Last Alarm
Chapter Eighteen
"Death in the Tall Grass"
When I was eighteen years old and still only a rookie EMS Technician, a partner I once worked with was also a part-time a martial-arts Instructor. And during a particularly boring shift, he told me something that I would have never thought about before.
He was a former policeman and had been in the military as well, and what he told me, even though I thought he was just showing off at the time, was that one of the deadliest people out there in the world is the medical professional, especially those that are involved in emergency care.
His reasoning for saying that was because people in the medical profession especially medics, are intensely trained on human anatomy and how it works and also what are its weaknesses, like it's pressure points, bone joints and so forth.
I thought the guy was just nuts at the time, but in truth, I actually found his reasoning's correct after I thought about it awhile. Although I have to say even after all these years, it still seemed kind of a strange subject to have been brought up in the middle of a shift.
Soldiers, spies and the like are trained on where to strike to be the most effective to put down an antagonist quickly, and so as part of their self-defense training they are given instruction on the vulnerable parts of the human body. But a person, whose job is the care of the human body, can indeed be one of the deadliest people around, if so inclined.
There are those out there, who were once respectable doctors, nurses, and medics at one time, and then something snapped and these same people who were once dedicated to helping people, went off the deep end and committed some of the most horrible acts against people.
In San Antonio, where I live, a couple of nurses over the years were convicted of poisoning patients while they were admitted, in a couple of the hospitals here in town. And also, a couple doctors were accused of the same thing as well.
Of course, those cases are extreme, but an intimate understanding of the human anatomy has helped many an assassin in the past take out a target with the least amount of effort, just by a better than average knowledge of the human body.
I'm no assassin, and I certainly never aspired to be. And I certainly do not go around thinking about killing people just because I know how the human body works. Guys who start talking like that don't stay in Emergency Services for long, thank goodness.
But when the guys on GREEN Team taught me some of the techniques they did for unarmed combat and also when Andrew taught me a few "extras", it was my experience as a Paramedic that helped me to understand what it was that a certain pressure point, or bone strike, or knife thrust, or gunshot would do.
In short, while I had trained all my life to help people with these kinds of injuries in order to help save their lives, I was now being taught how to inflict these injuries on others to save our lives.
And my prior training as a medic helped me to be able to function in that role.
Talk about irony though.
I had learned a few of these same unarmed techniques years ago when I had studied Ninpo. Koppjutsu (bone-breaking) pressure points, etc, were covered very well in those books I read, so it helped in my training with GREEN Team, although the unarmed combat the guys taught me was way more dynamic than the Ninpo taijutsu I was familiar with.
And of course, all the shooting I had done back in Nevada had really improved my marksmanship and my confidence with weaponry. So basically, when my training was over, I had a better understanding of my capabilities in combat.
But none of those things I had learned could take away the fear I was feeling right now as I hurried to intercept a small party of about six people coming in from the left near the edge of the hill, closing in on the teens from off in the distance as I pushed myself to intercept them before they could get to the teens.
Back when I was a teen, everybody loved watching the "Rambo" movies, especially "Rambo II", and of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Commando", "Terminator", and "Predator."
Everyone loves a hero, but after watching those two movies, everyone thought that anybody in Special Forces was a human killing machine, just like millions of people everywhere thought that every Texas Ranger knew karate after watching Chuck Norris in "Lone Wolf McQuade" and "Walker, Texas Ranger."
The guys in Special Operations of every country are extremely well trained professionals, and they are quite capable of inflicting serious damage on their own. But none of them intentionally go out alone intent on going against superior forces in superior numbers and attempt to level an entire enemy camp by themselves.
They operate as a team in coordination with other assets to accomplish their mission. They work as a "TEAM" period.
Some "Operatives" have to work solo, in the unspoken Covert War that goes on in the world every day. But the "Rambos" are only found in the movies, and not in actual Special Operations were people like that would just get someone hurt. Those kinds of guys are weeded out during "Selection."
As a Firefighter, I learned extremely well, the necessity of working as part of a team, and later as a PMC, I was taught the value of teamwork under fire as well,…. gunfire, that is.
However, when it comes to "escape and evade" time. Operatives will have to split up and work alone in an effort to escape, and that is a required part of training.
It was the same way I was trained, and it had proven extremely beneficial since I was forced to actually split from my buddies on GREEN Team yesterday at the park during our confrontation with the police and the Infected.
The point of going solo in that instance though, is to increase the odds of escaping, not going into battle, alone.
And now, despite all that experience and training in teamwork, here I was trying to intercept an armed party of unknown assailants by myself, trying to keep a small group of teens that I had taken under my wing, safe from harm.
Saeko was going to kill me.
I just really hoped there wasn't a Predator drone flying overhead filming my little commando wannabe stunt here, because I could just see that footage being used in Coronado, Ft. Bragg, and Hereford, as well as every other Spec Ops Training Centers around the world as a training video on the perfect example of what not to do in combat.
Wouldn't be surprised if the Spetznaz boys in Russia got a copy of it too.
The image of Retired USMC Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey standing in front of a huge projection screen as a guest speaker giving a lecture to soldiers and sailors in all Branches, including Spec Ops , SEALs, DELTA, RANGERS, etc, popped into my head as I double-timed it towards the figures in the distance closing in on the kids.
"OK, do all of you see this IDIOT right here? " I could just hear The Gunny say as he circles his laser pointer over the infrared image of me moving across the grassy field trying to take on an unknown enemy force all by myself.
"Yeah, THIS F_CKING IDIOT RIGHT HERE THAT THINKS HE CAN TAKE OUT AN ENEMY FORCE OF UNKNOWN SIZE AND STRENGTH ALL BY HIMSELF?!
"Well boys, DON'T EVER DO THAT!"
"THIS is what you DON'T WANNA F_CKING DO, EVER!"
"DO YOU ALL KNOW WHY HE'S GONNA F_CKING DIE?! "
"BECAUSE HE'S A F_CKING IDIOT!"
"YOU ARE A TEAM! YOU WORK TOGETHER AS A TEAM!"
"DON'T ANY OF YOU EVER DO WHAT THIS F_CKING IDIOT IS DOING!"
"THIS is what happens when you are trying REALLY hard to prove to the world, that YOU ARE F_CKING STUPID!"
"DO YOU GET ME?!"
"WE GET YOU, GUNNY!" I could just hear the class acknowledge.
"мы получаем, Gunny!" (Russian Spetznaz.)
"OUTSTANDING! Now let's all watch quietly now as they blow his ass away." Gunny Ermey would say as the film would continue on and everyone would witness my untimely demise.
