Happy Halloween! It is my favorite time of the year. I know I uploaded yesterday and I generally like to keep a loose schedule uploading but hey, Halloween. So here it is, Chapter seven early. Enjoy.

Chapter Seven

Ooarai tank sheds – 0700

Miho Nishizumi ascended to the roof of her Panzer IV H, the only sound being the metallic clacks of her boots impacting the hull of the tank. Faces turned to her, a majority solemn and weary.

"Everyone. We can't stay here. The doors are secure, but I fear it is only a matter of time…", Miho trailed off. They knew what she was implying, there was little food in the sheds to begin with. She continued,

"First things first, we'll need see how the situation is out there, Yukari-san, please come with me. Everyone, please remain here a moment.", Miho ordered.

With that, Miho snatched up a set of binoculars she kept in her space on the Panzer, and they ascended one of the ladders to the higher up catwalks. The windows were dusty from years of being undisturbed. Miho brushed off a few of the panels with her sleeve, she and Yukari coughing occasionally due to the amount of dust now flying freely. Soon, it settled, Miho sighed, raising the binoculars to her eyes, and she stared out at the fields in front of her. The sun was now higher on its climb, casting a warm glow, a stark contrast to their current situation. There were only small pockets of infected now, clearly, they didn't have very long attention spans, considering most of them had thinned out. The ones that remained were either laying on the ground or just standing on unsteady legs. They seemed so fragile and weak, but she'd seen how fast they were, she did not want to take any chances.

"Hm…Well that's good that most of them are gone, at least from the immediate area. I don't think we should deploy the tanks just yet, they're bound to make a lot of noise, I think they're sensitive to sound…", Miho observed.

"Could be, Nishizumi-Dono. They don't seem like your typical undead creature like you see in western culture. I mean, they're obviously alive, and unlike the slow, shambling ones from the movies they make, these creatures are quite quick!", Yukari added.

"I think you're right, Yukari-san. These…Hm,", she thought for a second. They weren't zombies, or undead. She wasn't entirely sure what to call them, she still had very little idea on the nature of this 'plague'. She soon continued with,

"…Sick. I guess. It is a horrible thought, but I believe these are just people, driven crazy by something…", Miho finished, looking down, still regretting what she'd done to the few she'd encountered.

"It is a horrible thought, Nishizumi-Dono, but to be fair, they are quite hostile, and show no signs of whatever humanity remains. I mean, it's an awful thought, but I think we have to defend ourselves, or else they'll…", Yukari trailed off. Miho only nodded sadly. While the infected may be only crazed people, they were still homicidal, and they had to protect themselves. She sighed, before letting her thoughts drift to tactics on where to go from here.

"Alright. Let's head back down to the others, I think I have an idea."

Yukari saluted excitedly, and with that, she and Miho began the trek back down the ladder and to their awaiting friends.

Once down, Miho placed her binoculars back in the tank, and turned to the group.

"Everyone. We've decided not to use the tanks just yet, we do not know the severity of the situation out there, and the sounds of the engine would likely stir them up more. I'm thinking we should send out a small team of volunteers to try and find help, maybe those JGSDF soldiers are out there. I will not force anyone to volunteer for this, as it is dangerous…", Miho began, and within the same moment, one of the first years piped up, the driver for Rabbit team, a short brown-haired girl by the name of Karina Sakaguchi,

"Commander! What are those things anyways!?"

Miho wasn't surprised, the question had to have come up sooner or later, she pondered on the answer, as she was almost as in the dark as everyone else…

"W-Well, I don't know what they really are, but I do know one thing, they're not who they once were, not anymore.", Miho answered timidly, before her face shifted into that of determination, and she spoke again, now with purpose, like when she gave speeches to inspire her team,

"B-But we must not let the fact that just because they look like someone we knew, that we should hesitate. We must defend ourselves, these creatures show little remorse. Whatever humanity they possessed is gone.", she then finished off in a tone no one had seen before, it was almost as if in that moment, she had been replaced with her sister, the cold, indifferent Maho Nishizumi,

"It's either we fight back, or they'll kill us…"

Kuromorimine – Nishizumi Residence – 0720 – Present

Maho Nishizumi lay awake in her room, horrified by yesterday's events. She recalled what'd happened to the Jagdpanther team, she'd recalled heading to the sheds with Erika, Koume, and he other teams, stumbling into that charnel house, she'd sent Erika for help, and despite trying to keep the curious teams at bay, one of the Panther teams couldn't standby, hearing the cries of deep sadness emanating from the dark depths of the shed, she'd tried stopping them, although their morality trumped the orders of a superior. She could still hear the screams, the sounds of flesh being torn from the bone, it echoed in her mind like a gunshot in pen-drop silence. Erika had thankfully arrived with the local authorities, she and her team were ushered away, despite Maho's stubbornness, she stared back at the shed as they were led away, shouting desperately for the men to wait and not go in there, she wasn't sure what the hell was in that shed, but she knew it was bad. Those cries weren't normal…

