"Come on!" Ayako hooked an arm around Yasuhara's back, supporting the weight on the side of his injured foot. He was beginning to look pale and struggled to stay upright.
With Vianney supporting Yasuhara from the other side, the three followed Mai and Masako forward.
"Yasuhara, are you okay?"
"No," Yasuhara replied in a weak voice. "I got shot in the fucking foot."
"You shot yourself in the fucking foot," Ayako grumbled. "Just tell us where we're going."
"It's not far," Yasuhara nodded his head towards a row of commercial buildings ahead of them. "We're going to the pink building."
Just as he said, there was a stout building constructed of pink painted brick. A cute cartoon donut with arms and legs waved them to the still locked glass door.
Using the butt end of her gun in her fist, Ayako punched a hole in the glass storefront and opened the door. Besides a small cut on her palm, she did this quite smoothly.
She looped an arm back around Yasuhara and escorted him through the front door.
"Oh thank god," Yasuhara panted, sliding to the ground as soon as the glass door was closed behind them.
Ayako took in the neat rows of diner seating in the shop. The place looked almost like it was still in business. Only a thin layer of dust over the linoleum gave any hint to what had happened to the world outside of Beebop's Donut Shop.
"Vianney," Ayako examined the rifle in her hand. She had two bullets left before she would need to reload. That is, if they even had spare bullets. "Could you stay here with Yasuhara?"
Vianney nodded, leaning against the wall to catch his breath.
"I'm going to check around the kitchen. Would you girls come with me?"
Mai and Masako were still holding hands and ashen faced. Nevertheless, Mai nodded bravely and pulled Masako forward.
"I wish I had my bow," Mai lamented. "Or something. I feel so vulnerable."
Masako gave a sardonic laugh, "That's because we are vulnerable."
"Shh…" Ayako held up a hand as she slowly opened a swinging door that she assumed led into the kitchen.
The industrial steel countertops were wiped down. The coffee machines were empty and switched off.
Together, the three girls searched the kitchen and pantry. They found no one alive or dead. Save for a few rodents and maggots, the girls were alone.
Neither Ayako or Masako braved the walk-in cooler. Mai took a quick peek and reported to them that it was full of spoiled milk, eggs, and batter.
"Nothing still good?"
Mai wiped her hands on her pants, as if they were dirty from being near the spoiled food.
"I don't think so."
Of the dry goods in the pantry, most of the bags of flour had holes in them where mice had chewed through the paper. There were plastic bins of sugar, sprinkles, and candy that looked like they may still be safe.
"Nothing with any actual nutritional value," Masako observed.
"But also no dead people," Mai shivered. "So I'll take it."
"Seconded," Ayako pulled the pantry door closed again. She grabbed an apron hanging from a hook on the door and a few folded rags from a bin on the floor.
Mai knit her eyebrows.
"What are those for?"
"Yasuhara's foot. Speaking of - Mai, were there maggots in the cooler?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Cool." Ayako gathered the cloth in a bundle in front of her chest with one hand. The other hand grasped her rifle by the middle of the barrel. She pulled the kitchen door open with her foot and held it open for Mai and Masako to return to the main dining area.
"Yasuhara?"
"He fainted a second ago," Vianney was holding Yasuhara's head upright against the wall. "Adrenaline wore off."
"Here," Ayako propped the rifle against the wall and threw the rags to the floor. With Vianney's help, she moved Yasuhara's body so that he was laying down on the floor and propped his head up with the apron rolled to resemble a cushion.
"I'm going to have to clean his foot so it won't get infected."
"Can I do anything to help?" Mai asked.
"We need to find where they keep the cleaning supplies. Hopefully they'll have something mild enough for skin…"
"I think I saw a shelf of bleach and stuff under the sink," Mai was already on her way back to the kitchen.
Ayako set to work taking off Yasuhara's shoe. For the most part, his dirty socks were keeping blood from getting out of the wound.
