Chapter 5-One Peaceful Morning
Minako raised her hand and peeked through the cracks of her fingers. The sun just rose, bringing new warmth to the still chilly dawn. She could see Rei sitting on top of the roof, also looking dreamily at the beautiful sky.
Minako climbed up the long ladder to the roof and walked over to the make-shift watch tower.
"Can't wait to sleeeeep," Rei stretched lazily. She gathered up her binoculars and a box of newly made arrows and leaned over to kiss her girlfriend.
"Sorry you had to take the night shift again," Minako set down her thermos and her long range rifle, "I will make it up to you, someday..."
Minako chuckled as Rei's eyes went from sleepy to excitement. "How will you repay me, Aino Minako?"
"I don't know yet. Anyway, get your ass down there and eat something before you sleep." Minako ordered. Rei made a silly salute sign and stuck her tongue out.
Minako sat down on the towel and returned her attention to the horizon. She could see into every direction, the road leading back to the city, the forest that held both beauty and death traps, and the gentle ocean. Down below, the others had already risen and carried on with their morning routines.
Hotaru was playing with the new kid on the beach. Chibiusa was drawing in the sand and doing most of the talking. Hotaru nodded and gestured in response, still silent as usual. The pink hair girl passed the stick to the other girl and gestured her to join in. Timidly, Hotaru grabbed the stick.
"Ahhhh…" A scream came from the shore and Minako grabbed her rifle. She relaxed when she saw it was just Michiru chasing Ami through the water, holding an amazingly large crab. Ami turned around and started to splash water, all the while laughing. The sound was contagious and Minako could feel the side of her lips turned up to a smile. Their fun was interrupted when Setsuna came out, waving a piece of paper. Ami's smile evaporated and she quickly followed Setsuna back into the house.
Michiru dropped the crab into her basket, along with two other fish she caught earlier. She then strutted over to where Haruka was. No surprise, Haruka was working on her car, fixing it over and over. MInako looked on, dreamily, as Michiru clung her wet body against Haruka. Soon, those two started to make out.
"Wow, Mako. This is AMAZING." A high pitch squeal came from the garden and Minako turned her head towards it. It was Usagi, bouncing like a rabbit and squealing with joy as she walked through the rows of vegetables. Mako's face was beaming with pride.
Usagi. Minako had a hard time figuring her out. Despite the situation, this newcomer was weirdly cheerful. At first, Minako thought she must be faking it, but now, she was certain Usagi was just a hopeful person. Within days, Minako started to notice that everyone around her was happier, more relaxed. As perplexing as it was, Minako could feel her falling under the curse as well. The curse of feeling hope…..
Minako had tossed that feeling aside a long time ago, ever since the day when all hell broke loose…..
"So, how do I look?" Minako put on her brand new police uniform and twirled in front of her girlfriend.
Rei looked at her up and down, "very police-like. I am slightly disturbed at how turned on I am. You are making me objectifying you."
Minako smirked. "How about now?" She slowly unbuttoned the first two buttons and leaned forward, giving Rei an unobstructed view of her cleavage.
Suddenly, a loud explosion rocked the building. The door was flung open and Minako's superior came charging in.
"Officer Aino...the station is under attack. Go to the armory and get us the long range rifles and more ammo." He tossed the keys at her and then took off.
Rei walked over to the window and looked down. "What the hell are those things?" She backed away slowly, her eyes wide with fear. Minako quickly peeked out and her face paled.
"I don't know. Stay here. I will be right back." Minako took off running. She just saw Motoki unload his entire clip into this man, but the man kept on getting up. She fumbled with the keys, feeling unease creeping up inside of her. She just graduated and it was her first day of being a police officer. She should be handing out parking tickets to people, not grabbing firearms and getting ready for battle…..
Snatching a nearby trolley, Minako started loading it up. Guns, rifles, a sniper rifle and a few dozen boxes of ammo. There seemed to be about 10 to 15 attackers and they must be wearing some superb bulletproof vests. Minako decided to grab a rifle for herself, just in case. Shotguns might be useless against them.
On the way out, Minako bumped into Rei. "I told you to stay put." She gripped Rei's sleeve and started to shove her back to the office.
"Minako, listen to me. Something isn't right here. I saw five officers getting bit by those attackers. Maybe you should sit this one out, let the experienced ones take care of this..."
Minako pushed pass Rei and got into the elevator. "I will be fine. I graduated at the top of my class and I got perfect on my marksmanship." She winked at her girlfriend as the elevator doors closed.
Minako's hands shook as she loaded up her weapons. She could hear the gunfire outside, just beyond the doors. With her heart racing fiercely, Minako took a deep breath and stepped out.
What followed was a brutal shootout with the attackers and the police station quickly turned into a slaughterhouse. Soon, the police called for retreat and they scrambled. Minako watched with horror as the attackers settled down to eat the dead bodies.
"No, this is impossible. Zombies are not real..." Minako tried to rationalize it in her head as she ran upstairs to save Rei.
Minako's train of thought was interrupted when she spotted a few undead approaching the kids on the beach. She rang the bell twice to alert them and then raced down the ladder to help. With only a few zombies, she didn't want to risk firing her gun and drawing more undead here.
Usagi was in the garden when she heard Chibiusa's scream. She dropped everything and raced towards the beach.
Michiru was already there, fighting off the monsters, along with Haruka. Hotaru was standing motionless, clearly in shock. Chibiusa was urging her to run, tugging on the other girl's hand.
Usagi widen her eyes as she saw another zombie coming from the other direction. His rotten arms were inches away from the girls. Without thinking, Usagi ran straight at him and threw her body against the zombie.
"Haruka! Michiru! Grab the girls and run..." Usagi struggled to sit up but was pinned down. The remaining zombies saw an easy prey and started to walk toward her.
T'chi. An arrow came flying through and struck the zombie in the temple. He slumped over and fell on Usagi. The arrows kept on flying until all the undead laid dead. Usagi looked up in shock and saw Rei firing from her second-floor window.
Haruka came over and moved the bodies off of Usagi. "That was very brave of you. And stupid."
"Sorry. I didn't know what to do..." Usagi brushed off the sand and then head over to Chibiusa. "Are you okay?"
The little girl nodded and wiped the tears off her face. Then her face paled as she saw blood running down Usagi's arm.
Usagi followed her gaze and yelped as she saw a long gashing wound on the side of her right arm.
Minako came over and raised Usagi's hand. "Let's get you to the lab. Ami or Setsuna can patch you up. Let's hope that's not a zombie scratch..."