Oh well, at least I'd be immortalized for something.
We had been through hell enough I had thought, but it seemed like every bad guy in the world was intent on targeting our little band even though the whole friggin' world was falling apart around us and I figured there just had to be better opportunities for mayhem with some other helpless people around, somewhere.
"Apparently not though." I thought, as I rapidly closed the distance between myself and the incoming group of unknown hostiles. Although I couldn't see them, I could tell just about exactly when I passed the kids as I heard them talking while they were still traveling along the road below, blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding on the hill above their heads.
At least Saya wasn't screaming at Kouta for once. And as I passed them I began making a wider berth away from the edge of the hill trying to keep from being detected and also trying to flank the group coming towards us.
Unlike the last time where the street gang had snuck up on us, I had the advantage of spotting these people in the dark with my NOD, and I was also closely trailing the kids this time versus being stuck up on a bridge, and unable to get to them.
So as far as I could see, even though the odds were still very much against me, I still had the element of surprise going for me as long as I didn't bungle it all up and get spotted.
I was also fortunate in another aspect. These people approaching were civilians with whatever weapons they could scavenge nearby. They also were not trained enemy combatants that I was going against; otherwise I'd have been clearly outmatched.
And even if they had firearms, their selection was limited. Japan has some of the strictest gun laws around, so other than a few hunting rifles, shotguns and stolen police weapons, I didn't think they'd be packing an arsenal of weapons like I could expect back home.
I say this with no exaggeration, in Texas alone guns easily outnumber people about 1000 to 1, and even then that's a guesstimate. So if these guys had been my fellow Texans out there on the hunt, the chances were good they'd be packing heavier weaponry, night vision and body armor and more ammo than an AC130 (Spooky) gunship, and it would have been game over for me.
What can I say? Americans love their guns and Texans have more guns to love than anybody.
Once I passed the kids, I continued moving on a little further before I finally slowed down and then stopped, kneeling on the ground to observe the small group of men that were approaching.
There were six of them, all male, of different age groups and of all shapes and sizes. Each of them was armed with a variety of weapons. I saw knives, an axe, and one guy was even dressed like a butcher and was carrying a cleaver. But the real dangers were the two guys that I figured were the leaders of the group.
One of them looked like a really stressed-out office worker and the other was a bald fellow, shirtless with full body tattoos all over, and they were both carrying shotguns.
Up to this point, there had been no real sign of aggression by the party of six men when I finally got close enough to see them clearly. And despite appearances, I really hoped that they were just innocent refugees like ourselves, looking for a safe place to spend the night.
Yeah, right.
Unfortunately, the way they were approaching the kids made me highly suspicious as to their true intentions. They had been quietly walking across the field when I first spotted them while making a sweep of the field through my NOD.
But as they reached the edge of the hill and were about to walk down, I noticed the bald man had spotted the teens and gestured for everyone to hold up. There was some exchange of words between them and then they suddenly started moving towards the teens.
That wasn't too suspicious all by itself at first, but as they approached the kids, I could not help but notice they were making a seriously conscientious effort not to be detected by the teens.
That was another red flag.
And when they got to a distance I believed was close enough to be able to see without a doubt that it was a group of teenagers coming their way, they didn't make any effort to reveal themselves or make any other signs of friendly intent whatsoever.
But rather, to my disappointment, they began moving in position for an ambush-style attack.
I had passed the kids by about 70 meters or so when five of the men suddenly went to the ground on their bellies about 60meters away from where I stopped. I froze, keeping my carbine trained on them, just in case they had spotted me.
One of them did not lie on the ground with the others but continued on, heading towards me while keeping his eye on the teens. It was the office worker with the shotgun.
Now things had really gotten complicated.
Any doubt as to what these guys were up to though disappeared after I saw these men move into position for an ambush on the kids.
An ambush. On, kids.
I couldn't believe it either.
From the way they were positioning themselves, I could pretty much guess their plan, and I have to admit, it was a well thought out plan in a sick and disgusting kind of way.
The office worker approaching my position with the shotgun would probably settle down in a nice spot and wait for the kids to pass by, and then he would raise his shotgun and take out Kouta, who was still carrying my M24 and was the most visible threat from their point of view.
And since Kouta was covering the rear, he was just far enough away from Saya that she wouldn't be peppered by the shotgun blast once the man fired on him.
If the man wasn't able to take out Kouta with the first shot with his shotgun because of the range, he would still then have been successful at diverting Kouta's attention to him while the girls would run for cover, leaving the teen open to be shot at from behind by the other guy.
Kouta would then be caught in a crossfire, and it would be all over. And after Kouta was down, the rest of them would then swoop in and take their prize, namely, the girls.
As much as I had mentally prepared myself for the possibility of being attacked by the street gang again, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. A bunch of grown men about to ambush a group of children, and their only reason for what they were doing was too sickening for words.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?" I thought to myself.
"Granted, the world is all upside down on its ass right now, but to start murdering and raping children?"
Like I said, people will do things that defy logic sometimes and here was a perfect example, although this was just too sick an act, period, to find any type of logic behind it.
As the man approached my position, I kept the holo image of the Eotech sight on his chest as he stealthily walked along the top of the hill about 20 feet away from the edge of it so the kids wouldn't see him as he headed straight towards me.
I'd been lucky; he was just moving into position and had not spotted me yet.
As I watched him, I was trying to slow my breathing and my heart rate trying to calm myself. As disgusted and worked up as I was, all I needed was for him to hear me breathing heavily and the jig was up.
I needed to calm down, focus, and handle this thing like a professional, and so I slowly lowered my carbine to the ground and took off my pack and left it lying there and then slowly raised the muzzle of my carbine up again as the man approached.
Even though it was really dark and it appeared I hadn't been spotted, any sudden movements or funny shapes in the dark can still be detected by the naked eye, so I did my best to lay low and restrict my movements as he approached.
I had my NOD flipped down and was keeping watch on the approaching "bad guy" as he moved forward. The nice thing about the NVS-14 NOD is that while I'm using it to see in the dark and watching through the scope with my right eye, my other eye is unobstructed so I can still see everything else around me and not get "tunnel vision" like a pair of NVG's where both eyes are used to peer through the scope.
One of the things that the guys told me was never get "tunnel vision" in combat, and this fellow here was the perfect example why. He was so pre-occupied in trying to avoid being seen by the kids and getting into position to ambush them that he wasn't even bothering to watch out for any threats. Namely, me.
That shotgun in his arms must have made him feel really invincible I suppose.
"Wonder just how many innocent people he's killed today?" I thought as he quickly approached my position.