"Masako," Ayako began pulling the sock down as gently as possible. "Could you bring one of the tablecloths over here?"
Masako nodded as she up off the floor and went to the nearest table. She gently picked up a vase of plastic flowers and took the tablecloth from underneath before replacing it.
The plastic cloth made a crinkling sound that cut through the silence.
"Reckon the others should make it here soon," Vianney looked out the window with a tense expression. "If they make it at all."
Ayako frowned, it didn't help her concentration being reminded of the fact that Madoka was in danger.
"Okay so," Mai came waddling out of the kitchen with an armful of various cleaning supplies. "I found some stuff."
She dropped to her knees and set the things on the floor next to Ayako.
"This says 'windows' and it smells like vinegar so I think it's vinegar and water," Mai pointed to a half-full spray bottle. "And there's bleach and I found some plastic gloves."
Ayako looked down at her hands, covered in blood and dirt.
"Thank you, Mai."
She mixed a small amount of the bleach with the vinegar solution in the spray bottle and shook it. It would burn like hell but it would have to do.
The bullet had entered the foot just under his pinky toe and left through the bottom of Yasuhara's shoe. The skin around the wound was completely seared, just as Ayako had suspected it would be. She would need to remove most of the skin in order for Yasuhara to heal.
"Any sign of them?" Ayako looked up to see that Vianney was staring intently through the glass door, searching for a sign of the rest of the group.
"Nothin'," Vianney sighed. "I'm worried for Noll."
He smiled a sad smile.
"Oliver and his brother were two of the brightest boys I knew."
Ayako had no idea that Oliver had a brother, but she did not interrupt. She knew that talking about the past was therapeutic for some people. Personally, she was not a fan of nostalgia. Life moved on, she tried to let things go as they came.
"Noll was the first kid to ever figure out one of my tricks," Vianney continued. "You ever had a nine year old tear apart your entire profession?" He gave a hearty laugh. "Makes a man humble."
"You've known Oliver that long?" Mai asked, her eyes did not stop watching out the window.
Vianney nodded, rubbing sweat from his brow.
"All stories for another day, though," he made a face. "I think I see them."
Ayako shot up from the floor to look out the window, tracking the group's movement over the desolate cityscape before her.
She saw Oliver rounding a corner, John walking cautiously behind. They each carried a load of supplies on their back.
Ayako held her breath until she saw Madoka round the corner after them. She was so elated at the sight of messy pink hair that she did not notice that one of their crew was missing.
"Where's Monk?" Mai was grasping his tacky turquoise bolo tie around her neck.
Ayako cringed, thinking of how she had joked about Mai finally getting to return the trinket to its rightful owner. What if she never got the chance?
"I'm sure he's alright," Ayako was lying and she knew that Mai was not buying it.
She could see tears forming in Mai's eyes.
"Yeah," she sniffled. "I'm sure."
As soon as Oliver made it to Beebop's, Vianney moved aside the makeshift chair and table barricade and swung the locked door open.
"I think we're in the clear," Oliver panted, giving a tiny nod to Vianney's welcoming smile. "It was pretty close. We may have lost Monk."
Mai put on a brave face and indicated a place for supplies to go on the floor.
"I can't believe Yasu's stupid plan worked," John attempted a chuckle.
Ayako watched John's face fall as his gaze landed on Yasuhara lying unconscious against the wall.
"He's alright," she assured, crossing in front of John to get to Madoka at the door. "Just a little gunshot wound."
At that moment, Ayako caught Madoka's eyes and smiled wider than she knew was possible.
"Just a little gunshot wound?" Madoka raised an eyebrow.
Oh, how Ayako had missed that judgemental stare.
"I'm so glad you're okay."
hi hope you enjoyed this suffering
please rate and review i haven't written any more of this story in, like, a month and if ya'll bitches aint review idk if i'll have the will to go on writing this bullshit
(I'm kidding I'll update eventually but, like, please review please)
Love,
Bee