropes answered his call.

Then the Howl came.

Fade to Red.