00.
Last Alarm
Chapter 58
"The Alamo"
Part Nine
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
_ Nelson Mandela
Time: Zero Dark Thirty
Location: Approximately One Mile from Front Gate of Takagi Manor
Z-Day times Five
It" was hungry.
But then again, "It" always was...
From the time "It" had ceased to become the human being once known as Officer Rina Matsushima and had been re-born as an abomination unlike anything else known to nature, the only thing "It" was conscience of anymore, was the hunger.
And with each passing day of "It's" horrifyingly unnatural existence, the hunger would be the only thing driving "It" ever forward to fulfill "It's" inhuman need to feed on the flesh of the screaming, squirming, wriggling things that were unlucky enough to fall within "It's" grasp.
Unfortunately for the being now known as "It" however, by the time of "It's" transformation the prey that had once been so plentiful within the first three days of the Outbreak had now all but disappeared having nearly been completely wiped out by the thousands of other Infected that had been transformed days earlier when the Outbreak had first began.
And as is true with all predators in nature when the ability to find food becomes scarce, "It" and several hundred others like "It" had then began to undergo a type of metamorphosis which had been necessitated by the increasing lack of food.
However, this metamorphosis was nothing at all as beautiful or awe-inspiring such as the morphing of a moth into a butterfly.
No, this was something far more grotesque and hellish than anything nature could have ever produced on its own as the Contagion that had already transformed millions of men, women, and children into nightmarish creatures that fed on human flesh, began to alter the creatures DNA once more, producing a "hybrid creature" even far more lethal than the hundreds of thousands of other "Infected" still roaming all around the city.
And mere hours after the transformation had occurred, already "It's" greatly enhanced senses had served it well earlier that morning on the fifth day of the Outbreak, allowing "It" to easily acquire the presence of prey far more quickly than any of "It's" other slower-moving brethren who's hunger had not yet been quite as affected by the recent lack of prey nearly quite as much as it had the "hybrids".
Unfortunately for "It" however, as the other "hybrids" also began to make use of their newly acquired hunting abilities and began to quickly devour what few sources of prey were left in the now dead city, the competition for food had grown incredibly fierce, forcing the new "alpha predators" to even begin fighting each other to the death in order to survive.
And as an added blow, with "It" being smaller in size compared to most of the other "hybrids", "It" had little success in fending off the other "alpha predators" from any of her kills and had even nearly been torn apart herself at the hands of the larger "alphas" before ''It'' suddenly lashed out at the other ''newborns'' with an unexpected malevolence previously unseen before by any of the others "hybrids" which had resulted in the other "alphas" quickly backing away from the kill.
But just as ''It'' had reclaimed her kill and had began to feast on the remains, what few remaining brain cells that still functioned in "It's" brain suddenly registered the sound of multiple car alarms suddenly blaring off in unison in the far off distance.
And despite the fact that the creature now known as "It" still barely possessed the intelligence and instinct of a common garden-variety ant, "It" was still somehow able to identify the faint mechanical sounds as a possible source of prey and immediately began to sprint in the direction that the noise was coming from.
But hours of searching blindly along the deserted streets of the city had all been for naught when, for some unknown reason, the source of the sounds suddenly and mysteriously disappeared leaving "It" and the thousands of other Infected shuffling nearby that had also been attracted by the sound to stumble about blindly in no clear direction as they desperately tried to reacquire the location of their prey, to no avail.
And as hour after hour and mile after mile passed as "It" continued to shuffle blindly forward still trying relentlessly to find the seemingly elusive prey, the growing hunger that had been plaguing "It" ever since "It's" transformation had become absolutely agonizing with each step it took.
But then, as if Fate itself were actually extending a helping hand to these abominations of nature all roaming aimlessly around the deserted city streets of the now dead city, another faint sound coming from far off in the distance suddenly registered in "It's" brain that the prey that "It" had so eagerly been hunting for hours, had given away its presence once more.
And then for reasons that not even "It" knew, "It" instinctively leaned "It's" head back and roared savagely at the top of "It's" lungs, a sound unlike anything else in nature that reverberated off the walls of countless structures and echoed all around for miles.
And even before the echoes of "It's" roar had even begun to fade the loud roar of another "alpha" sounded nearby, which was quickly followed by another and then still others, until at last the thousands of Infected that had been shuffling aimlessly about the city after having lost track of their prey earlier, slowly began to converge into one, incredibly massive, horde.
In a span of less than three hours, dozens had become hundreds, hundreds had become thousands, and thousands had then become...
An army... all of them driven by one single, solitary, terrifying need.
The need, to feed.
But then hours later as darkness fell and the prey that "It" and the others had all so eagerly sought was seemingly almost within their grasp, some unknown obstacle had suddenly and unexpectedly blocked their path, causing the horde to come to a grinding halt.
And despite the recent metamorphosis that had greatly enhanced the "hybrids" hunting abilities and aggressiveness, the "alphas" soon found that no matter how much they roared or how much they savagely clawed away at the other Infected crushing against them, not a single one of them could move even an inch as the other slower-moving Infected continued to press in all around them.