As he approached, I could tell looking out of my left eye that it was way too dark for the other men in his party to see him as he walked towards me as far away from the edge of the hill that he was, where the light dimmed significantly.
The dim illumination of the lampposts down there on the road on the side of the canal was not very bright, probably because of power surges within the city, apparently.
The lights were bright enough to see anyone walking on the road down there like the teens were, but the brightness was not extremely brilliant up here which is why I chose to trail the kids from up on top of the hill in the first place.
The advantage of the dim light prevented the kids from seeing him, but the conditions for me to be able to take him out without being detected by his buddies were also absolutely_
"Perfect." I thought as I reached down and pulled my SCUBA/DEMO knife from the sheath strapped to my leg.
Thirty-eight year old Shinichi Sato had been watching the small group of teenagers, slowly closing the distance between where they were and the small group of men in his party waited, lying on the ground in ambush.
The men he had left behind were waiting for him to fire the first shot at the only armed person in the group of teens, a fat kid holding a military sniper rifle.
When the teens had first been spotted, the leader of his group had immediately ordered everyone to fall back into the shadows, and then after a brief exchange of words had decided that they would intercept whoever it was that was coming down the road.
And as the small group approached, the sight of those three extremely cute girls walking in line had greatly excited everyone's anticipation of the easy target that had presented itself in front of them.
Since he was the better shot, their leader had appointed Shinichi to move on ahead and take out the fat kid who was walking behind the girls. Once the boy was taken out, the girls would be completely helpless without their protector, and the rest of the men would then rush in.
All the years of watching all those pretty snobbish office girls walking around flaunting themselves, and snubbing him, flashed in Shinichi's mind as he gazed towards the teens slowly approaching the hastily planned Kill Zone.
The little one with the light brown hair carrying a broom handle for a spear reminded him of one particular office girl that had been especially nasty to him when he had cozied up against her in the subway. She cursed him for the way he had pressed himself against her in the subway after work and had then told the rest of the office about what a pervert he was, much to his embarrassment.
The teenager wasn't the same girl, but she looked close enough, Shinichi thought as he watched her approach with the other teens.
"Let's see what happens now when I get my hands on you girlie." The man thought as he slowly moved forward, carefully trying to get into position where he could find the perfect firing spot to lie on his belly and wait for the teens to pass by so he could snipe the boy.
After walking a few more feet, he finally found a spot that seemed like a good enough distance away from the other men to be at the perfect angle to snipe the fat kid as soon as they had passed him by. Now all he had to do was lie in wait for them.
The man was about to kneel to the ground and begin his crawl to the edge of the hill to get in firing position, but could not help but take one more lust-filled gaze at the brown-haired teenager one last time. As he gazed upon her trim figure in the short skirt and tight blouse of a high school student, the man could not help but be mesmerized by her beautiful body and the thoughts of the things he would do once the ambush was all over.
So enraptured was he with his perverse thoughts that he never saw or heard the dark figure approach from behind him as a strong hand clamped over his mouth and jerked his head back to the left as the sharp pointed tip of a knife with a seven inch dagger- like blade entered the side of his neck behind his clavicle at a downward angle, severing his trachea as it passed through and then slicing the carotid artery and aorta as the knife was "rocked" back and forth.
What little noise the man made as he felt the powerful hand clamp over his mouth and the pain of the knife entering his flesh was muffled and extremely brief, as his body was dragged away into the darkness. The man spasmed slightly as his muscles relaxed while the American dragged him some 30 feet away from the spot where he had been standing before.
As he lowered the man's body to the ground the American withdrew the knife that was still embedded in the man's neck and after wiping the blade on the dead man's shirt, placed it back in its sheath on his leg. The American then grabbed the man's head with both hands and then quickly twisted his neck breaking the man's seventh vertebrae and severing the spinal cord.
He then flipped the NOD on his head back down over his eye and scanned his surroundings for any indication that the other men had witnessed the attack.
Upon observing that the other men had not noticed the fate of their comrade, he then reached for his carbine that was slung across his back and then went back and retrieved the shotgun the man had dropped.
The guys in GREEN Team had taught me many things, but it was Andrew who had taken the time to teach me the "extras" of the trade. One of these "extras" was sentry removal, especially "silent" sentry removal.
Unlike all the movies where you see a commando come up behind an enemy and silently slit his throat and the guy falls down dead, the actual act of sentry removal with a knife is not as quick and not as clean. Unless you do it right, it can go really bad, really fast. It takes awhile for a human to die that way, and it takes skill to ensure a kill if done correctly.
I had seen pictures in history books of British Commandos in World War II training in those same techniques Andrew had taught me, practicing with their Fairbairn – Sykes commando knives.
And now here I was, using the same, age-old technique of killing silently.
I knew what I had to aim my knife for, when I thrust my knife into "bad guy" number one.
The trick was to do it quickly and silently without the guy firing a shot and warning the others in the process. And somehow I had done it without a hitch even though I thought the sound of my heart beating against my chest was going to give me away as fast as it was going when I came at him.
"And then after that." Andrew told me, "You have to be sure the bastard doesn't get back up again, in case there's still some life left in him. So make sure he's dead, Yank."
Which is why I broke his neck afterwards, even though it was overkill at this point, but I was alone out here and as ugly as it sounds, "Better safe than sorry."
Sentry removal with a knife is up close and personal, it is dirty, ugly, and brutal. It takes patience, skill and the right type of knife with a blade thin enough and long enough to reach the vital areas it needs to.
I've always been a knife aficionado, and my favorite primary knife is a replica of a UDT knife from the Vietnam War made by SOG Specialty Knives, called the SCUBA/DEMO. It's a large spear-point knife with a serrated edge on top of the blade and has a leather resin-impregnated handle and brushed stainless finish. It's a rare knife that's really hard to find now, and I was happy to have picked one up when I did.
Because it turned out to be just the thing I needed this night, and it worked splendidly.
If I hadn't been able to take him out quietly, then the men lying in wait further up would be opening fire on me and the kids, and I knew one or more of the teens would be lying dead or wounded at the end of it.
As messed up as it was, the ambush had been a smart plan overall and against untrained, scared civilians it would have worked easily without a problem.
"Glad I was there to screw it all up for them." I thought as I raised the muzzle of my carbine up and headed for the group of five still lying on the grass.
The kids had gotten ahead of me now and I was hard pressed to catch up. I had lost time trying to approach the first "bad guy" quietly without being detected and in the time I had taken him out and dragged him away, the kids were past my position I guessed from the sounds of Rei, Saeko, and Saya talking and I needed to hurry and get behind these other guys before they would start to get wise when their comrade didn't open up with his shotgun like he was supposed to.
