It was different this time, for four reasons. Homura woke up in the bed of a truck instead of in a hospital bed. Incubators never visited Earth, and so Witches never existed. The world was well-entrenched in the zombie apocalypse.
And instead of Japan Homura was on the east coast of America.
Madoka, Kyoko and Sayaka were there, too. They shared space in a rickety truck that jostled on the damaged road.
They had come to America for a school trip in Florida. Homura studied until her English was perfect, and the rest knew enough to get by.
Then the whole world got consumed by zombies, except for Canada. There was nothing for them at home, and nothing for them in Florida. They were going to embark on the Death Road to Canada.
At the next stop Sayaka's weapon broke apart quickly. It seemed like foreshadowing.
At the first trading camp Homura was the translator for everything. She protectively clutched the bag of food, the new currency, as she and Madoka perused the shopkeepers' areas.
There was a mechanic that took note of Homura's glasses and slyly said that a mechanic's skill could come in handy when it came to repairing glasses. Homura shook her head and they moved on to the next trader.
A fitness instructor ran in place and spoke with a sing-songy voice. Madoka bobbed her head along to the tune and Homura had to keep back her laughter as she bartered; there wasn't enough food to train the entire group.
Someone stood away from the rest of the traders. She had homemade pipe bombs. Homura bought one and handled it like its namesake. Her hands were still shaking as they got into the car.
"It'll be useful," Madoka reassured her, slightly shaky.
Sometimes they came across books on their survival trip; Homura had to translate, but sometimes she had trouble because there was often English slang peppering the pages. She still had no idea what the word "swole," meant.
On one looting session they came across an anime store. Kyoko found some manga that wasn't damaged but found out quickly that there were only English versions. And it was the bottom of the barrel material, with horrendous plot and anatomy that even a ten year old would know was extremely inaccurate.
Kyoko kicked the books around. "I feel like I got stupider just reading these!"
"If you find something good bring it back to Madoka," Homura said, "She likes the cooking ones."
"I can't find anything good, I just said that!"
They did find four people in the back room, armed with katanas. They were very happy to leave the zombie-infested city, as Homura and Kyoko led them back to the car.
The four survivors gave the group food, medical supplies, extra katanas and one of them gave up a cooking manga volume to give to Madoka. She glowed with happiness.
"This is plastic crap!" Kyoko exclaimed when she examined the katanas.
"She's really grateful for the gift," Homura falsely translated to the survivors, with an awkward smile. They let the survivors come with them to the nearest trading camp. There weren't any traders that were useful that time.
Kyoko drove the car when they left, leaving Homura in the back seat with Madoka. They shared the manga and Homura helpfully translated. It was moment of solace when the world rotted around them.
At the next stop there was an influx of zombies and they were cornered at an abandoned gas station. Madoka heard someone fighting against zombies in the store.
"We have to go rescue them," Madoka said. Kyoko was busy siphoning out the gas from the pumps that still worked.
"You and Homura go get them, I'll guard Kyoko," Sayaka replied, and she smashed her cricket bat against a zombie that got too close.
Madoka led the way, breaking the grips of the zombies with her bat and Homura finishing them off, and they got inside the store. They picked up whatever supplies were on the floor and found someone near the end of the aisles.
It was a woman and she swung a golf club into a zombie's face. Its rotted, craggy face broke apart and splattered on the floor. She hobbled, keeping her weight off the leg with the homemade splint.
"We're here to rescue you!" Homura shouted. The zombie groans were getting louder.
"Thanks!" the woman pushed through, taking out a pistol, and she expertly shot all the zombies that were shambling in the exit. Homura's ears rung. Madoka went to help stabilize the woman as they walked.
"Kyoko, Sayaka, we're leaving!" Homura shouted when they got out, and the group hurried out of the area to the car. It screeched as they raced out of there.
"Thanks for that," the woman said when the gas station was out of sight. "You all heading out on the Death Road?"
"Trying to," Homura replied.
"There's a trading camp up ahead, just leave me there," the woman replied.
It took a good thirty minutes when the trading camp was in sight. It took a few rock-paper-scissors rounds but the group decided to stay at the camp for the night. They settled at a campfire and ate their dinner.
"Kyoko, pass me that – no, don't throw it!" Sayaka shouted when the dinner was halfway done. Kyoko responded in turn with a childish expression and Homura could feel a fight brimming between them with one wrong word.