To make matters worse, almost as if Fate were now making a mockery of the creature's ordeal, a cacophony of noise suddenly erupted directly in front of the large horde as the "prey" that they had all so eagerly sought began to fire their weapons, the deafening noise of battle whipping the entire horde of Infected into a frenzy as they all surged forward at once, nearly crushing "It" and the other "alphas" to pulp.
Unable to move forward, sideways, or even backwards because of the crushing weight of their slower brethren pressing in all around them and with the maddening noise of their prey driving them into a frenzy beyond description, the entire spectacle of the "alphas" plight could almost be considered laughable, were not the situation itself so horrific.
But just as the rotting bodies of the "alphas" were on the very verge of being ground into nothingness, somewhere deep in the center of what remained of their almost lifeless brains a few remaining synapses suddenly began to fire amongst what few remaining brain cells still thrived that had not been completely swallowed up by the Contagion.
And while the small spark of activity in their almost lifeless brains did not give the "alphas" the same mental ability that they had once possessed prior to their transformation, their brains were able to give the "alphas" the ability to determine that if moving forward or backward would not allow them to free themselves from their plight, and moving left or right would not serve as a viable option either, then the only possible solution left was either to dig...
Or to climb...
And like a hellish scene that not even Dante himself could not have envisioned in his very worst of nightmares, almost as one, each of the "alphas" suddenly began to bite, kick, and claw mercilessly at their fellow Infected around them ripping large chunks of flesh from their fellows as they began to climb up and over the bodies of their more primitive-minded brethren in an effort to free themselves from the crushing weight that entrapped them.
And in an incredibly short amount of time, hundreds of the "alphas" were able to finally free themselves as they then began to scramble over the heads and shoulders of the other Infected like some nightmarish wave of moving flesh, all of them focused on only one concentrated effort to get to the source of all the noise which could only be coming from the prey that they so eagerly hungered for.
Fortunately for the hundreds of those seeking shelter behind the brick walls surrounding Takagi Manor the presence of this looming threat would have gone on completely unnoticed had it not been for the bright moonlight that had finally pierced through the thick clouds that had blanketed over the entire city, fully exposing the looming threat about to descend upon them.
But by then, it was already too late.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty
Location: Takagi Manor – Front Terrace of Takagi Mansion
Z-Day Times Five
"Heaven help us." Soichiro Takagi muttered under his breath at the blood-chilling sight of the large swarm of hybrids that were madly scrambling over the bodies of the other Infected like one huge wave as Yuriko's eyes widened at the look of absolute terror in her husband's eyes.
"Th-There's no way we can possibly defend ourselves against that!" Soichiro said his face paling as Yuriko gasped in shock as she felt her husband's arm suddenly weaken and she noticed that his katana was beginning to slip out of his hand.
"SOICHIRO-SAN!" Yuriko shouted, the panic rising in her voice at seeing her husband so uncharacteristically unhinged as the Lord of Takagi Manor immediately snapped out of his sudden shock in response to his wife's frantic shout as the look of fear that had been in her husband's eyes immediately disappeared and a look of intense ferocity immediately took its place.
"Yuriko, get the children inside...!" Soichiro commanded glancing down at his wife, the fear that had been in his voice a moment earlier now completely absent as his voice once again boomed like thunder. "...lock yourselves in my study and remain there until I come for you!"
"THE REST OF YOU... GET INSIDE, NOW!" The Lord of Takagi Manor roared over his shoulder at the frightened crowd of people standing nearby who had been frozen in shock at the sight of the fast-moving Infected, whom immediately turned tail and ran towards the front doors as screams of terror and pain suddenly began to erupt as people literally began to crush one another as dozens of panicked civilians attempted to squeeze their way through the narrow doorway all at once.
"YOSHIOKA-SAN...!" Soichiro thundered as he gestured with his katana towards the disaster that was unfolding at the front door of the mansion as screams of fear and in pain began to intensify as people were literally being crushed to death from the ensuing panic. "...GET WHATEVER MEN YOU HAVE LEFT AND GET THOSE FOOLS SAFELY INSIDE BEFORE THEY KILL ONE ANOTHER, AND THEN SECURE THE BOTTOM FLOOR OF THE HOUSE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!"
"HAI, TAKAGI-SAMA!" The security chief shouted, his face a ghostly white no doubt from the sight of the hellish swarm quickly approaching at the bottom of the hill as he yelled at several of his men standing nearby to join him as they then began to roughly pull the panicked civilians apart from one another and tried to gain some semblance of order.
"Are you absolutely sure that we'll be able to keep the Infected from breaching the walls of our home, Soichiro-san?" Yuriko asked still clinging to her husband's arm as she stared at the fast-moving horde quickly scrambling their way over the bodies of the other Infected at the bottom of the hill. "...we never anticipated having to deal with anything like that."
"The iron window guards covering all the windows on the bottom floor should be strong enough to prevent the Infected from gaining entry, Yuriko..." Her husband replied as he gazed back in the direction of the oncoming threat that was quickly approaching. "...and all of the doors were designed to withstand an attack from the outside, although we could also use heavy furniture to help insure that the Infected do not get in."
