Ayako's hands refused to stop shaking. The gun in her hands fell to the floor and rattled against the linoleum.
She had killed someone.
Ayako, of course, had seen death before. She worked at a hospital. Death was expected and sometimes even welcomed. She had never felt faint at the sight of blood before.
"Ayako!" Mai ran to Ayako's side and held her swaying form steady.
Someone said, "He deserved to die."
Another - or maybe it was the same - voice said, "He was a terrible person."
Ayako found that she could not quite distinguish the voices. Maybe they were just in her own head. Everything was blending together.
She had killed someone.
"Ayako," Mai shook Ayako, somewhat forcefully, by the arm. "Are you alright?"
What came after was a blur. John and Yasuhara spoke about what to do next. Mai told the others about the woman in the cafe. At some point, Vianney found a chair and helped Ayako sit down.
"Just breathe," he told her. He took a coin from his pocket and showed her. "Focus on this."
She did as he said, watching him flip the coin quickly between his fingers. Ayako's eyes followed the coin closely.
"You did the right thing," Vianney assured her. He made the coin disappear and found it again in his other hand. "Just stay calm."
Slowly, the world started to become clear again. Ayako continued to focus on breathing. She pushed thoughts of the woman in the cafe aside. She thought of rain and flowers and of listening to Madoka tell stories in the dark.
She was alive.
Eventually, John and Yasuhara stopped talking. They had a plan to get back to the others and get away.
Mai took Ayako's hand and helped her stand.
"Come on," her bright smile was obvious overcompensation, but Ayako appreciated it anyways. "John is going to get the others. We're going to go somewhere else and wait for Madoka."
Ayako managed a nod. She would walk away from the dead body of the man that deserved to die. She would stop feeling guilty. She would wait for Madoka.
X~X~X
When Ayako awoke, it was dark outside. She was curled up between Mai and Masako on the floor of a women's clothing shop, a sheer scarf had been awkwardly draped over her arms and chest in place of a blanket.
At her feet, Yasuhara was sitting on a fitting room ottoman, watching the front doors.
Carefully, so as not to wake Mai and Masako, Ayako stood and went to join Yasuhara.
"Hey," he greeted her with a winning smile. "You alright?"
Ayako shrugged, taking a seat as Yasuhara scooted to make room for her.
"Been better," she sighed. "You look like a boyfriend waiting for a girl to finish shopping."
Yasuhara chuckled, "Well I'm gay so I don't think my partner would be shopping here..."
"Oh!" Ayako surprised herself with a laugh. "Me too."
Yasuhara looked at her over the top of his glasses frames.
"You and Madoka?"
"That obvious?"
Yasuhara laughed again, nudging Ayako with his shoulder.
"Painfully so." He had a way of making everyone feel like his best friend in the whole world.
"God," Ayako buried her face in her hands. For the first time since the beginning of the invasion, she was thankful for her lack of makeup. She could rub her face as much as she wanted without fear of smudging. "I just wanted to go on a date with a hot girl."
"Don't we all?"
"You're gay."
"Shush, I'm making a joke," Yasuhara nudged her again and, for some reason, Ayako did not mind. "I'm being relatable."
"Relatable my ass."
"I take it you're feeling better," a formerly sleeping Masako remarked from behind Ayako and Yasuhara. "Could you be quiet now?"
"Classic, Masako," Yasuhara laughed. "Only caring about her beauty sleep."
"Not my fault I'm the most beautiful one here, Yasu."
Mai mumbled, "Seconded. Masako is the prettiest." Though Ayako was almost certain Mai was still sleeping.
Masako giggled as Mai reached out and sleepily patted her on the head.
"Sleeeeep," Mai rasped.
Ayako lowered her voice to a whisper.
"Did you three all go to school together?"
Yasuhara nodded, "Mai and Masako were roommates and Mai and I used to work together in the school's coffee shop. I got to know Masako by association."
Ayako smiled as she imagined Yasuhara and Mai clean and in matching aprons, making drinks instead of fighting for survival.
"Masako and I even dated for a while, if you can believe that."