"I have berries," the woman said, at the perfect moment, and she pulled out a case of them from her backpack. They were strawberries and the girls eagerly took the fresh fruit.
"Okay, so, for a reward," she added as she dug through her pack. "Got some gas and medical supplies."
Homura looked at her injured leg with the makeshift splint.
"Gas," Homura said. The woman passed the canister into her hands.
"And, this is a request," she said. She took out a brooch from her backpack.
"I used to travel with my boyfriend," the woman said. The woman took out a picture to show Homura. Homura thought he had a nice smile. "We got separated during a siege. That's when the zombies get all riled up, you saw that."
Homura nodded. Putting a name to it made it seem much more terrifying.
"He got the zombies' attention over to him, and told me to run," she continued. "I tried to fight to get through to him but, well."
"I'm sorry," Madoka said, at the silence.
The woman breathed and spoke again.
"So. I wanna believe that he's still out there. If you find him please give him this. With my leg I'll probably still be here."
Homura nodded. She took the brooch and put it into her own backpack. The conversation turned considerably lighter, until they had to go to sleep.
Still, there was a forlorn air in the morning, when they headed out on the Death Road again. Homura noticed that Madoka started writing directions that led back to that trader camp.
It took a few more days before it was safe to park the car and get a full night's sleep. They were running low on food and had to ration it out carefully. Homura said that she was full after one bite and gave the rest to Madoka.
Sayaka looked on approvingly and Kyoko had a light of recognition in her eyes before she rolled them. Even so a slight smirk twisted her mouth briefly. Homura decided not to comment.
When they had settled for bed in the car, with whatever blankets they could scavenge, Homura was still awake after everyone else drifted to sleep.
Homura's gaze settled onto Madoka and she said, quietly, "I love you."
It wasn't the first time Homura had this epiphany. One time it was when they were huddled in an abandoned grocery store. The cheerful mascot stickers still decorated the walls.
Another time it was when they wrenched Sayaka free from a horde of zombies, and she was lucky enough to not get bit. She was only saved because Madoka brought up all of her strength.
Not for the first time Homura bit back bitterness that it all had to happen now. These moments of young love were supposed to happen when they were safe; not fighting off the elements and watching civilization consumed by the undead.
She wasn't supposed to have the hopelessness that the one she fancied or her friends were going to die.
It was an incredibly bleak thing to think about before sleep, so Homura leaned back into a somewhat sleeping position. She could see everyone's faces from that angle. She moved her gaze from Sayaka, Kyoko, always lingered a little longer on Madoka, to see how much moonlight fell across their faces.
In two days there wasn't any food, and up on the road there were bandits acting as a barrier. Sayaka got out to reason with them, Madoka and Homura following her in general nervousness.
The bandits demanded all of their weapons and before anything else could be said Kyoko barreled in with the truck, throwing all the bandits off their game due to surprise. The other girls hurried into the truck and it barreled down the street.
When the general cheers finally died down Sayaka said, "I'm surprised you thought of that."
Kyoko's face considerably soured. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You normally jump in without thinking."
Homura thought that was true, but truth was not easily digested on an empty stomach. Kyoko yelled back, and Sayaka bit back with a sharp retort.
The argument got louder and Madoka pushed against her seat. Her hands were over her ears.
"You just stood there! Staring, what, did you think a hero was going to pick you up and carry you to safety?!" Kyoko spat.
"I'm grateful that you all saved my life but you can't use it as a weapon! We're all dying here!"
Their argument was beginning to attract zombies. The truck was getting jittery.
"Oh, we're all dying, but some of us at a faster rate!"
"You always jump in without thinking!" Sayaka shouted, "That's why Mami – "
"Shut up!"
The outburst came from Homura. Sayaka's mouth hung open and Kyoko's eyes were as wide as saucers. The only noise was the groaning of zombies and the clicks of the dying engine.
Kyoko put her foot on the pedal and they escaped the zombies that were starting to become a horde. The ride was still completely silent, and Homura's throat hurt. The truck finally gave out a good few miles away. It was night then, so Sayaka took watch while Kyoko fixed the car.
Madoka already fell asleep. Homura could vaguely hear Sayaka and Kyoko's conversation, which was quiet and peppered with apologies.
Homura had an inkling of what the gist of the apology was for, what had been hanging over their head this whole trip. It was in the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. Everyone in the city got overwhelmed quickly. They were the only ones of their school to survive.