"However, just to be safe..." Soichiro said as he gazed down at his wife, a thin smile forming on his face that was meant to reassure her, but failed. "...I would still prefer that you and the children go to my study and lock yourselves in the safe room, my love."
"What about the people still in the camp?!" Takashi suddenly interrupted as Saya's parents immediately glanced over in the direction of the small tent city and gasped in shock at the sight of more than three hundred people still standing in the middle of the camp, all of them completely transfixed on the battle at the front gate and apparently completely oblivious to the wave of death about to descend upon them.
"I'm afraid it is too late for those still remaining in the camp..." Saya's father replied after a moment's pause, his voice grim as everyone turned to stare at him with eyes widened in shock at his words. "... all that we can do now is try to save those that are here, already."
"What...?!" Takashi shouted completely aghast at what he had heard. "...you can't possibly mean that you intend to leave all those people to die, do you?!"
"There is no way we could warn those people in time, Komuro-san...!" Saya's father replied, his gaze focused entirely on the fast-moving horde that was almost now near the foot of the hill. "... all that my men and I can do now is try to save as many as we can and pray that we can all somehow miraculously survive this nightmare."
"It's not too late yet, Papa...!" Saya shouted desperately as stepped forward and gazed up at her father with pleading eyes. "...if someone could run over there, we could_!"
"I can spare no one to run over there and warn them, Saya-chan...!" Her father suddenly interrupted as he turned his head and glared at her as Saya shrank back from her father's burning gaze. "...and even if I could, no one would be able to be evacuated before those... things, get here!"
"NOW GO...ALL OF YOU!" Saya's father roared startling everyone as Yuriko immediately moved away from her husband and then began to hustle each of the teens roughly towards the open door of the mansion despite their protests.
"WAIT!" Saeko shouted as she pushed her way past Saya's mother and rushed over towards the terrace wall.
"JIMU-SAN AND THE OTHERS ARE STILL OUT THERE!" Saeko shouted desperately as she pointed down the hill at the small group of men still firing their weapons at the Infected who were still attempting to clamber over the wall.
"WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!" Saeko shouted her eyes wide with fright as everyone stared at the group of men fighting fiercely against the invading Infected near the front gate who were obviously completely oblivious to the even greater threat looming ever closer to them.
"I'm sorry Saeko-chan, but there's nothing that we can do for them, either..." Yuriko replied in a gentle tone her heart feeling completely sympathetic towards the teenage girl's plight as she then grabbed Saeko by the arm and attempted to gently urge her towards the mansion. "...please child, you must come inside with the rest of us before it's too late."
"IT'S NOT TOO LATE!" Saeko shouted in protest as she angrily tore her arm out of Yuriko's grasp and then leaned over the terrace wall and cupped both of her hands around her mouth.
"JIMU-SAN RUN!...THEY'RE COMING!...RUN!" Saeko shouted as loud as she could in a desperate but vain effort to be heard above the noise of all the gunfire as she continued to yell a warning over and over again at the men still fighting near the front gate of the mansion.
"Saeko, please listen to Yuriko-san...!" Takashi shouted grabbing Saeko by the arm, trying as hard as he could to avoid glancing in the direction of the horrific sight of the tidal wave of "hybrids" whom were now halfway up the hill still clambering swiftly over the heads and shoulders of the other Infected. "...they're too far away, he can't hear you!"
"Please Busujima sempai, listen to them!...Takashi's right, we need to get inside!" Rei shouted as she also rushed forward and attempted to help Takashi drag Saeko back towards the mansion.
"BUT WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM TO DIE!" Saeko screamed at the top of her lungs as she struggled desperately to break free from their grip.
"JIMU-SAN, RUN!..." Saeko shouted as loudly and as desperately as she could as she watched the wave of Infected swiftly approaching. "...RUN, JIMU-SAN...RUN!...PLEASE!"
"SAEKO!" Takashi shouted as he then, in a moment of desperation, firmly wrapped his arms around her waist and then attempted to drag her away as Rei felt a sudden flash of anger course through her at the sight of the two teens being in such close proximity to one another.
"SAEKO, IT'S NO USE...WE HAVE TO GO!" Takashi shouted as he struggled to maintain his hold on Saeko who was struggling to free herself from his grasp.
"DAMN YOU, KOMURO-KUN...LET GO OF ME!" Saeko shouted just as the sound of a gunshot erupted in everyone's ears as they all turned and saw Kouta kneeling directly behind the terrace wall with the barrel of his sniper rifle resting on the top, using it as a rest as the pudgy teen once again loosed a round in the direction of the front gate.
"KOUTA...!" Takashi shouted rubbing the inside of his ears which were ringing from the loud blast of the gunshot. "...WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, DUDE?!"
"Buying Jimu-san and the others some time...!" Kouta replied as he fired another shot as Takashi glanced in the direction of the wave of "hybrids" swiftly climbing their way up the hill and noticed one of them suddenly drop. "...and also hoping that he'll hear the shot and realize that shit just got real!"