"I can," Ayako thought of all the guys she dated in high school and college before she realized that she was interested in only women. "I dated the captain of the football team in high school."
"Yikes."
"We were both gay."
"Double yikes."
Ayako shrugged.
"I went to his wedding last year, his husband is super cute."
"God I wish that were me," Yasuhara heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Now that all of the eligible men in my life are brain-dead zombies, literally, I'm sure I have no choice of finding love."
"Oh come off it, I'm sure you can find someone. There has to be a guy around that's gay and alive."
Yasuhara looked skeptical.
"Have you ever seen a queer character live to the end of a horror movie?"
Ayako could not even think of a single horror movie featuring an LGBTQ+ character. She shook her head slowly.
"Exactly."
"But we're alive!" She laughed. "So we are obviously living outside of the realm of mainstream media. I'm sure you can find yourself some post-apocalyptic ass."
"Maybe so."
Ayako stifled a yawn. She should probably try to go back to sleep again.
"You should get some rest."
"You're right," Ayako stood. "It was nice talking to you, Yasuhara."
"You too," Yasuhara gave her another winning smile. "Goodnight."
X~X~X
That morning, Ayako awoke to find that John had been back and had brought them water and protein bars.
"Morning, Sunshine," Masako laughed, tossing her a bottle of water. "Sleep well?"
Mai nudged Masako in the ribs.
"Ow," Masako complained. "Sorry. God."
"What Masako was trying to say," Mai flashed a careful smile. "Is that we are happy that you got some rest."
Masako nodded in agreement.
"Exactly what I meant."
"We have good news," Yasuhara grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "John has a plan."
Ayako raised her eyebrow in question.
"Oliver hates Sotelo. It's only a matter of time before they get themselves kicked out."
"What about," Ayako gulped. "What about Adam?"
"John covered our tracks. He said that we convinced Adam to go with us. Apparently no one is allowed to even talk about him anymore, so there's no questions."
"So what's this plan that John has?"
"It's a really stupid plan," Masako interrupted. "Like, really stupid."
"Masako…" Yasuhara whined. "It's not that stupid."
Mai laughed, "It's pretty stupid."
"Stupid enough to work," Yasuhara decided. "We're going to attract Echos to the shopping center and cause a distraction."
Ayako blinked. Was Yasuhara an idiot?
"I know what you're thinking!" Yasuhara hed his hands up in surrender. "And I'm not an idiot! It was mostly Vianney's idea."
"Don't pin this on me, son," Vianney chuckled. "I only said that we needed a distraction."
"Exactly!"
"I did not say," Vianney rolled his eyes. "That we should attract them Echo things here. You take credit for your own actions, boy."
"Fine," Yasuhara crossed his arms defensively. "I'll take credit when my crazy idea works."
He then went on to explain the plan in its entirety to Ayako. He said that he noticed a music store on the other end of the shopping center. They would go there and bring back as much sound equipment as they could. Then they would make as much noise as possible and hope for the best.
"There's a big hospital just up the highway," Yasuhara explained. "I think that there should be enough Echos there from the infection spreading that they will be able to hear us."
Ayako cringed at the mention of a hospital. She suddenly wondered how many people had been infected at the hospital where she and Ayako had worked.
"What if they don't come?" she wondered aloud.
"Then we're still a hell of a distraction," Yasuhara laughed. "We'll have to make do."
"Unfortunately none of us can think of a better idea," Masako frowned.
A loud knock on the store's glass door startled Ayako. She turned to see John, though he looked much less put together than when they had first met. He was panting like he had run from the other store. His blonde curls were mussed and his nice shirt was untucked.
Yasuhara rose from the floor to let John in.
"What's the story, man?"
John wrung his hands.
"If we don't hurry, Sotelo's going to have your friends killed."
"What?" Ayako turned to look John in the face. "Why?"
"Oliver punched him in the face," John explained. "He's been put in isolation as punishment."
"Oliver punched him?" Mai was incredulous. "You're kidding."
John shook his head. "He was protecting the girl."
Ayako jumped to her feet.
"Madoka?"
