Chapter 31-Preparations

Mako tossed and turned on the bed, feeling increasingly restless. She was an integral part of the plan, but now she was placed on the bench.

Ami had come in and check on her earlier. Mako begged to be "discharged" so she could go prep the rotten meat stew. The celebratory dinner slash party was tomorrow night. She needed to get to the kitchen.

"Please, Ami. I am fine. Don't put me on the bench, I want to fight."

"Don't worry, Minako and I have another plan to incapacitate the soldiers." Ami said as she stuck a needle into Mako's arm. "Okay, this is the last time I am drawing your blood. We've been analyzing it and I am happy to say you now have immunity to the zombie virus."

Mako glad she did what she did. It was unfortunate that she was allergic to a component in the vaccine, but everything was okay now. Ami said the dosage wasn't a problem, which was a huge relief to everyone.

"Okay, missy. I am bringing this to mom. When I come back, I want you back in bed, hopefully asleep."

Mako groaned in protest and plopped back on the bed. "I still think this is punishment. I can't sleep anymore. I already slept for like a day yesterday."

Ami chuckled and leaned down to kiss her. "If you sleep now, I promise I will let you out tomorrow morning and I can update you on our plans."

"You do realize it's only nine, right? It's too early..." Mako whined but she could feel her eyelids grew heavier.

"Your body went through a traumatic experience yesterday. You need plenty of rest in order to get better." Ami pulled up the blanket and tucked it under Mako's chin. "We all have parts to play tomorrow."

Mako nodded as she closed her eyes. She needed to be there tomorrow, so she could protect Usagi and Ami and everyone else...


Minako stared at the menu for tomorrow night's dinner. Ami had given her a drug earlier and gave very specific instructions on how much to put into the stew. Apparently, she needed to make sure to put enough in to make them ill but not too much to kill them.

"So, I have sent out the words to everyone that's on our side. Skip the stew tomorrow." Michiru came into the kitchen and beamed. "Just one more day, and then I'll get to see Hotaru again. First rule we change for sure is that parents can visit their kids whenever they want..."

Minako nodded and muttered a response. She was running this operation and yet she felt inadequate at orchestrating this coup. An image of Rei bleeding flashed through her mind, and she felt a flash of panic. Was there any guarantee that they would all make it out of this? It was war and war always demanded sacrifices...

"Hey, earth to Minako. What are you thinking?" Michiru appeared in front, inches away from her face.

"We might not all make it." Minako muttered and looked down. "This could be out last night alive..."

Michiru chewed on her lips and thought for a while. Then she shrugged and looked straight into Minako's eyes. "We need to protect Usagi at all costs. When the guns start firing..."

"I will protect her. Mako would too. Rei already scouted out a perfect sniper position, direct sight line to the cafeteria..." Minako didn't say it, but she had already talked to Ami about this. When the time comes, Ami, Mako and her would surround Usagi, using their bodies as shields. They figured Seiya, Michiru and Haruka would carry on the fight if necessary. Rei would be in the sniper position. Anything happens to Ami, they still have Setsuna to carry on with the research...

Minako shook her head and tried to stop thinking about the plan. She hopped down from the kitchen counter and started to look through the cabinets. "Don't they have any booze around here? Let's get trashed..."


The Next Day…

The dinner party was going to happen at 7 tonight. Haruka and Seiya were asked to set up

the room and hang up decorations. Both worked quietly, too anxious to even bicker with each other.

Haruka woke up with a great sense of dread this morning. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt like something was about to go wrong, very very wrong. With all of them planning the coup, and even though they were careful, Haruka felt weird that Demande didn't make any move...

"How many guests are we talking about here?" Seiya asked as she stared at the stacks of chairs they were suppose to arrange. Gone were the usual long cafeteria tables and the ugly benches, as they were replaced with banquet tables and fancy chairs.

"Hundred? Two hundred? I don't know. We don't nearly have enough gun power to take down everyone, that's for sure..." Haruka scanned the room, estimating its capacity. "At least, the school kids weren't invited. I wouldn't have to worry about Hotaru.".

Another soldier entered to help them, and the two stopped talking about their plan. The two resumed working in silence.

Haruka stole glances at the other soldier. He was young, barely looked old enough to be out of high school. He was nice enough to them, but come tonight, he would be their enemy...

When the guns came out blazing, Haruka hoped the power shift would happen quickly and then they could stop the killing.


Rei retrieved the guns from the garden roof and quickly walked back to the kitchen. Michiru was back on lunch delivery duty today, which was the perfect time to distribute the weapons.

Minako came back to the room last night, drunk and incoherent, blabbering about how they need to treasure whatever time they had left. Rei was angry that Minako got so drunk, but she held her tongue. Instead, she held Minako's hair as she threw up over the toilet.

