AN: Hello! This chapter gets the story moving along at a way faster pace, which is severely needed. It also means the end for sitting in the shelter waiting for things to happen as I'm sure some of you thought would be the majority of the next chapters. Enjoy!

The group were less than happy. Not only had it come to light that Izuru didn't have to be in full control to influence Hajime but Junko had quite literally disappeared during the commotion. That was not only bad for the group but it was also bad news for any other survivors, whether they were friendly or not. Toko, much to her annoyance and worry, had been dragged with a small group of the Ultimates out of Byakuya's room and towards the ladder. Peko, Hajime, Toko and Aoi stood at the foot of their way up, waiting for Makoto to put on his jacket and the walking boots Hajime had managed to get a hold of for him.

The Prodigy had managed to prep all of his expeditionary group with suitable footwear as well as heavy raincoats and large backpacks. He had even gone to the extent of including bedrolls among the essentials within the backpacks, though he was adamant they wouldn't need them. Makoto threw his backpack on and jogged to his comrades. ''Do we have any idea where we're searching first?'' Hajime, for the first time since they'd arrived, didn't have an answer for a simple question. He'd organised this search party and got their gear together but by the looks of him, he was extremely unprepared mentally. ''Well, let's try to get this show on the road!'' Aoi's enthusiasm always put a smile on his face. He took the situation by the horns and almost leapt onto the ladder. Aoi quickly joined him in his ascent, followed by Toko and then Peko. Hajime watched them intently before clambering up himself.

It was somewhat sunny when he poked his head out of the hatch. It was midday now and knowing that everything that had transpired had done so in the space of three hours was a strange thought. He planted his feet on the concrete before offering the Swimmer a hand. She accepted with a dusting of pink on her cheeks before sprinting to the nearest sports store. Even in its awful exterior condition, it was still garish enough to be recognised as a gym. Toko looked even more worried than usual as she hoisted herself over the hatch. She had been horrified by Hajime's request to join them and had taken a good twenty minutes to realise that she was practically necessary if anything went wrong. Mahiru and Kyoko were left to tend to Byakuya, an obvious anxiety trigger. Hajime had more reason to be worried, if anything. Ibuki and Fuyuhiko were watching over Chiaki and neither seemed particularly informed in first aid and providing comfort. Then again, The Musician seemed more intelligent than she let on and Fuyuhiko must've dealt with injury if he was the son of a yakuza, right? Speaking of yakuza, Peko's emotionless eyes peered over the hole and she effortlessly flipped into a guarding stance in front of Makoto.

It was both humbling and embarrassing to be defended by a pregnant girl. He should've been protecting her. Hajime shut the hatch after himself and stared out into the distance. ''Search all the stores. If there's anything you want don't hesitate to take it. There's no police or army to stop you. If she's inside, restrain her or in your case, Makoto, call for one of us.'' Whilst he wasn't happy to be the only one considered useless in terms of dealing with Junko, it was better than nothing to be trusted to search by his lonesome. He wandered off into the nearest shop, which just so happened to be a café. It was strange to look at an American style diner with no customers and no homely atmosphere. The floor was littered with bone fragments and other debris that coated the already tattered tables. There were a handful of skeletons in the seats. Had people really intended to spend their last moments here? Or had they been here by chance? Maybe if he were the Ultimate Medium or Ghost Whisperer he could ask them. He wandered behind the counter and peered around the corner into the kitchen. More cooking utensils and some canned dog food were the only things left in a visibly presentable condition. Potentially useful if they ever needed them. He wouldn't bother taking up space in his backpack for these though. He may find something more useful or valuable down the line. Junko wasn't here and there was nothing of true value here. He cautiously pushed the shattered doors open and found that the others were no longer in the street. He heard rustling from the bookstore next door and though all of his sense was telling him not to investigate for fear of bandits or more rabid dogs, he strode over and entered. He heard gnawing and feared more dogs but a closer look made him even more fearful.