Nevertheless, she was led away, and here she found herself, her knees pulled to her chest, staring blankly at the sunlight that crept through her curtains. She stared at an alarm clock placed beside her bed, it was hardly used, she'd grown accustomed to waking up before the thing was even set to go off. Deciding she was tired of just sitting, she stood, stretching, and headed for the washroom to start her morning ritual. The silence was maddening, despite the sounds she was making, where was her mother? Surely, she too would be up and about, probably already in her study. She continued with her routine, her mind lost in her thoughts as she brushed her teeth, as if on autopilot. Rinsing out her mouth, she gave herself a once-over in the mirror. Satisfied, she turned and headed out of the washroom. She visited her room once more, dressing in her school uniform quickly, she left her room, a purposeful stride to her mother's study, hoping to put an end to the silence, the…The loneliness. Although Maho Nishizumi would never show it on the outside, on the inside, she was panicking, as if she'd reverted to the mindset of a scared little girl, she wanted comfort from someone, even if her mother would most likely show no comfort, electing to stay professional, her presence would more than suffice, knowing she was not alone. She arrived at the door that would lead to her mother's study. She waited a moment, staring at the ground, before sighing, and with a newfound determination, she raised her hand, and knocked.

Nothing.

Maho knocked once more after a few minutes, still, nothing. She called out this time,

"Mother? Are you in there?", the tone was not as powerful as her usual voice.

After again, receiving no answer, she reached for the handle, and began to slide the door open, ready to apologize for her intrusion, still pondering on what she would tell her regarding her forced entry. She looked up into the room, the light was on, yes, but there was not a soul in sight. Her mother's desk lay empty, the papers resting on it still neatly organized, waiting to be shuffled through once more. Maho didn't understand, her mother wouldn't just leave without telling her, she turned to leave, considering her options. She turned to the front door, grasping the handle, she hesitated, something felt wrong, something told her not to open it, all at once, she yanked the door open, expecting the worst. Nothing, everything on their property appeared as it normally had. She walked down the walkway, towards the gate, unlatching it, she took a step onto the main sidewalk, she looked down the road in front of her, to her left, she saw nothing, save for the forest nearby, she looked right, she slightly jumped at the sight of someone collapsed on the ground. From where she was standing, she could tell that he was a maintenance worker of some kind, he didn't seem to be moving, she wondered if he got hit, but what person in their right mind would run someone over and flee like that? She approached slowly, normally she would've run over immediately, but that feeling of dread had not quite gone away, no it had grown, knotting in the pit of her stomach. She stopped a few feet from the man, clutching herself, she called out,

"H-Hello? Sir? Are you…Are you alright?"

No answer. She approached hesitantly, it was then she noticed, he began to stir slowly, groaning. Not thinking, she moved quickly and stooped down, she reached out, now intending to see how she could help him,

"Sir, what happened? Were you hi- ", Maho was cut off as the man lurched upwards, startling her. He gripped her arm tight, a near bone crushing grip, she let out a shout of pain,

"Let me go!", she screamed. Desperately trying to pull away from the thing now violently advancing towards her, she panicked, drawing her leg back, she swiftly kicked the man, he was flung backwards from the impact, losing his grip, but tearing her arm and sleeve in the process, she cried out in pain, but quickly backed away, in a blind panic, she sprinted for the gate to her home, she ran in, neglecting to shut the gate, the man having recovered, now hot on her heels, she made her way to her door, nearly collapsing on the door on her way in, she quickly turned to shut it, the thing was now mere feet away, she slammed it just in the nick of time, locking the door, she relaxed. She slumped against it, clutching her arm, and for the first time since she was a child, Maho Nishizumi, cried.

After a few minutes, she attempted to compose herself, her cries now down to small whimpers, it was then she noticed the banging against the heavy door. She'd guessed he'd been there the whole time, she had just somehow drowned him out. She turned, though her mind was still very much scrambled, she deduced that although the door was quite sturdy, it would not hold the thing back forever at this rate, plus, she needed help, she needed to find her mother, she needed to find…Miho. Maho quickly gathered herself and stumbled to her room, reaching for the phone she'd neglected to take beforehand on her nightstand, she flipped it open. She quickly punched in her mother's number, holding the phone to her ear, she was greeted with a busy tone. She growled in frustration and dialed in any other numbers she could think of, Miho, Erika, Koume, the school, nobody answered. She then tried to call the local authorities, same result. It was then that she was beginning to realize the severity of the situation. What was she going to do if she couldn't even reach the police? She shook her head, she would deal with it momentarily, she had more pressing issues…