"HIRANO-KUN...!" Soichiro voice thundered even over the loud report of Kouta's rifle, just as the pudgy teen fired another round. "...CEASE THIS FOLLY, IMMEDIATELY!"
"Yuriko-san...!" Kouta replied deliberately ignoring Saya's father as he fired another round as Takashi noticed another one of the "hybrids" fall. "...do any of your men happen to have a flare gun on them?!"
"I do!" One of the Takagi's security guards piped up as he reached into a pocket of his trousers and pulled out an old, military-issue flare pistol.
"FIRE A FLARE INTO THE AIR...!" Kouta shouted as he fired again at another one of the "runners" and missed. "...HURRY!"
"What the hell for, Kouta...?!" Takashi shouted still struggling with Saeko who was still scratching and clawing away at him as Rei did a slow boil nearby. "...there's no one around to see it for miles!"
"Maybe Jimu-san and some of the people in the camp will realize that we're trying to get their attention and head back over here!" Kouta shouted firing another round as the guard glanced over at Saya's father who merely scowled fiercely in response as he glanced quickly in the direction of the front gate, but then finally nodded his head in approval.
"Fire the flare, Hayao-san!" Soichiro Takagi said as the guard immediately raised the flare gun high over his head and fired into the night sky, the glowing red flare bathing the entire area in a ghostly red light.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty- A few moments earlier
Location: Takagi Manor – Jim's position
Z-Day Times Five
B.O.H.I.C.A...
It's a safe bet that most military veterans would probably agree that there is no organization here on earth (other than the C.I.A.) that has more useless acronyms in its inventory than the U.S. Military.
To be fair, surprisingly most of those acronyms often actually suit a purpose in most cases, but in others...not so much.
But if you ask me, the best acronyms out there aren't the ones that were invented from some "Military Academy ring-knocker" or Ivy-League "Wiz-kid" sitting in some swanky, air conditioned office at Langley or the Pentagon, but in my opinion were actually devised from the actual fighting guys who were often neck deep in the shit to begin with.
Some of these, SNAFU, TARFU, FUBAR, and even WTF are some of the more popular ones that most combat veterans are intimately familiar with since they themselves were the ones who created them to describe a situation that they'd all encountered against their will, at one time or another.
My personal favorite though, was one I picked up from reading one of Richard Marcinko's books years ago which accurately described many a screwed up situation that I too had personally been in way more damn times than I could ever hope to count.
BOHICA...Bend Over, Here It Comes Again.
Of course, the "It" described in that acronym usually referred to any particular extremely difficult situation that was now once again rearing its ugly head to screw things up once more.
Little did I know at the time that in my particular case, there literally was an "It" that was quickly hauling ass towards our current position with every intention of screwing us over...royally.
At that particular moment however, the only thing on my mind was the ugly fact that I was now down to the last few remaining rounds in my last thirty-round magazine and the only thing I had left for my M4 once that mag was done, was my sixty-round Surefire magazine and what few remaining shells I had left for the Masterkey shotgun, before I was left with nothing but my Sig P226 Navy pistol to fight with.
And that being the case, I would have no other choice but to have everyone turn tail and haul ass back towards the mansion since there was no way we could continue to be combat effective with nothing more than our pistols to fight with which would have been suicide at this point if we foolishly continued to stand our ground much longer.
And while I realize that action movies are filled with scenes of soldiers fighting heroically down to the last bullet and then bravely fighting on in a flurry of hand-to-hand- combat, ala' Steven Seagal and every other martial arts bad-ass you see strutting his stuff up there on the silver screen, the harsh reality is, all that shit is just pure Hollywood fantasy.
Because even if every one of us standing here was Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Keanu Reeves all rolled up in one we still wouldn't have lasted but maybe a few more seconds longer if we stayed around here with just our pistols to fight with and a hell of a lot less if we were stupid enough to try to go mano y mano with the Infected.
That being the case, there really was no way I could justify our staying here with so little ammo left and try to hold off the Infected pouring over the wall for much longer regardless of the fact that we were the only thing standing between them and certain death for all the survivors back at the refugee camp whom I hoped that by now, were all being evacuated to the mansion.
And despite my desire to stand my ground and buy just a few more precious moments for the Takagi's and their staff to be able to get all of the survivors in the camp evacuated to safety, I reluctantly made the decision to have everyone fall back to the mansion the moment my last thirty-round mag ran dry.
Unfortunately as it turns out, I had waited one damn minute too long.
Because right then after I had just burned off maybe two-thirds of my last thirty-rounder, the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up for no reason and a cold chill ran down my spine when between a pause in all the gunfire, I began to hear a strange kind of screeching noise that seemed to be coming from the other side of the wall.
And as I stopped firing to listen for a moment it seemed to me that the noise that I was hearing seemed to be steadily growing in volume when all of a sudden I heard a loud "pop" come from directly behind us as I turned my head and looked behind me and saw the unmistakable trail of a flare being launched into the air which was then followed by a dull "boom" as the flare exploded and the night sky was suddenly bathed in a bright red glow.