Rats. Ones larger than the dogs they were currently feeding on. There was only two but that was more than enough to catch and kill him. He stumbled as he tried to leave, gaining the giant rodents attention. They slowly looked over to him and he pushed himself up and out the door. ''HEY! HELP ME!'' They were already gaining on him and he couldn't hear Peko or Hajime approaching. One of the rats was audibly hit by something from behind him and when he allowed himself to look to his right Aoi was on top of a pile of rubble that seemed too vertical for the freakishly large animals to climb. The disgruntled rat split from its partner and made a beeline for the Swimmer. His solo stalker was a few feet from him now and he was starting to tire. These last few days training with Hajime would do wonders for his stamina but not in the short term. He was exhausted from intense military-esque programs he'd been put through. He felt his legs collapse from under him, swiped by the rat trailing him. He landed heavily but had the speed to spin to lie on his back. The rat pounced onto him, the Luckster raising his arms and legs to restrict the reach of it's snout. It was chomping and biting an inch or two from his face. He kicked up repeatedly, staggering the grotesque creature before placing his feet on it's stomach and pushing up with as much force as possible. The rat was sent soaring over his head and landed onto a pile of debris behind him.

The almost silent few seconds was cut short by a horrific squeal of pain. Makoto got up almost foolishly slowly for someone being hunted by an omnivorous monster almost as tall as he was. He glanced quickly at the rat as he was expecting to have to run away. He raised his eyebrows in surprise at what he witnessed. The pile of trash he launched the giant mammal onto had contained rebar and sharp shards of wood that had impaled it and left it stuck upside down. It's squealing was raspier now, a clear sign it had little energy left. Clearly his luck was still helping him as much as hindering him. He breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe now. SHIT! Hina wasn't!

He was too tired to run so he walked as quickly as he could back to the spot Hina had thrown the rock from. As expected, Hina was stuck on top of the rubble while the rat gradually clambered up to her. He noticed Peko sprinting up the road and thanked all the gods he could name. He made a throwing motion to her as she got closer and she returned a nod. He picked up a rock and threw it at the rat, which leapt backwards off the rocks, only to have Peko's katana lodge in it's skull. It fell just in front of Makoto's feet and he turned to Peko who gave him a thumbs up.

''Are you alright, Young Master?'' He gave the silver-haired girl a quizzical look. That must've been what she used to call Fuyuhiko when she was his bodyguard. He chose to look over it as it might embarrass her to bring it up. ''I'm fine, Peko. Just a little fatigued.'' The Swordswoman nodded and wrenched her blade from the dead rodent's head. Aoi climbed down and threw her arms around her two friends. ''You two are so awesome! How'd you time that so well?'' Makoto shrugged and pointed at Peko. ''She's the weapon woman, I guess.'' Aoi didn't really seem to care about the reasons, she seemed content with being alive and not partially eaten.

''Where is Hajime?'' Peko asked, sparing no regard for the Author who they also had not located. Both peers of the 78th class gave her a blank look. ''You guys!'' The three spun to look up the street and saw Toko with scissors in hand. ''Oh brother.'' Aoi said under her breath. ''Hajimeme wants you guys to get to that radio tower over there! See ya, morons!'' And that was that. She had already run off like a bat out of hell. The tower was about ten minutes away at a normal walking pace. ''Guess he found her. Or something really important.'' Hina spoke with a chipper voice. They didn't spend any time dawdling and started walking. ''I was too busy running away earlier to think about it but why are the rats so big?'' ''The radiation from the fallout made some of the few things exposed to it larger or mutated. We don't come across them a lot but when we do they can be quite troublesome. Rats, funnily enough, are some of the easiest to deal with due to their predictability. Insects are usually both the most unsettling and most difficult to kill.'' Makoto swallowed nervously. She had at least said that they didn't encounter them often, right? That meant he was unlikely to come in contact with one. He tried his hardest to keep that frame of mind but the fear factor was enough to get it stuck in his mind. He chose to fiddle with the zipper on his coat to take his mind off of it slightly.