She looked down at her arm; It had scratched her pretty hard, thankfully it seemed it missed anything vital, most of the gouges in her wrist would heal on their own, except for one mark, due to the angle, it was made wider than the others as the man was violently pushed in the opposite direction, she made her way into the washroom, locating the first aid kit under the sink. She looked down at the wound once more, it wouldn't be easy, it was on her dominant hand, but she had basic medical training from her time at Kuromorimine, she reached for the suture kit, deciding to get the worst of it over first, she grabbed a small hand towel, she needed something to bite down on to muffle any shouts, she didn't want to entice that creature anymore than she had. She propped her elbow on the counter, looking at her arm in the mirror, at the wound running along the side of her forearm. She decided not to hesitate, biting down on the wadded towel, she readied the needle and thread and took a long, deep breath, before promptly, yet carefully pressing the needle into her flesh. She felt nothing at first, but as the needle went through and the thread began to follow she muffled a small yelp, fighting to keep steady, she winced in pain, but she had to press on, through several more muffled cries and twice where she had to convince herself to press on, she pulled the string through for the last time, effectively sealing the wound. She cut the thread, she spit out the wadded towel, gasping for air as if she'd run a marathon. She admired her handiwork, and turned to the bottle of disinfectant, knowing she had to finish the job. She unscrewed the cap, and holding her arm over the sink, she poured the liquid over her wounds, she clenched her teeth, tears forming at the edges of her vision, this wasn't as bad, but it still hurt. Finally, she finished the job. Sighing wearily, she began to wind some medical gauze around her forearm. She looked at it quietly for a moment, before turning to the door. The whole ordeal had lasted no longer than thirty minutes, but to her, it was an eternity. The pounding on the door had become less frequent but was still very much prevalent. Maho rushed to her room with a newfound purpose. She reached her bed, squatting, she reached under, finding a box. She pulled it out, and stared at the lid silently, knowing what at this point, she knew she had to, nevertheless, dreading it.

She had to defend herself.

She opened the unmarked box without hesitation, revealing the contents inside.

A Luger P08 stared back up at her. She'd received it as a gift from her mother after one of the many matches she'd won for her school. It was a World War two reproduction model, chambered in 9mm parabellum. With the firearm, she received the stock magazine it came with, plus one extra. Each magazine held eight rounds, she had a total of sixteen rounds she hoped she wouldn't have to use. She knew how to use it well, being taught how to clean it, disassemble it, and had proven to be quite a shot. She appreciated the gift, although preferring her coveted 88mm KwK 36 of her Tiger. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them once more with a cold glare. She distracted herself from the aching in her arm with reiterations of what she had to do. She had to find her mother. She had to find Miho. The last thought left a lump in her throat. Was her sister affected by this? Was she okay? Maho didn't know, but she knew she couldn't let the worry and fear consume her, not now; Now was the time to act. She carefully slid one of the magazines into the Luger and chambered a round, she grabbed a jacket, stuffing the spare magazine in one of its pockets, she put on the jacket, zipping it up, and heading out of her room.

Maho sat staring at the door, the beast would still occasionally hit at it, but it was less frequent. She was debating on if she should finish it, the thought chilled her. Was it alive still? Was it a man that was simply crazed? She didn't know, but she did know she couldn't sit and wait. She paused, waiting for the occasional bash on the door to subside, thirty seconds passed, no sound. She took the opportunity to open the door. At first, the creature seemed nothing like the violent thing that had attacked her. Instead of the threatening posture, the malice in the eyes, the pure hatred on its face, it was now slouched, holding itself, taking on the appearance of a very sick person. That was until it noticed the door had opened once more, once the thing's eyes fell upon Maho Nishizumi, its disposition flipped. It returned to the agitated state it had before. It was as if these sick simply hated humans, with a passion. She had no time to think, as the creature through itself in her direction. She backed up quick, readying the Luger, the sight of a firearm being pointed directly at it did not seem to phase the creature at all, neither did the warning shouts from the frightened wielder. The only thing that phased the creature, was the loud gunshot, and then the bullet that tore through its skull, exiting out of the back of its head, taking chunks of blood and brain matter with it. The infected spiraled, and slumped, dead. Maho stood there, shaking, the only sounds being her terrified whimpers and the final sounds of the bullet casing clinging quietly on the ground. Maho looked around suddenly panicked, just now realizing how incredibly loud the shot was, the morning had been dead silent, no traffic, no distant conversations, just silence. The gunshot had torn through the quiet like a missile through cloud cover. Were there more of these things out there? Had they heard that? Maho couldn't dwell on it. She simply ran, headed for the direction of the school. She knew someone had to be there, someone could help her.

Well that's that. How was it? The scene with Maho and stitching herself up kinda looked better in my head, personally, I kinda hate anything involving the wrists, gives me the shivers. I thought the Luger would be fitting, what do y'all think? Anyways that's all I got. Again, Happy Halloween, I hope it's spooky.