Nervously, John nodded. "Sotelo, um, asked her to come to his room last night."
Ayako huffed as she realized what John was insinuating.
"That motherfucker," she hissed.
Mai asked, "Did she go?"
"No!" John tried to accentuate this fact. "He was so mad at Oliver that he forgot all about her."
Ayako made a mental note to thank Oliver as soon as she saw him again. And she hoped that she would see them again soon.
"Oh!" John pulled something from his pocket and held it out to Mai. "Monk asked me to give this to you."
Mai smiled as she took it.
"It's his lucky bolo tie," she laughed, placing it around her neck. "Maybe it will bring us luck."
Ayako laughed, "I sure hope so."
X~X~X
"I've never been in a store like this before," Mai looked wide-eyed upon the fancy sound recording equipment for sale.
"You're lucky," Ayako scoffed. "I dated a musician once. I don't recommend it."
Yasuhara laughed, "I second that. Musicians are the worst."
"What do you mean?" Mai asked, an innocent look on her face.
"Because the vast majority of musicians have a pride problem," Yasuhara explained.
"And the rest of them are too broke to be prideful." Ayako shook her head disgustedly. "The whole 'starving artist' thing is only hot for a few weeks."
"What about Monk? He seems like a nice guy…"
Ayako considered for a moment.
"A rare exception."
"What is it we're looking for exactly?" Masako crossed her arms as she studied a speaker display.
"Equipment with which to make noise," Yasuhara said, as if that cleared anything up.
"So the whole store?" Ayako joked.
Yasuhara replied with a straight face. "As much of it as we can carry."
Together, Ayako, Mai, Masako, Yasuhara, and Vianney carried a drum kit, a trombone, an electric bass, and several sets of speakers and microphones back to their store front. Using a generator that John had supplied them, they set the equipment up.
They looked like the silliest band to have ever been formed.
"I'm excited to play," Vianney was smiling as he used a soft cloth to clean the mouthpiece of the trombone he had taken. "I thought I'd never get to make music again."
"A magician and a musician!" Yasuhara patted Vianney hard on the back. "A true performer!"
"You know it!" Vianney gave a hearty laugh. "My buddies and I used to play in a little jazz band. Ooohh! We were hot!"
"I'm sorry we won't be able to keep up," Yasuhara plugged in another microphone and placed it on a stand. "I'm sure we're no match for a real jazz band."
Vianney chuckled again, shaking his head at Yasuhara.
"I'm sure you'll do fine, son. All we gotta do is make noise."
"Right," Yasuhara flipped a switch on a speaker to make sure the indicator light came on. "I think we're all set."
"Could I play just a little bit?" Vianney asked. "Alone?"
"Sure." Yasuhara positioned a microphone in front of where the older man was standing. "Just tell us when to join in. On your signal, we make as much noise as we can, then we book it. John's going to gather the others and meet us at a donut shop a few blocks down."
Mai tugged on the bolo tie around her neck.
"Here's hoping everything goes to plan."
Vianney nodded in agreement and brought the trombone to his lips. He began to play an upbeat solo, swinging his hips as he played. He only played a short piece, but Ayako could tell that he had had a lot of practice.
When he finished, Yasuhara clapped. "Jean Vianney, everyone!"
Then there was chaos.
Masako coolly strummed the electric bass, though she had no idea what she was doing. Vianney happily played his trombone, and Mai, Yasuhara, and Ayako completely wrecked the drum kit.
Ayako wished she had thought to steal a set of earplugs. The noise was incredibly overwhelming. Surely, anyone — or thing — within a mile radius could hear them.
After a minute of excruciatingly loud noise, Yasuhara motioned for them to stop and grabbed the pack of supplies John had smuggled to him.
"Let's fucking skedaddle."
And skedaddle they did. They did not wait to see if their plan had worked, though as they got further away, they could hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance.
Ayako hoped that Madoka was alright. She could not stand the uncertainty of this plan but, as Masako said, they had no other option.
Once they were a little ways away from the shopping center, Yasuhara slowed their pace. He passed Ayako the gun that had killed Adam.