"What the hell?!" I swore angrily under my breath believing that someone had panicked and popped off a flare either by accident just as another flare was suddenly launched into the air.
"First, Kouta decides to start capping rounds over our heads, and now some idiot is shooting flares into the sky...what the hell?!" I muttered sourly under my breath as I snapped my attention back towards the front gate and fired away at a couple of Infected trying to scramble over the wall just as a third flare went flying into the night sky.
"Oh damn, could they maybe have spotted a chopper or something?" I said out loud my spirits suddenly beginning to lift at the small hope that perhaps at long last, the frickin' cavalry had finally arrived just in the nick of time.
But then suddenly, the weird screeching noise that I had heard earlier suddenly began to rise in volume until it became a loud roar as if a wall of water were headed our way as I noticed one of the guards glance over at me with a look of near panic in his eyes.
"Oh shit!" I swore under my breath as the real reason for Kouta's firing over our heads and the multiple flares being popped off into the night sky suddenly became all too clear, as I quickly brought my M4 up to my shoulder as all of the guards next to me also quickly followed suit, all of us preparing for whatever it was that was barreling down towards us.
Being that I'm from Texas you would have all probably thought I would have immediately recognized what it was that I had heard right away since every natural-born Texan is taught from childbirth how to shoot a gun, ride a horse, milk a cow, and rope a steer before he even knows how to walk...right?
Yeah right, and by the way folks, did you also know that all Americans are also blue-eyed, blond-haired, beer-swilling, pompous-ass, arrogant assholes who are always scarfing down hot dogs and hamburgers and screaming "Rock and Roll" all the time like you see in every frickin' Japanese anime nowadays?
If you believe that crap, and it seems a lot of people do, then I got some ocean front property near El Paso that I'd like to sell you.
Truth be told though, if I actually had been raised in the rural parts of South Central or upper portion of West Texas where cowboys are raised from birth to bust broncos and herd cattle for a living, then yeah, you'd have actually been right.
But seeing as I'm actually a city boy that was born and raised near the downtown area of San Antonio where the loudest sounds we ever heard on a daily basis were the blaring horns coming from the pissed-off early morning commuter traffic on I-35 and the house-shaking "whump, whump, whump" of all the Bell Huey MAST helicopters that were constantly flying in and around Fort Sam Houston, you really couldn't blame me for not having recognized that steady roar coming towards us which would ordinarily have made any real grizzled Texas cowhand suddenly begin shaking in their *Luchesse's.
(*Lucchese- A very popular brand of cowboy boot made right here in Texas and sold all around the world)
But then when I finally did comprehend at last what the sound was at last, there was no doubt in my mind as to what it was even though all that loud screeching sounded nothing at all like any type of cattle or even buffalo that we had roaming around the plains back home in Texas.
"Oh, f_ck me, sure as shit that's a frickin' stampede." I muttered to myself as I lined my sights up above the top of the wall, the very idea of turning and fleeing not even entering my mind when it sure as shit should have.
Unfortunately, at the time all I could think about was all of the men, women, and children taking refuge behind the walls of Takagi Manor, all of them depending on me and the guards fighting alongside me to stand our ground and protect them from the monsters lurking outside who would have no mercy whatsoever on anyone if we failed to hold them off.
And despite the fact that I was almost completely scared out of my mind at having to face this new threat that was quickly bearing down on us right now, I choked back my fear and began to recite to myself the same words that I had always said to myself whenever I was always the most afraid.
"It's not about you...it's about them..." I said under my breath over and over again as I tried to slow my breathing in order to calm myself as I noticed the front sight of my carbine was shaking all over the place. "...it's not about you...it's about them."
"DAMMIT!...THAT SHIT AINT WORKING!" I swore out loud in disgust at myself for being completely unable to keep the muzzle of my weapon still as I quickly tried to compose myself as the screeching roar that I heard began to grow ever louder in volume.
"What the hell am I doing here?!" I shouted out loud as I then glanced over at the frightened looks of the guards who were staring back at me, every one of them no doubt wondering the same thing as well and also wondering why the hell I wasn't giving the order for all of us to haul ass back towards the mansion.
And to be honest, a big part of me was wondering the same thing too, I mean after all I was just as scared as the rest of them were.
Actually, you know what?...that last part about me being just as scared as the guards were was actually bullshit because the real truth was I was scared almost out of my 'effing mind and I really was about a heartbeat away from saying "F_ck this shit, let's get the hell out of f_ckin' Dodge".
Yet, no matter how much I really wanted to *"di-di" the hell out of there and trust me I sure as shit wanted to, I could not in good conscience bring myself to give that order even though I most absolutelymotherf_ckingseriously, wanted to at the time.
(*Popular Vietnamese phrase for "Let's get out of here quickly" often used by Military personnel involved in the Vietnam War)
Take my word for it folks, I was more scared than I had ever been in my life, and I doubt if there wasn't a person on earth who wouldn't be if they had found themselves in the same situation.
So shit yeah, why not book it the hell out of here and live to fight another day...I mean after all, we had already gone above and beyond what could reasonably expected of us in that situation, so why not just haul ass out of there and save ourselves?