Homura didn't see this, but she heard it from Sayaka when they got out of that city. Kyoko had tried to shoulder through a hoard of zombies, and while she and Sayaka squeezed through miraculously Mami wasn't so lucky. They had to run.
She didn't see it. It wasn't safe to mourn. And the dread that lingered in her mind was the wonder if something like that would happen again.
It seemed like something was laughing at them, because on the next looting session at a giant market they found excess food. None of it was even spoiled.
There were also excess zombies, but Kyoko played a cat-and-mouse game with them as the others grabbed whatever food that they could. It was adding up nicely, maybe even enough for trading at the next camp.
"Let's hurry it up!" Kyoko shouted, as she sidestepped out of a zombie's reach.
Sayaka zipped up her bag, ran to Kyoko and brought down her wrench on a zombie. Its teeth broke off from its craggy maw.
"Done!" Madoka yelled, and Homura grabbed the last bits from the shelves. Kyoko directed the zombies' attention to the right, and she broke into a run to the left.
They got into the truck and the engine wouldn't start up. Zombies were beginning to claw at the sides. Madoka kept one hand over her mouth and the other on her bat. Homura was still, Sayaka was getting her wrench out of her bag, and Kyoko turned the key over and over.
The truck roared to life and crushed zombies under its wheels as it sped away.
"That was risky," Sayaka said when they were well on their way on the road.
"Good spoils though!" Kyoko replied, chipper.
"Good spoils."
Homura felt like her blood was rushing back into her veins. Her arms and legs felt like jelly. Her heart had pain like it was set up on a pike.
"That was pretty scary, huh?" Madoka asked, when she noticed Homura's demeanor.
"Don't think that breaks the top three," Kyoko replied breezily.
"It's a lot easier to manage with a team," Sayaka offered.
"Scary," Homura admitted. "I thought the truck was going to break."
"It's got the Kyoko touch!"
"That's why she was scared," Sayaka replied.
To Homura's relief, Kyoko replied with a loud, hearty laugh that managed to break up the terrifying situation they were just in.
It was just a few days before they reach Canada. It was supposed to be somewhat smooth sailings from here on out.
They were, instead, stuck in the maze of a factory trying to find a way out, and the zombies were everywhere. They caught a quick glimpse of the factory map on the wall, which detailed the emergency exits, and jumped into the fray.
Sayaka led the way, hitting the zombies first and letting the others do the killing blows. When it got too crammed they would use their precious ammo.
But Homura got separated at a turn, heard their calls and then the overwhelming noises of the zombies. The zombies were all going in one direction, away from her, and she didn't know if it was safe for the others.
So she screamed, made them come to her, and ran though the labyrinth. It all looked the same and it felt like her heart and lungs would burst.
Then, at the end of a hallway, there was a ladder and the way out. Homura climbed out, looked around, thinking that this had to be the only way out. Then the map surfaced in her mind and she nearly fell to her knees.
"Should I stay here?" she asked no one. "What if they are waiting for me up ahead?"
Homura looked up to the sky, seeing it stained with redness. She would have to move to find a shelter before dark.
She walked, turning around every few steps, and then kept walking as her hope slowly disintegrated.
Homura was able to find an abandoned house just before it got dark. She barricaded it and lay down to sleep.
Homura faintly remembered the taste of strawberries. She kept her sobs quiet.
In the morning she only knew to keep going north. She would have to hope that she would stumble upon a deserted town that had enough supplies to last her.
Homura would've hoped to find her group but it felt like too much.
There was an abandoned convenience store when she found a town, and she hurried to grab all the cans of food, and whatever else was in the convenience store. It was beginning to feel painfully nostalgic.
She used a propane canister to blow up a group of zombies that converged in the store, and ran out of the town. It was evening when Homura found a shelter that wasn't too weathered, and that she had to barricade again. She took inventory that night.
Homura's hand passed over the brooch. She took it out, studied it, and ran her forefinger along the smooth glass.
"Sorry," she said, quietly.
In the next few days she trudged on until she reached the last trading camp before the border of Canada was in sight. Homura barely walked up to the gate when she heard her name called. She could barely register that it belonged to a heart-achingly familiar voice before someone crashed into her.
"Madoka," she said. Her voice choked. "Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry for leaving – "
"It's not your fault! There were so many, it was – it was chaos and we couldn't tell up from down!"
"Or left from right."
They drew apart. Madoka rubbed at her eyes.
"I thought I lost you."