"Why are you giving this to me?" she asked, though she still took the thing in her shaking hands.
"You're older than us, and you've used it once."
Ayako nodded, feeling resolve in the fact that she was most well-equipped to protect the people with her. Why else had she wanted to become a doctor if not to save lives? She would do her job here and protect the others.
"Just shoot if you see an Echo," Yasuhara told her. "I have a gun too."
"Do you know how far we are from the donut shop?"
A frown crossed Yasuhara's face for a moment.
"It shouldn't be far."
They had seen nothing, so far, but empty buildings.
It reminded Ayako of a show she had seen on TV once where historians and artists worked together to predict how metropolitan areas in modern day would look after the apocalypse.
No one could have imagined this.
At every corner, she expected other living people. How many times before this had she been at a crowded grocery store or mall and brushed arms with someone she had never spoken to? There was something desperate about the world lacking people to fill it, lacking strangers for Ayako to brush past.
"Yasu!" Mai hissed, holding her arm out to grab Yasuhara's shoulder. "Up there."
Ayako's eyes followed where Mai was pointing. Just past a cluster of abandoned cars, there seemed to be three bodies milling about. Their clothes were covered in dust and their hair was gone in patches. It seemed that they had not yet noticed the presence of others.
Yasuhara, not wanting to make noise to attract the Echos, shrugged exaggeratedly and pointed.
The donut shop that would be their meeting place was not far from where the three Echos stood, but was inaccessible without walking right past the things. Three Echos would not be hard to take down, but there could be more.
Ayako looked at Yasuhara, trying to ask him what he wanted to do.
He shrugged again, then raised his gun, creeping forward against the side of a building.
She followed him and did the same. Behind them, Masako and Mai joined hands in an effort to remain calm and still. Vianney stood in front of the two girls as if he was ready to protect them if things went badly.
Ayako held her breath as she tried to make everything silent. She hoped that the Echos would not be able to hear the blood pumping past her ears and the persistent hammering of the heart in her chest.
Yasuhara turned back and gave Ayako a look, he held up three fingers and aimed his gun. He pointed to himself, then to two of the Echos. He motioned for Ayako to take the other.
Ayako aimed her gun at the Echo Yasuhara indicated, counted to three, and shot. She was expecting to hear Yasuhara's gunfire along with hers, but there was nothing but silence.
"Shit," Yasuhara muttered, slapping the barrel of his gun with the back of his hand.
There was no use in staying silent now, the Echo that Ayako had hit fell, but the other two were now very aware of the two uninfected humans aiming weapons at them.
Ayako quickly shot at another Echo but missed, just grazing its arm. They were already moving quite quickly towards her. She jumped as she heard another shot and a yelp of pain.
The Echo was still moving, clearly it had not been hit. Yasuhara, though, had accidentally aimed his gun down when the trigger finally came unstuck. He had, literally, shot himself in the foot.
"Yasu!" Mai yelped. Ayako shot her a look and she froze, clamping a hand over her mouth. But it was too late. The third Echo had already noticed her.
It moved, a quick, shambling mess of gory limbs, rounding Ayako completely and heading directly towards the sound of Mai's voice.
"Shit!" Ayako cursed. Her gun was out of ammunition.
Yasuhara's gun should be functioning again, but Yasuhara himself was standing on a bloodied foot.
Ayako winced as she watched Yasuhara shift his weight. She knew that his brain was probably pumping so much adrenaline into his system that he would not be able to properly feel his injured foot for the moment.
Behind her, Ayako heard the shuffling of feet as Vianney moved to protect the two girls.
Yasuhara shot at the advancing Echo, missing again.
It stopped, turning to grimace in the direction of the misfired bullet.
Yasuhara fired again, this time hitting the Echo right between it's milky white eyes.
"Oh thank god," Ayako muttered to herself as she watched the creature fall.
With all three Echos gone, they were safe for the time being.
hello! I hope you enjoyed(?) this chapter, I cried editing it?
thank you to Hannah, Toa, and Kel for beta reading
please, please rate and review! I love all comments!
Love,
Bee