I mean after all, I was a retired firefighter, not a professional soldier-for-hire, at least not really.
Shit, I was a frickin' back-up medic for crying-out-loud, and the only reason I had been hired in the first place was because nobody... else... had...bothered... to... apply... for... the... job.
I hadn't been hired for any type of fighting skills that I might have possessed, I had been hired to patch up any of the guys on my team who got wounded and maybe even back them up in a firefight if need be, not go gallivanting around with *"my rifle, pony, and me" like John Wayne all over Japan and try to save the frickin' day everywhere I went.
(* Watch the movie "Rio Bravo" with John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Ricky Nelson and you'll see what I mean)
And even if I had been a full-fledged former commando for-hire, no one was paying me anything that I was doing right now, no one was begging me to stand my ground and fight, nor were there any promises of rich rewards, shiny medals, grand parades, or even sort of a monument to honor our so-called noble sacrifice.
Shiiiiiit...as much as the survivors back at the camp had tried to kill me the past couple of days, I doubt I'd even get more than a hearty "f_ck you" out of them before they tried to lynch my ass again.
So why not give the order to haul ass and save ourselves?
To be honest, I really don't know why I didn't give that order.
And till the day I die, I doubt that I ever will.
All I know was that at that moment as I looked into the frightened eyes of the guards who were still staring at me and waiting for me to tell them what to do, I then realized that there was only one thing that I could possibly say to them at that moment.
"Steady boys...we'll be okay." I said with a wink as I forced a thin smile to form on my lips in order to give them all the impression that, despite this latest unseen threat and that whatever it was coming at us, we could handle it and everything was gonna be okay.
And to my surprise, despite the fact that I knew that I was actually full of shit, it seemed to me that the guards actually believed me because the next thing I knew, they all nodded their heads in agreement and readied their weapons as we all stood there waiting for whatever it was rushing towards us to finally rear its ugly head.
There had been no need for some cheesy, hero-rousing speech about bravery, courage, or patriotism (even if the guards had been able to understand what the hell I was saying since none of them spoke English) nor was there a need for some adrenaline-pumping war cry or any of that other Hollywood-esque dramatic bullshit you see in the movies all the time.
Nope, whatever our reasons for making the decision to stand our ground and face an unseen enemy had strictly, and privately, been our own.
But for whatever reasons we had decided to stay, I have no doubt in my mind that for us there was at least one reason among us that we could all agree on.
And that was because for us, it had been the right thing to do.
So yeah, as low on ammo as I we all were and as scared silly we all were too, every single one of us was determined to stand our ground and face whatever it was that was now bearing down on us and face it like f_cking men and anything coming at us was gonna pay dearly before we went down.
Well, at least that's what our intentions were anyway, I mean c'mon, not even in our wildest of dreams could we have imagined the horror that was about to come flying over the walls at us.
Because if we had known what it was that was coming leaps and bounds at us, it would have been "Bye Felicia!" and our asses would have been hauling ass back towards the mansion faster than an EOD Tech who had just cut the wrong wire.
But we had no idea what it was that was coming for us, and it was our feelings of chivalry and virtue in a time of crisis along with a heaping helping of false sense of courage and bravado that was about to cost us dearly.
But we didn't know that then.
We just didn't know...
"C'mon in f_ckers...c'mon in..." I said aloud trying to bolster my courage together as I leveled my carbine in the direction of the front gate and then placed my hand on the handgrip of the Masterkey shotgun mounted underneath my M4.
"Ol' Painless is waiting." I said with a grin as I racked the action of the shotgun with a loud "Click-Clack!" as the screeching roar of the stampede began to rise in volume.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty
Location: Takagi Manor – Front Terrace of Takagi Mansion
Z-Day Times Five
"WHAT ARE THEY DOING...?!" Saeko shouted anxiously as Rei and everyone else stared helplessly at the small group of men standing almost completely still at the front gate, totally oblivious to the danger swiftly approaching them. "...WHY ARE THEY JUST STANDING THERE...DON'T THEY UNDERSTAND THAT WE'RE TRYING TO SIGNAL THEM?!"
"On the contrary Busujima-san, I do believe that they understand perfectly what is going on..." Saya's father replied, his voice noticeably calm compared to earlier as Saeko glanced over at him with anxious eyes. "...and I dare say that what they are doing now is a direct result of it."
"What do you mean, Papa...?!" Saya asked her father, her eyes also wide with fear as she gazed at the fast-moving horde which was now at the foot of the hill that lead up to their home.
"I mean that I believe that Cxxxxxxx-san and the others actually do understand that we actually are trying to warn them of danger..." Soichiro replied a hint of admiration noticeable in his voice for the group of men gathered near the front gate. "...and yet, regardless of that fact, they have chosen to make their stand nonetheless."
"WHAT?!" Saeko shouted in response as she gazed at the group of men still standing silently near the front gate, with only the occasional burst of gunfire erupting from them at the Infected still trying to scramble over the wall.