"Busujima-sempai? " Rei said walking closer to Saeko. "Are you sure Jimu-san is still up there? I haven't seen any sign of him at all since we started walking."
"Hai." Saeko replied. "He specifically said he was intentionally trying to stay hidden in case someone might try to sneak up on us again. He thought it best to trail behind from up there so he could see anyone approaching from any direction."
"You don't think they'll be coming back, do you?" Saya asked the fear palpable in her voice as she moved even closer behind Rei. "He shot four of them. Why would the rest come back?"
Saeko could easily sense the growing panic in Saya's voice and tried to help calm her fears.
"I don't believe he thinks they would be foolish enough to try that again Takagi-san." Saeko replied. "But as Jimu-san said, "It is better to be safe than sorry."
"Well, maybe we should stop and ask him if he sees anything." Saya said, the fear starting to overcome her.
"How can we ask him anything if he's staying hidden?" Rei asked frowning.
"If he's watching us, he'll see us stopping and wonder what's wrong and then he'll come check on us." Saya replied, scowling back at Rei. "Mo, do I have to think of everything?"
Rei bristled slightly at Saya's comment and whirled around.
"If he does that, and if anyone really is watching us, then he'll be seen by them and be attacked. What sense does that make?" Rei retorted.
"We don't know if anyone's watching us. Everyone's probably hiding right now. Who would be stupid enough to be out here at night?" Saya snapped, the irony of her words lost on her.
"You mean people not quite as smart as we are, Takagi-san?" Saeko said smiling to herself.
Saya opened her mouth to speak as the irony of her words finally hit her, and she abruptly changed her mind and said nothing.
"Don't worry Takagi-san." Kouta said watching the road behind them as they walked.
"Men in a profession like Jimu-san's prefer to stay concealed in the shadows. They train to fight at night and it's the best way to ensure our safety from up there. We may not see him, but he's up there. Don't worry. I'll protect you as well Takagi-san, with my life." Kouta said smiling at Saya.
"Yuuuuck." Saya thought, looking sourly at the lovey-dovey look that was all over Kouta's face.
"Your very sweet, Hirano-kun." Saeko said staring at the two teens. "I'm jealous Takagi-san, having such a strong man like Hirano-kun as your guardian."
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WANT HIM AS MY GUARDIAN?!" Saya hissed through gritted teeth.
Rei and Saeko giggled at Saya's visible embarrassment as they continued walking.
"Here they come." The leader of the group said to the other men crouched in the darkness with him as the teens approached.
"Remember, as soon as Sato shoots the boy, then we head in."
"What if he screws it up?" The butcher, Umibozou whispered.
"He won't." The leader said. "He has his eye on that brown-haired girl. Trust me, he WON'T mess up."
After a few more moments, the teens suddenly stopped and began to converse loudly in the middle of the road. After a few moments, two of the girls suddenly ran into the darkness, leaving the older girl and the fat kid behind.
"What's going on?" One of the other men, a twenty-year old carrying an axe, asked out loud.
"Quiet, you IDIOT!" The leader hissed." You wanna scare them off? Probably went to pee or something, that's all. Stay still and SHUT UP!"
After a moment had passed with nothing happening, the men started to get anxious.
"What's keeping him?" The leader thought to himself. "He could have easily picked off those two by now."
"Sure is taking his sweet time, isn't he?" Umibouzo said." Did he lose his nerve or what?"
"I don't know." The leader grumbled as he lifted his sawed off shotgun. "But if he doesn't shoot in three seconds, I WILL!"
"All of you get ready!" The man hissed as everyone grabbed their weapons and tensed to spring as the man raised his shotgun.
"Ichi!" The leader counted off.
"Ni!" The men tensed themselves, all of them coiled up and ready to spring into action.
"Konban wa." A disturbingly calm voice said behind them.
After a five more minutes of walking, Saya forgot her fear as she began to focus on something else that was bothering her.
"How much further anyway?" Saya grumbled. "Aren't we close yet?"
"You have a map Takagi-san." Saeko said, starting to tire of her whining. "Take a look."
"Grrrrrrr." Saya grumbled to Saeko's reply, but reached for the map in her pocket anyway.
"It's only been perhaps thirty minutes since we started walking and she's complaining already." Rei thought, frowning as Saya unfolded her map.
"I hope we get there soon so I don't have to listen to her anymore. I can't take too much more of her whining."
After looking at the map and seeing that they still had another mile or so to go, Saya stuffed the map back in her pocket with a huff.
Saya moved up towards Rei and whispered into her ear. "I need to stop."
"What do you mean, you need to stop?" Rei said frowning, and then suddenly comprehended Saya's meaning as the teen looked at her anxiously.
"Oh." Rei said, "You know what? Me too, now that you mention it."
"Busujima-sempai?" Rei said, trying to get Saeko's attention. "We need to stop for a moment."
"Is there something wrong?" Saeko asked, concerned.
"Ano, Takagi-san, needs a break." Rei replied. "And quite frankly, so do I."
Saeko looked at the slightly anxious looks on the two girls faces and her eyes widened upon comprehending the girls meaning.
"Oh. Well, I understand your need, believe me. But this is hardly the place or the time. It's far too unsafe here."
"But I really have to GO!" Saya whispered loudly through her teeth trying to keep her voice low so Kouta wouldn't overhear.
Saeko sighed in frustration.
"All right." But there's no place around here other than near the water."
"Good enough." Rei replied, starting to shift from one foot to the other.
"What about Fatty?" Saya said looking at Kouta.
"What about Hirano-kun?" Saeko asked, annoyed at Saya's rudeness towards Kouta.
"I CAN'T GO IF HE'S RIGHT THERE!" Saya hissed in a shocked voice.
"Well what do you propose?" Rei said getting anxious. "And make it fast will you?"
"Send him down the road a bit so he can't see us." Saya said.
"That's not necessary." Saeko replied. "It's so dark, I can hardly see the water from here, and we need him to be on the lookout as well. Besides, I don't believe Hirano-kun would be the type to peep anyway."
"But he can still hear us!" Saya whined.
"OH, WHO CARES?!" Rei said out loud, the strain becoming too much to bear. "I'm going now."
"What's wrong everyone?" Kouta asked as Rei ran down the small slope away from the road into the darkness.
"SHUT UP!" Saya yelled as she ran after Rei. "And don't you look either you fat jerk!"
"Busujima-san? What's going on?" Kouta asked puzzled as he looked out into the darkness where the two girls had run.
"I SAID DON'T LOOK, YOU JERK!" Saya screeched.