"I thought I lost you, too," Homura replied. She could feel the sorrow within her ebb away.
"Everyone's okay, now, but, oh, Homura, I thought you died, we heard a scream – "
"I was trying to draw the zombies away from you," Homura said dumbly, just now realizing the implications of a scream when there were zombies shambling around.
Madoka began peppering her face with kisses and Homura really did believe for a few seconds that she had died. It was better than going under a zombie's teeth.
"You're okay," Madoka said, when she stopped, and Homura returned the tight embrace.
"I didn't say it before, but I like you. I love you," Homura said against Madoka's shoulder.
"Me too. I mean, I love you, too," Madoka replied.
Homura heard a trader sigh, "Awwww," and she felt Madoka stifle a laugh.
Madoka took her hand when they drew away.
"Come on," she said, with happy energy Homura hadn't seen since the zombie apocalypse had begun, and she lead Homura to the truck. Sayaka was looking over their supplies and Kyoko was seated in the bed of the truck.
Sayaka spotted them first and couldn't speak. Surprise shone in Kyoko's eyes for a few seconds before she spoke.
"So, uh, did you become a phoenix or something?"
"Kyoko!" Sayaka's voice squeaked loudly. "What a question!"
Homura responded in turn by burst into laughter, loud enough for the other traders to stare at them and if it was relief or nerves Homura just laughed harder.
"Are you really Homura?" Kyoko asked when it finally died down, and Homura kept in her giggles. She made it this far, she was not going to die of laughter.
"You made it back," Sayaka said, with a pointed look to Kyoko. She held up her arms and then lowered them halfway, an awkward expression on her face.
Homura took the hug anyway, felt Madoka join on her left side and even Kyoko leaned down to put her arms around Sayaka and Madoka's shoulders.
When they drew apart Homura asked, her voice still shaky from remnant laughter, "Did you visit the traders yet?"
"Not yet," Madoka replied.
"Let's go!"
Like nothing had happened they walked to check the traders' wares. For a last pit-stop it seemed like a pretty glum, nothing-good-to-sell place. There was even a guy selling plastic weapons and old anime figurines. The figurines weren't even well made.
But there was a medicine-selling trader that Homura thought had a nice smile. It sparked her memory and she dug through her backpack and showed him the brooch.
He couldn't speak, and Madoka helpfully tore out her directions, pointed at the first page and said, "She was there when we left."
Then he said an unending stream of, "Thank you," gave them his excess supplies and ran back onto the road.
It was more than enough to survive the last stretch of zombies. Homura felt lightness in her heart.
In the city of lost hope, where it seemed that every single zombie in the world roamed, the last few hours of the siege were spent saving their ammo and leading the zombies on in circles. It felt like a macabre parade.
Finally, it ended, and they were at the boarder of Canada.
"I'm gonna crash the truck into that herd of zombies!" Kyoko yelled, and they gathered up the supplies and jumped out.
The truck crashed spectacularly into the crowd of zombies and they became bits of rotted flesh and teeth on the pavement. The group maneuvered through the zombies along the bridge, only stopped when they saw the herd across the wide-open field.
"Everyone, stand back!" Homura shouted. She lit the pipe bomb she had saved and threw it into the herd of zombies. The explosion left them a clearing to run through.
The Canada border was in sight and the Mounties came down to help. The zombies were culled back, until there was nothing left except for the living.
The cheers were deafening. Sayaka danced on the remains of the zombies and Kyoko cheerfully made rude gestures at the remains. Homura could barely believe her eyes after it was all done but Madoka took her hands and jumped.
Against everything they survived.
Originally posted on Ao3 on August 19 2019
Death Road to Canada is sardonic and hilarious. It took me a long time to get to Canada...
Most of what is in this fic is in the game. The things that you can't do: sidequests for the NPCs you rescue, the traders stay stationary unless you make them mad but only in text and you have to go away from the camp anyway. And if you leave someone behind they are gone forever. Or eaten. But you know when they are eaten because the screen flashes red and a sound taunts you. Magical girls do exist in the game. There's a surprise when she becomes max anime.
There are custom characters. Oftentimes I go full dumb and assume that they will act like their canon counterparts which sometimes comes back to bite me.
"Oh, Madoka is loyal, she won't betray the group!"
"Madoka's loyalty revealed - [o] Madoka joined the bandits!"
"But why, but WHY - "
So, in gist, what started as what was supposed to be a short, humorous fic became very long. That's all.