"I'm sorry, Busujima-san..." Soichiro said his thunderous voice filled with something that almost resembled sympathy. "...but obviously Cxxxxxxx-san and the others have made the decision to stand their ground and face the enemy...please, you and your friends must get indoors now, immediately."
"NO...!" Saeko shouted as she began to move toward the stairs leading from the terrace down onto the front lawn. "...they can't do this!...Its suicide!...We have to call them back!"
"THEY HAVE MADE THEIR DECISION, CHILD...!" Soichiro roared stepping menacingly towards Saeko who shrank back slightly from him. "...and if you do not wish their sacrifice to be in vain, then get inside with the others...NOW!"
"Takagi-san is right, Saeko...!" Takashi said gently grabbing Saeko by the arm as Saeko turned and stared at him. "...it's too late, there's nothing else we can do!"
"Please, Sempai!" Takashi said as Saeko hesitated a moment as she gazed into Takashi's pleading face as she then quickly turned her attention away from him and returned her gaze back in the direction of the American and the rest of the small group of men gathered at the front gate.
"Saeko, are you listening to me?!" Takashi said, the teenage girl continuing to stare transfixed at both the group of men standing near the gate as well as the horde of monsters that were swiftly approaching ever nearer to the front gate.
"SAEKO!" Takashi roared again angrily as he violently yanked on Saeko's arm and spun her completely around until she was facing him.
"DAMMIT, SAEKO...ENOUGH!" Takashi shouted as he grabbed Saeko by the shoulders and shook her before pulling her close to him as Rei, standing nearby, immediately balled her fists in rage as a wave of jealousy washed over her.
"LISTEN TO ME, SAEKO!" Takashi shouted at Saeko as she stared back at him wide-eyed in shock at the fierceness in his eyes as he held her by her shoulders firmly.
"THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO FOR HIM..!" Takashi shouted at Saeko, his face mere inches from hers as Rei's blood began to boil at the sight of the two teens in such close proximity to each other. "...WE HAVE TO GET INSIDE... NOW!"
"Please Saeko." Takashi said quickly lowering his voice as he gazed into Saeko's face as Rei's jealousy immediately threatened to go into overdrive.
"ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE...!" Soichiro suddenly roared in frustration, startling everyone with the intensity of his voice as Saya's father then glanced over at his wife. "...YURIKO, GET THEM INSIDE!"
"Hai..!" Yuriko replied as she once again grabbed Saya by the arm and then glanced over at Kouta who had been completely ignoring all the drama on the terrace and was still shooting away at the Infected and cackling with glee like a maniac.
"Hirano-kun, that is enough!" Yuriko shouted at Kouta as she then reached over and grabbed the pudgy teen by the arm and roughly yanked him away from the terrace wall as Kouta shouted vainly in protest, a stricken look plastered on his face resembling that of a teen whose mother had just dragged him away from his Xbox while in the middle of playing their favorite video game.
"Please, Saeko...let's go." Takashi said as Saeko suddenly felt her heart beginning to race and her face beginning to blush a bright red as Takashi pulled her body even closer to his.
"Please sempai, we have to_...HEY?!." Takashi suddenly shouted in surprise as Rei unexpectedly shoved herself roughly between him and Saeko and roughly pushed them apart.
"Takashi, you heard Yuriko-san...we have to go!" Rei shouted angrily as she then grabbed Takashi by the arm and began to roughly pull him in the direction of the mansion, her focus more on forcing Takashi away from Saeko than on the living nightmare that was now almost within reach of the front gate.
"DAMMIT REI...WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU...?!" Takashi shouted angrily, as he glanced back at Saeko with pleading eyes for her to follow him as he also tried to keep from falling on his ass as Rei continued to yank angrily on his arm. "...LET GO OF MY ARM!"
"I'M TRYING TO KEEP YOU FROM GETTING KILLED, YOU IDIOT!" Rei snapped angrily as she continued to roughly attempt to drag him across the driveway and towards the front door of the mansion.
"REI, WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF...?!" Takashi shouted angrily in frustration glancing over his shoulder at Rei who was glaring at him furiously as she continued to pull him backwards. "...I'M JUST TRYING TO HELP BUSUJIMA-SEMPAI!"
"OH, IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE DOING...?!" Rei shouted sarcastically as she continued to yank Takashi backwards. "...YOU COULD HAVE FOOLED ME!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, REI?!" Takashi shouted in frustration as he tried twisting his body in a useless effort to break free as Rei merely tightened her grip and began to yank even harder on his arm.
"DAMMMIT, REI...LET GO!" Takashi shouted, glaring angrily at Rei over his shoulder.
"WHY, SO YOU CAN MAKE OUT WITH YOUR NEW GIRLFRIEND?!" Rei shouted angrily as she continued to yank Takashi backwards.
"WHAT...?!" Takashi shouted angrily as he struggled to free himself from Rei's grip, the faces of both Saeko and himself blushing beet red from embarrassment at Rei's words. "...Rei, I'm not trying to kiss_...I mean I'm not trying to_!"