"Just give them a moment of privacy, Hirano-kun." Saeko said quietly.
"Oh." Kouta replied, finally comprehending at last.
"BOOM!"
"BLAM!" "BLAM!" "BLAM!" "BLAM!" "BLAM!" "BLAM!" "BLAM!" "BLAM!" "BLAM!" "BLAM!"
The sound of a shotgun blast roared into the night, startling everyone. The flash from the shot illuminating the darkness at the top of the hill for a brief moment, and was then immediately answered by the American opening up with his carbine.
As the flash from his weapon illuminated the hillside, Kouta and Saeko immediately hurled themselves to the ground on the small slope heading towards the water as the roar of the gunfire echoed out over the water while the other two girls started screaming behind them near the water's edge.
"STAY DOWN!" Kouta roared. As the gunfire finally ceased and the night became silent again.
"IS EVERYONE ALL RIG_!" Saeko began.
"BLAM!" "BLAM!"
Another double blast from the man's carbine echoed overhead as the two teens ducked their heads again.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Saya shrieked.
"ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP!" Kouta roared as he pulled down the legs of the bipod mounted on the front of the rifle and peered through the scope scanning the top of the hill.
"Do you see anything Hirano-kun?" Saeko asked after a moment had passed.
"Negative." Kouta replied as he peered into the darkness.
"But he came into contact with multiple targets, at least five or more perhaps."
"How can you tell?" Saeko replied.
"Men that are used to fighting in "Discretionary Warfare" usually double-tap their targets. That way you increase the chances of inflicting more damage and putting an enemy down for good." Kouta explained, his eye never leaving the scope.
"But I only heard one shot before he opened fire." Saeko said, looking up the hill as well.
"I know, which means he either opened fire before the rest could, or…. he's in trouble." Kouta said grimly.
"Shouldn't we help him?" Saeko said, suddenly anxious.
"No." Kouta responded firmly. "If he's in trouble, we can't help him now. We'd only put ourselves in_.
"BLAM!"
Rei and Saya screamed again as the report of a single shot echoed overhead.
"QUIET DOWN, DAMMIT!" Kouta roared his eye still glued to the scope.
"C'mon, give me a clean shot." Kouta said, quietly gritting his teeth as the crosshairs scanned the edge of the hill.
"Why was there only one shot?" Saeko asked.
"Coup de grace probably." Kouta replied grimly. "Someone must have still been moving."
"You don't think Jimu-san could be capable of_." Saeko began, horrified at the image of the American killing wounded men like that.
"BOOM!"
The flash and roar of a shotgun blast echoed again as a shirtless, bald-headed man came roaring out of the darkness walking backwards, and fired twice more into the night, causing Rei and Saya to scream in horror again.
"BOOM!" "BOOM!"
"Got you." Kouta said as he aligned the crosshairs on the man's tattooed back and placed his finger on the trigger.
"BLAM!" "BLAM!" "BLAM!"
Kouta watched as three quick flashes erupted out of the darkness and the man jerked as the bullets from the Americans carbine tore into him as he toppled over the edge, dropping the sawed-off shotgun as he fell, rolling down the hill.
"Jimu-san!" Saeko yelled as she attempted to get up but was stopped as Kouta grabbed her arm.
"Wait until he gives the all clear, sempai." Kouta said looking at her. "It may not be over yet."
Kouta could feel Saeko's arm tense as he held onto her, but she then relaxed and nodded her head in reply.
The tense moments that followed the last shot seemed to stretch on forever until a familiar voice called out to them.
"Everyone OK?" The sound of the American's voice yelled out of the darkness.
"Hai!" Saeko yelled. "Jimu-san, we're unhurt! Are you all right?!"
"Yup." The man replied. "But, all these fireworks are attracting an audience. Ya'll stay put, and I'll be down in a moment. Gotta go grab my stuff."
"All right!" Saeko replied as she and Kouta breathed a sigh of relief.
"Minna-san!" Saeko yelled. "Are you two allright?"
Saeko could not see the two girls in the darkness, but she could definitely hear the girls moving around and cursing.
"We're fine." Rei said angrily.
"What's wrong?" Saeko asked.
"It's not important." Saya responded, angry as well.
"Takagi-san!" Kouta yelled in alarm. "Have you been hurt?"
"NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS, FATTY!" Saya screeched.
"Are you sure you're both OK?" Saeko asked concerned. "Are you sure you haven't been wound_!"
"WE FELL INTO THE DAMN WATER WHEN THE SHOOTING STARTED, ALLRIGHT?!" The two girls screamed in anger and embarrassment.
Saeko turned her head as Kouta snickered and then he began to roll around on the ground roaring with laughter as the two girls came up from the river's edge soaking wet and started kicking Kouta mercilessly even though it only made him laugh even harder.
"What is wrong with those kids?" I thought as I donned my pack and headed towards them, the sound of the girls screaming in anger and Kouta laughing his head off echoing all around.
Just as I was nearing the edge of the hill, I took one last scan of the field behind me with my NOD and saw perhaps a couple hundred of the Infected beginning to surge in our direction in response to all the gunfire.
There was no sense trying to trail the kids from up here anymore. The entire field would be full of Infected before long and there would be no way for anyone to approach us from up here anyway. I figured I might as well walk with the kids from this point on as I headed their way as I could still hear Kouta laughing like a madman.
At their usual rate of speed, we would be well on our way, away from here before any of the Infected ever got to this point. But still, this was hardly the time to be screwing around.
"These kids must be pretty hard-core nowadays." I thought. "After experiencing something like this, I wouldn't be laughing and hollering. Wonder what's got the kids so worked up?
As I came down the hill, I stopped near the body of the bald-headed man where he lay. He was dead alright, with five bullet wounds in him. He had been a tough bastard though, I had to admit.
After finally getting into position behind and to the left of the group of men crouched in the darkness waiting to ambush the teens, I then crouched with my carbine at the ready just as they were about to charge the kids I guess, after I heard the bald fellow counting off all of a sudden.
"Good Evening" I said in Japanese to get their attention, and all of them froze at the sound of my voice, except for the leader.
"Don't even think about it." I said as he looked back towards the sound of my voice and then dove to the side letting off a shot from his sawed-off shotgun that went extremely wide as he dove to the ground.
And that's exactly the reason why I wasn't standing directly behind them.
I double-tapped him, and then proceeded to do the same to his buddies who decided the smartest thing to do at the moment was to charge me all at once, waving kitchen cutlery and an axe as they came at me.
It was over in seconds.
Well, not quite. One guy had only been wounded, and as I approached to make sure everyone was down for good, this fellow came up and swung a cleaver at me. I double-tapped him again and saw the bald fellow reaching for his shotgun again out of the corner of my eye.