After some awkward, stop-start conversation with the two girls, they finally arrived. The tower was in surprisingly good condition. The metal that formed the tower looked like it was just cast and welded. There was a small station underneath the tower that was likely used for radio shows. Was it just him or could he hear static coming from the station? He asked the others and they seemed to agree. They walked towards the door, Peko showing no hesitation in throwing the door inwards, revealing Hajime sitting across from Junko, who sat in the chair next to the controls and dials. She looked at Makoto as lovingly as she could. It made his heart skip a beat. In that moment, she appeared both genuine and happy. It was the first time she'd displayed an emotion that didn't seem fake or exaggerated.

''Look how fucking cool I am. I got this radio working and found a frequency we can amplify to get a message.'' Hajime sighed and rubbed the back of his head. ''As much as I hate to admit it, she was surprisingly useful to us here. I just wished she'd asked for a radio instead of running away.'' He looked at her and viciously spat those last two words. Junko giggled and passed him the radio. ''You should be able to find the frequency. It's the only one that has breaks in the static.'' Hajime tuned it and found the correct wavelength. The voice wasn't particularly clear or loud but it would be if the signal was amplified. For now all they could make out was: ''Can anyone… na-… isa… kiz…ure…ound…plea…spond…'' Hajime spent a good few minutes trying to strengthen the signal but couldn't.

''We'll take this, and you-'' He said, giving Junko the look of death, ''-back home. I have the tools to strengthen it there considering this tower seems to be out of operation.'' Junko jumped out of the chair and into Makoto's arms. He instinctively clung onto her bare legs, which he regretted as it gave her the chance to wrap her arms around his neck. ''Cawwy me pwease.'' Makoto huffed in frustration. As long as Kyoko didn't see or never found out, he'd deal with it. It's not as if she'd be willing to leave with them if he didn't anyway. He walked out the door, carefully turning side on as to not hit Junko's head on the doorframe. He was flanked either side by Peko and Aoi, the former of which gave him a sympathetic nod. Genocide Jack sped off ahead of them

It took considerably longer to reach the street than it had to get to the tower. Junko had nuzzled into his neck and fallen asleep, leaving him with the annoying decision of waking her up or trying to get her down the ladder whilst she was comatose. He luckily didn't have to make one, as Hajime threw her over his shoulder and leapt down. She screamed in delight the entire way and even applauded when they landed. The others climbed down with Peko closing the hatch behind them. Peko took the radio out of her backpack and placed it on the table. ''Ibuki, could you get that tuning set from our cabinet?'' The Rocker zoomed to his room and came back out with a small box. He took and and opened the back of the radio. Makoto took the opportunity to check on Kyoko. She seemed almost angry when she wasn't included in the search party, given her detective skills. He sat on the couch next to her and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder as she often did these days. ''I assume she found the radio and just waited for you to get there?'' He nodded, his chin rubbing the top of her head. ''I appreciate the fact that a girl other than me finds you attractive, even if it is for the wrong reasons but please don't let her close to you. It is both annoying to me and dangerous for you.'' Makoto furrowed his brow. ''How'd you-''

''You smell like her. She does still wear perfume, you know.'' Makoto sat in contemplative silence for a few moments. ''I'm sorry. She wouldn't come with us if I didn't let her cling to me. At least I think she wouldn't. Maybe.'' He was digging himself into a hole and he was just hoping his girlfriend would see his logic. She gave him a single 'that's fine' and nestled onto his chest. He fucked up. Even he had had enough experience with girls to know that short answers were a no-no. He had a few minutes to sit and think of a solid way to apologise. Ibuki tapped his other shoulder and pointed at Kyoko. He gave her a knowing look and she frowned. Then she clearly had a lightbulb moment and ran to her room, returning with a 'Sorry' greetings card. She pointed at the lavender-haired girl and then at the card before giving him the okay hand and retreating to her hand.

The rest of the group went about their own devices until Hajime called them back over. Even Chiaki emerged from their room and slowly trotted over, aided by Mahiru until she could take a seat at the table. ''This should be boosted enough to get a strong signal, even underground.'' Then the message was audible and clear. Chiaki broke down into tears of joy and wrapped herself around her husband's arm. ''My name is Chisa Yukizome, I'm from the Future Foundation. If you can hear this, please respond.''