"I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS...!" Saya's father shouted with a mixture of anger, mixed with disbelief, and more than a smidge of disgust at the teenage drama unfolding before his eyes. "...AT A TIME LIKE THIS, YOU THREE CHOOSE NOW AS A TIME TO ENGAGE IN SOME SILLY JEALOUS LOVER'S QUARREL?"
"I'M NOT JEALOUS!" Rei screamed angrily as she suddenly heaved mightily at Takashi's arm, nearly causing him to stumble and fall.
"ARE YOU F_CKING KIDDING ME, REI...SERIOUSLY ?!" Takashi shouted angrily trying to regain his balance as Rei whirled around and glared at him, her eyes ablaze with jealous fury.
"DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT, TAKASHI..!" Rei shouted angrily as she leaned forward and glared furiously at him with hands on her hips. "...I'VE SEEN THE WAY YOU'VE BEEN STARING AT BUSUJIMA-SAN THE PAST FEW DAYS!"
"ESPECIALLY WITH THE WAY SHE WALKS AROUND HALF-NAKED ALL THE TIME!" Rei shouted gesturing towards Saeko who blushed immediately at Rei's words as Rei then whirled around to face Saeko.
"And don't think for one second that I'm stupid enough to believe that bullshit excuse about you're not being able to find anything else to wear, Busujima-sem_PAI...!" Rei spat angrily as she then pointed accusingly at the extremely revealing skirt that Saeko wore. "...nobody on earth would ever wear a skirt like that with half her ass hanging out, unless she was really that desperate to get laid!"
"Is that your problem, Sempai...?" Rei said with haughty eyes, her voice filled with venom as Saeko's eyes immediately narrowed in response. "...are you so damn hard up that you feel like you need to dress up like some skank in order to get noticed?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Miyamoto-san...!" Saeko replied in a frosty voice, her eyes like that of an angry cobra as she glared furiously at Rei. "...nor do I care, either!"
"My only concern now is Jimu-san!" Saeko said as she then whirled around and attempted to walk away from Rei who suddenly lunged forward and angrily grabbed Saeko by the arm.
"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME YOU, BI_... UUUGGGHHHH!" Rei shouted loudly in both surprise and pain as without warning, Saeko suddenly spun around and violently punched Rei squarely in the chest with the open heel of her hand with such force that the air was completely knocked out of Rei as her body then slammed hard against Takashi's as both teens then stumbled and fell heavily onto the terrace floor.
"SAEKO-CHAN!" Rei heard Yuriko scream as she groggily sat up in Takashi's lap and tried to catch her breath as Takashi wheezed heavily underneath her, the breath also knocked out of him as he lay on the marble floor of the terrace.
"You...*gasp*...crazy...*wheeze*... ass...*cough*...bitch!" Rei said between labored gasps as she rubbed the spot on her chest where Saeko had struck her.
"I'm...*cough*...gonna...*gasp*...effing...*wheeze*...KILL YOU!" Rei wheezed as her jaw then dropped in shock as she caught a quick glimpse of Saeko suddenly leaping over the terrace wall in a single bound and dropping out of sight.
"Semp_...*cough*...Semp_*choke*...SEMPAI!" Rei heard Takashi yell in her ear as she suddenly yelped in surprise as Takashi roughly shoved her off his lap and she fell hard on her butt onto the terrace floor as Takashi hurriedly scrambled to his feet.
"SEM_...*cough*...SEMP_...*cough*...SAEKO!" Takashi croaked still trying to catch his breath as Rei also jumped to her feet, her blood boiling.
"SAEKOOOOOOOOOO!" Takashi shouted once more as Rei took an angry step forward to continue to give Takashi a piece of her mind when Takashi suddenly whirled around and glared at Rei with a look of fury so intense that she immediately lost all nerve.
"KOUTA!" Takashi suddenly roared his eyes ablaze as he glanced over at the chubby teen who along with everyone else, was staring in shock in the direction that Saeko had leapt as Takashi suddenly reached under his jacket and yanked the HK P7M8 pistol that the American had given him from its holster hanging from his belt.
"Hai?!" Kouta replied still trying to free himself from Yuriko's grip.
"COVER US!" Takashi shouted as he once again glared at Rei for an instant before turning away as he then began sprinting towards the terrace wall as Rei's eyes widened in awe-struck horror.
"TAKASHIIIIII!" Rei then screamed hysterically as she then watched helplessly as Takashi leapt over the marble terrace wall and then disappeared from sight.
Author's Notes:
I realized that all of you are probably thinking after reading this chapter that I seem to once again just be building up the suspense and appear to be stalling when it comes to the actual fighting that supposed to be taking place right about now that I've been promising about for quite a while now.
Truth of the matter is, there are supposed to be fight scenes in this chapter, but after reading through it, I felt that a lot more could still be added on the fight scenes and so I decided to once again split what would have been a much larger chapter in half, that way all of you wouldn't have to wait a month or more for me to finish the entire thing.
The second half of this chapter with some of the fight scenes that I've been promising will be posted sometime next month hopefully.
The following chapters from here on will be nothing but fight scenes so look forward to those!
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter and again, my sincerest thanks to all of you loyal readers for your kind words and loyal support over the years.
Until next time! Jim