I could see him plain as day with my NOD, and I could tell he was hoping I'd come closer so he could shoot me as soon as I got near enough in the light for him to see me. I wasn't falling for it though and fired a round into the ground near his head as he lay there.
"Don't even bother buddy, I know you're playing possum." I said as he finally jumped up and pumped three more rounds in my general direction as I dove to my left to avoid them.
I had barely made it out of the way as fast as the guy had moved and as he cycled the action of his shotgun for a fourth shot, I then fired three more rounds at him and finally put him down.
And now as I stood there next to him, I stared at him lying there on the ground wondering just what the hell was going through this guy's mind leading all those other men to try to commit such horrible savagery towards a bunch of innocent teenagers.
Like I said, some things people do, defy logic and there are some people I'll just never understand at all.
I shook my head and then quickly searched the man's body for ammo, and I found five more shells for the scattergun in his pockets.
I then reloaded the small sawed-off shotgun and shoved it into the rifle case attachment of my pack next to the other shotgun I had scavenged from the first guy. I'm sure they would come in handy later.
Now that the latest threat had been neutralized, and everyone was safe I began to think to myself that if a drone had indeed been flying overhead and the cameras had, caught that little drama unfolding on top of the hill, perhaps a training video would still be made for what not to do in combat.
Or more likely, the video would be used as the State's evidence against me before I faced a firing squad.
Either way, the kids were safe, I was still alive, and that's all that mattered as far as I was concerned.
After putting the sawed-off away, I walked over to the teens who were standing there waiting for me startling everyone but Saeko, at seeing me coming out of the dark with my face all camo'ed up looking like a green-faced monster stumbling out of the night.
And as I approached them I began to wonder why Saya and Rei both were all soaking wet from the waist down and why Kouta was all beaten up and dirty with dusty footprints all over his school uniform.
"Can't wait to hear their side of the story." I thought as I walked over to them.
"Do you think they're all right?" Shizuka asked Takashi as they waited out in the street next to an American-made Humvee parked across the street from the condominium where her friend Rika lived.
They had been waiting the better part of an hour, and were still anxiously awaiting the arrival of their friends. The normal nightly noises of traffic, children at play, and neighbors greeting and conversing with one another had been replaced with the sound of traffic, mixed with gunfire, and human screams.
Being alone out in the open was unsettling to say the least, Takashi thought as another scream pierced the night air from some unfortunate victim not too far away.
In the past hour, Takashi and Shizuka had quietly watched a few Infected shuffling by as they all headed in the direction of the sounds of frightened humanity trying to save themselves from the relentless horde pursuing them without pause or mercy.
Now, it seemed to Takashi, that the numbers of Infected coming down this particular street were on the increase, as he spotted another Infected housewife shuffling slowly towards them about 100 feet away.
So far, they had not needed to resort to defending themselves from any of the Infected yet. But if their friends didn't arrive soon, their primary source of shelter this night would have to be abandoned and they would have to travel to the secondary "safe house" that Shizuka had suggested.
"I'm sure they're fine Sensei." Takashi replied. "Jimu-san was going to extreme lengths to make sure everyone got here safe. I'm sure the reason they haven't shown up yet is because they're avoiding any encounter with "Them", the same as we are."
"I certainly hope so." Shizuka replied, her voice still very much filled with concern.
After another twenty minutes and three more Infected had passed, even Takashi could not help but be alarmed at the extended length of time that had passed since they had left the group.
"Komuro-kun? I think somethings happened." Shizuka replied looking at him.
Takashi gazed upon the nurse's frightened face and nodded his head in agreement.
"I think you're right, Sensei." He replied. "Let's go look for them."
"But Komuro-kun, Jimu said to go to the secondary "safe house." Shizuka said anxiously. "Won't they be looking for us there if they can't find us here?"
Takashi looked at his motorcycle as he pondered the nurse's words.
The American had made a simple plan of action that seemed to make sense at the time. But now that their friends were missing, the plan did not seem as important as trying to find out if their friends were all right.
There were too many dangers all around this night, and a horrible thought that had occurred to Takashi earlier was that perhaps one of the screams that they had heard, might be coming from one of their friends.
"I know what our plan was, Sensei." Takashi replied. "But the plan was, for all of us to meet here first and if they couldn't find us here, then they would go to the secondary house to find us."
"We're here, they're not." Takashi stated matter-of-factly.
"What do you want to do then?" Shizuka asked, staring down the street and seeing nothing but an old man shuffling down the street, surprisingly one of the few people shuffling around on the street that wasn't Infected for a change.
"Let's go back and see what happened to them." Takashi said as he climbed aboard the motorcycle and started the engine as Shizuka climbed aboard behind him.
Takashi was about to head out into the street as he suddenly shuddered as the nurse's hand came dangerously close to his crotch again, the same as when they had left the group earlier. It had been an awkward ride all the way up here, and Takashi was not all that anxious about having the older woman's hand on his groin all through the night.
Although there had been many young men in his school that would have gladly traded places with him if they had survived the Outbreak.
"Ano, Sensei?" Takashi said, starting to have that awkward feeling coming back to him.
"Hai?!" Shizuka responded loudly over the noise of the engine.
"Would you mind putting your hand somewhere else?" Takashi said, starting to sweat a little.
"I can't hear you!" Shizuka said. "The noise!"
"Never mind." Takashi said rolling his eyes as they took off out into the street headed back the way they came.
They rode to the end of the street and then quickly turned a corner when a dark figure suddenly seemed to appear in front of them as if coming out of the shadows and reaching out for them with both hands. Takashi gripped the brake and slid into the figure who then grabbed the handlebars.
Shizuka screamed as the figure loomed over them and Takashi reached for the pistol the American had given him.
The shadowy figure then released one of his hands off the handlebars of the bike and grabbed Takashi's hand preventing him from drawing the pistol as Takashi struggled to break free.
"WHOOOA!" The man yelled as Takashi recognized the voice of the man that had stumbled out of the night and grabbed them.
"JIMU-SAN?!" Takashi and Shizuka yelled out in surprise.
"TURN THAT DAMN BIKE OFF WILLYA?!" The American yelled, extremely annoyed at nearly being run over and then nearly shot, as he had been about to walk around the corner and had run right into the path of the bike.
"Are you all right? Where are the others?!" Shizuka blurted out as soon as Takashi had shut off the engine.
"Auuugh." The American groaned as he started to massage his left thigh where the motorcycle tire had struck him.