The guns felt incredibly heavy in the basket. Rei's heart pounded as she walked through the long hallways, passing several guards.

"What's for lunch today?" One of them asked as he lifted the towel covering the basket. "Carrots again?"

Rei shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, lunch is simple for a reason. So you guys can stuff your face with tonight's feast."

"Is Makoto better yet? I like her food and I am excited about the stew tonight." The guard rubbed his hands together and beamed.

"She will be back tonight for sure." Rei smiled and felt like she just betrayed her friend. If their plan failed, and with everyone getting sick, Mako's head would be on the chopping board.

The guard waved her through and Rei breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good thing that the compound was so secure, and people were getting slack with their vigilance.


Michiru slid the tray across the table and then winked at Usagi. "Special sandwich. Be careful."

Completely missing the point, Usagi nodded and took a giant bite. Immediately, she dropped it and yelped in pain. The gun-wich fell to the ground with a thud and Usagi's face paled.

Chibiusa bent down and pick up the gun, causing more color to drain from Usagi's face. "Stop. Stop. Michiru, why is there a gun?"

"For protection. When things go down tonight." Michiru grabbed the gun and showed Usagi how to use it. "Here is the safety switch. Turn it down like this when you are ready to fire."

Usagi's head was shaking and she held up her hands in protest. "I am not taking that. I..."

Michiru grabbed her hands and steady them. Her face was dead serious and Usagi whimpered. "You can't count on us. Tonight, you need to take this gun so you can protect yourself, and Chibiusa."

At the mention of her sister's name, Usagi's eyes tear up. "Do you think Demande would want her there at the party?"

Michiru looked down and nodded. "Saw the list. You and Chibiusa are sitting at the head table, with Demande, Saphir and Rubeus. I am afraid that he will use the two of you as his shield. We don't want to turn this into a hostage situation."

Shakily, Usagi reached over and took the gun. The weight of it laid heavily on her hand and her heart. It was one thing to shoot zombies, but it was another to shoot humans, even if they were horrible humans.

Colonel Demande came to visit her again yesterday. Apparently, he already decided that he would have Usagi's hand in marriage. He boasted that he would get everyone to pitch in to help the wedding and it would be the wedding of the century.

"I wonder if we can train the zombies to dance to a rhythm. Wouldn't that be funny?" He laughed at his own cruel joke. Then he demanded Usagi to join in with his laughing.

As he was leaving, he showed her the ring he had and said how difficult it was to pry it out of the zombie's hand. "Eventually, I had to get a bush cutter and just cut the entire finger off." He laughed some more as Usagi tried to stop her gag. "Women...so weak...don't worry, I will protect you."

Usagi shuddered as she thought about facing him tonight.

Michiru strolled over and placed a hand on Usagi's shoulder. "Everything will be okay. We have to have faith. Just watch for Minako's signal and then try to make an excuse to come towards us."

Usagi gulped and nodded.


Ami glanced at the clock. Five thirty. Almost time. She got up from her desk and wandered over to the tea station. Grabbing two mugs, she put in the teabags and then poured hot water in. Checking over her shoulder quickly, she made sure no one was watching her...

Setsuna and her mom were huddled over the computer, going over the last batch of their results. Mako's blood continued to offer good news to them. It seemed like this vaccine might just work after all.

"Here. I made you tea. Let's rest a bit and go over our plans." Ami brought the tea to them.

The two of them accepted it graciously and took a sip. Ami smiled and sat down. "So, mom, make sure you keep talking to Demande, so that he would take his eyes off of Usagi long enough for her to make it to us. Setsuna, you are our backup. Keep the gun in your pocket and keep your ears and eyes open."

"I still think my role in this whole coup is kind of small. Are you sure I can't do more?" Setsuna frowned and looked at Ami. "I can fight, you know..."

Ami reassured Setsuna that her role was important. In fact, her role was going to be very important if the coup fails.

"Just be careful tonight, Ami." Mom put down the mug and came over to hug Ami. As she took her first few steps, she faltered and almost tripped. Mom looked up in surprise and her accusing eyes settled on Ami. "Why am I dizzy?"

Setsuna slammed the mug down and put her hand over her forehead. "Me too.." She glanced at her tea and then at Ami.

"Sorry, mom. Sorry, Setsuna. I need to make sure the two of you survive, so you can keep on making the vaccine. If we win, great. If we fail, at least you guys wouldn't be executed for treason and you need to carry on with our work. You guys are too important." Ami rushed over and broke her mother's fall.

"I am sorry..." Ami whispered again, as the two lose consciousness. "I love you, mom."