"The kids are fine. They're about a couple blocks behind me." The man said grumbling. "I came up here to scout ahead and make sure the two of you were here, and it was safe for the others to come up."
"And quite frankly, it's more dangerous out here with you two on the loose than anything else out here." The man said as he continued to rub his thigh.
"I'm sorry about that." Takashi replied.
"What part?" The man snapped. "Trying to run my ass over or trying to blow it away?"
"Uhm, yeah." Takashi said sheepishly. "I'm sorry; I thought you were one of THEM."
"Aw, forget it son." The American said trying to walk on his leg. "It's my fault that I was standing in the middle of the damn road anyway. I keep forgetting how narrow these streets really are. That, and how the flow of traffic around here is the opposite of what I'm used to."
"Are you hurt?" Shizuka asked, noticing the American was slightly limping.
"I'll be OK, considering I just got clobbered by two people on a motorbike, riding full speed down a dark alley." The man replied. "How's the house look?"
"Condo." Shizuka corrected him. "A few of the occupant's that live there have been Infected. But everything else seems OK."
"We can clear it out pretty quickly with everyone's help." Takashi added.
"Sounds good, great job guys." The man said, as he looked down the street and waved at the teens who had finally turned a corner, and were headed their way.
"Oh, thank goodness." Shizuka said as she saw the teens approaching, seemingly none the worse for wear.
"They're fine." The American said. "Although if you value your lives, I wouldn't make mention of why Rei and Saya are all wet when you see them."
"Something bad happen?" Takashi asked, mildly alarmed that Rei might have been injured.
"Nothing like that." The man snickered." Just a pit stop that went horribly wrong."
"What do you mean?" Shizuka asked.
The man suddenly lowered his head, his shoulders shaking as he covered his mouth to prevent himself from roaring with laughter. After a moment the man looked up and spoke again, albeit his voice was a little shaky.
"Let's just say, they're both madder than a couple of wet hens." The American said as he covered his mouth again and walked around the corner failing miserably at trying to keep his composure.
"I'm sorry." The man said, trying to avoid being seen by the teens that were nearly a block away now.
"I couldn't laugh or make any jokes about it till now; otherwise the girls would have killed me." The man said wiping the tears from his eyes. "And I already had one girl beating on me today already."
"JIMU-SAN!" Shizuka said alarmed after noticing something about the man after he stepped out into the light.
"What happened to your arms? You're bleeding!"
The man raised his arms and looked at them. There was indeed, blood on both of his arms, but no visible wounds.
Shizuka had already hopped off the bike and grabbed the man's arms, examining them for any wounds but could not find any.
"I don't see any wounds." Shizuka said.
"It's not my blood." The man said suddenly turning serious. "Had a little trouble after ya'll left."
"Not the gang again?" Takashi said alarmed. "They came back?"
"No." The man replied. "Different bunch altogether."
"Same motive though." The American sighed.
"We really need to get everyone under cover as soon as possible and fort up for the night. Seems like people around here have really gone off the deep end with all this stuff going on. And people aren't holding anything back anymore it seems, ae really need to stay as invisible as possible"
"Is that why you're wearing make-up?" Shizuka asked, curious about the green color of the man's face.
"It's not make-up." The man growled. "It's camouflage."
"Looks like make-up to me." Shizuka said pouting at the man's gruff tone.
The American wiped his hand on his face and pressed his hand towards the nurse's face.
"Wanna try some then?" The man said as Shizuka backed away. "Although I doubt it's really your shade."
"Yuck!" The nurse said cringing at the greasy paint. "I'll never wear that stuff."
"Never say never, Sensei." The American chuckled. "Before all this is over, you might find yourself covered in this stuff."
"I don't think so!" Shizuka said annoyed.
Takashi laughed at the American teasing the nurse, until the man reached over and quickly smeared some of the camo paint on the end of Takashi's nose.
"What are you laughing at junior?" The man chuckled as Takashi grimaced at the dark green paint on his nose and tried to wipe it off and only succeeded in smearing it even further on his face as Shizuka and the man laughed at his efforts to wipe it off.
Takashi was driving himself crazy trying to wipe the greasy paint off as the rest of the teens finally walked up and joined them.
After a few moments spent greeting one another happily, the group quietly walked down the long road until they came upon the place that Shizuka pointed out as their final destination.
"Nice rig." The American said, admiring the Humvee parked out in the street after everyone had gathered around it, taking a short break before making their attempt to enter the apartment complex.
"Be a lot nicer if it had a .50 cal mounted on it though." I thought.
"What does your friend do for a living again?" I asked Shizuka.
"She's a police officer." Shizuka replied. "She works out at the airport sometimes, and I watch her place while she's gone."
"Oh." I said casually, in response to her answer.
"Oh, crap." Is what went through my mind actually.
"Is she there now?" I asked, pretending to view the interior of the Humvee.
"Yes." Shizuka replied. "Why?"
"Oh, no particular reason." I lied.
I didn't have the heart to tell Shizuka about what I had seen at the airport. And now, I can only imagine what was going on over there right now.
After we had bugged out and flown over the hangar trying to flee that small island of death, I had seen dozens of Infected swarming all over the place.
And after we left, I knew the first people to arrive on scene and investigate would be the airport police, and after the problems we had trying to make contact with the tower, I knew that the police on the ground had no clue what it was they would be running into when they arrived.
And without knowing what it was exactly that they were dealing with, I was pretty sure that it must have been a massacre.
And with the police force under attack and possibly decimated, I imagined the entire airport had been overrun, and I was having my doubts that her friend had made it.
So I kept my mouth shut, and said nothing. We'd had a rough time enough as it was today. And the last thing we needed was Shizuka getting all worked up over her friend. Maybe the police at the airport had been able to comprehend the horror they were facing, and were able to do something about the threat before it really did get out of hand.
Maybe.
No sense causing any unnecessary anxiety over it right now. There wasn't anything we could do about it anyway.
"Well guys, ya'll ready?" I said gazing at the small, exhausted bunch of teens looking up at me as I pulled the half-full magazine out of my Mk18 and switched it out with a full one and shoved it in the magwell.
"Yeah." Takashi replied hefting his bat as he looked up at our targeted "safe house" above us.
We were all extremely tired and mentally and emotionally fried, but still, we were more than ready to get off these streets as we gathered our things, and prepared ourselves for the fight ahead.
"Same way we did it before, back at your school, OK?" I said, looking into all of their faces. "The only difference is, I'll be in front with Kouta. If we come across any Infected that are bunched together, Kouta and I will thin them out. No need for a melee situation."
"We've been through way too much today to end up getting killed right at the front doorstep just because we were in too much of a hurry and screwed up. So wait till I give you the go ahead before you move up and take out any stragglers, understood?"
"Hai." They all answered, nodding their heads.
"The easy part will be clearing the grounds. The hard part will be clearing each room in this place. For that, only Kouta and I will be the ones to go inside each room and make sure they're clear, while all of you stand guard outside."
"Why clear all of the rooms?" Shizuka asked, puzzled. "Why not just lock ourselves inside Rika's condo?"
"Because we don't know how long we will need to stay here Sensei." Saya answered.
"And we can't afford to let any one of those bastards in here."
"Well said, pumpkin." The American said, patting Saya on the head.
"It'll take some time, but it'll be worth it." I said looking up at the condo and pondering the task at hand. "You can then walk around freely afterwards and sleep without having to look over your shoulder."
"Kouta, hand me my rifle." I said looking at him.
Kouta looked at me dismayed, but handed my M24 over as I leaned it against the Humvee.
"Can't I use it to help you clear the complex?" He asked, looking at me like a little kid whose most favorite toy in the world had just been taken away from him.
"It's no good for CQB." I said looking at him with a stern face at first and then grinning at the little surprise I had for him. "Can you handle a shotgun?"
"CQB?" Shizuka asked curious.
"Close Quarters Battle." Kouta replied, grinning evilly after seeing me reach behind my head and pull out the shotgun the office worker was carrying from my pack.
"Remington 870 Express Tactical pump action shotgun in 12ga. with a 7-shot capacity." Kouta said practically drooling as I passed it to him, the M24 now long forgotten after getting this new "toy."
"Thought you'd like that." I chuckled after seeing how excited he was to be holding the thing, as I had Saeko shove my rifle back into my pack while I stooped over.
"Here are a few extra shells." I said as I passed him a handful of 12 gauge shotgun shells. "Just be careful where you aim that thing. The last thing we need is someone to get wounded this late in the game."
"Yes SIR!" Kouta replied as he looked at me, understanding the huge amount of trust and responsibility I was placing on him.
"Here's your gun back." Takashi said holding the HK P7 still in its holster out to me.
"Sure you don't want to hang on to it, son?" I replied looking at him. "Might get a little hairy in there."
"I would rather use my bat for now. But I would appreciate it if you would teach me how to shoot later." Takashi said smiling.
"All right, son.' I said taking the pistol from him and stuffing it in the left cargo pocket on my trousers. Just don't get too carried away swinging that thing and get yourself in trouble, all right?"
"Hai." Takashi replied.
"Oh, and Takashi? I said looking at him.
"Hai?"
"This time, you yell as loud as you want, little buddy." I said, patting him on the shoulder, as he laughed.
"Everyone ready?" I said shouldering my carbine.
A chorus of "Hai's!" sounded, as we all walked towards the gate.
I flipped the "NV" switch on my Eotech from night mode to normal "red", and then turned on my weaponlight and laser, as I positioned myself in front of the gate with Kouta coming up next to me on my right side as everyone else got behind us.
"Shizuka, Pumpkin? Get the gate." I said as everyone readied themselves behind us while Shizuka grabbed one of the doors and Saya got the other.
"Open on the count of three, and then fall back behind the others." I said as I raised my carbine and I heard Kouta rack a shell in the chamber of his shotgun.
"One, two, THREE!" I yelled as the two women flung open the doors of the front gate revealing about a half dozen Infected on the steps leading up to the apartment complex. They then quickly ran behind the others as Kouta and I stepped forward.
"Kouta." I said smiling to myself as the Infected turned toward us at the sound of the gates opening.
"Hai?" Kouta asked looking straight ahead at the threat before us.
It had been a long day, and we were all exhausted and pretty keyed up and really needed to get under cover as quickly as possible.
But at that moment, I thought to myself. "Why not let the kid's burn off a little steam?"
Besides, I can't have all the fun all the time.
"Clear a path, son." I told Kouta as he looked at me and grinned.
"Yes, SIR!" He yelled, as he lined up his sights on his shotgun and opened fire.
Author's Notes:
Hi!
Well, I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter.
And YAY! Saeko and Jim didn't get emotional in this one!
To write this particular chapter, I used "Lord of War's" suggested soundtrack "Charging Fort Wagner" from the movie"Glory,"as Jim charges forward to intercept the "bad guys.". Thanks buddy!
For the part that Jim is stalking the "bad guys" I listened to Phil Collins "In The Air Tonight." Really set the mood for me there as I was writing it.
As always I wish to thank those who have offered reviews for my story whether the review was good or bad.
I appreciate the things that all of you have said, and it's really encouraged me to keep trying harder to write a good story.
That being said, I received a review recently which I wish to address because it really did concern me.
First, I do apologize for the goof I have made when it comes to capitalizing certain words in my story. "Last Alarm" is my first and only fanfic, and before I ever put this story together, the only time I've ever used a computer was for paying bills, surfing and Ebay.
I'm afraid I'm really very much a dinosaur when it comes to using a computer, and was not aware of certain things that I needed to be aware of when writing out a story electronically,so I apologize for "blasting" peoples ears figuratively with my capitalizing certain words in my story.
The idea was not to have the characters screaming like idiots, but rather to show emphasis and yes, also sometimes to shout out loud, especially when Saya is screaming at Kouta, but not all the time as much as it appears to be in my story.
That was my goof and I apologize. I only wish that I had known it earlier, because now I shudder to think of all the editing I have to do now to make it right.
Ah well,
But the reviewer brought out a good point and I'll do my best to fix it.
But as far as how I write this story, I can only say this, and this is meant with respect. Not everyone is going to like "Last Alarm", which is a given. So while I hope most of you do like it, I realize some of you won't.
I don't expect good reviews all the time.
I'll do the best I can to make the story good, but the story ain't perfect and neither is the writer.
But it is my story to write however I wish, whether some people think that it by itself, or just some parts of it, are "crap" or not.
"Crossroads" was meant to be emotional, and it most certainly was. And it accomplished what I wanted during a particularly trying ordeal for the cast.
A strong bond was forged between the HOTD cast and my character Jim.
An even stronger bond was forged between Jim and Saeko.
Maybe I could have "sprinkled" the emotion between chapters as the story progresses to keep a certain "pace" going.
But who wants to listen to Jim and Saeko get emotional every other chapter?
Not even I do, and I'm the one writing the story.
"Crossroads" accomplished its purpose as far as I'm concerned.
But it's only part of the story, and not the whole thing and definitely NOT the theme of the whole story.
As Forrest Gump would say,..."That's all ah have to say bout that."
LOL.
Cya'll next time!