Chapter 4

Some thin rays of light made its way across the holes of the boarded windows and hit my left eye with dire conviction. I yawned and stood up from the couch, making my joints pop in the process, my left hand still clutching my sword tightly, better to be safe than sorry right? I've never managed to sleep for more than 5 hours everyday because of my hectic schedule. But for once, I had a long and peacef― just long and undisturbed sleep,let's settled with that shall we?

I made my way to the kitchen and brewed myself a pot of coffee while frying some eggs, chicken and bacon for breakfast. I should eat a lot before heading out, who knows when's the next time I'll get to eat. With my stomach satisfied. I unboarded the wooden covers by the window and slipped through, landing on the steel frame fire exit of the building. The second floor going to the first floor had no stairs but instead had a small ladder in its place. I removed the locks and it reached halfway to the ground. I climbed down carefully and jumped at the last bar.

I was at the alleyway where they found nami-ya. The dead corpse was already swarming with worms and flies emitting a foul stench of decomposition as I passed through. The roads were deserted except for some wandering undead. The scene was like that of a classis horror film, the buildings were abandoned as well, albeit most of them are new. It feels like years had passed ever since the infection began. There wasn't much of them so I sliced through their heads while running in the direction of the city square. The feeling of their decomposed flesh making contact with my kikoku made my hands tremble a little. My uncle rocinante or as I dearly called him "cora-san" told me before that if I hadn't become a surgeon I might have been a serial killer or a hit man. Hmmm… I wonder why?

I reached the intersection before getting to the mall after an hour of running and brisk walking when I get too winded up. On a normal day, it would only take me 15 minutes of driving to reach the mall's parking lot but the cars blocking the road would just prove to be a nuisance. As of now, there were no signs of zombies everywhere, it was too quiet. My mind drifted off to luffy-ya's group. It has been two days since he recorded that message. Could it be that I got the message late and they already died along the way?

I really don't know what I was thinking when I decided to leave that apartment and follow him. I dunno… it just feels right to do―

Clank

"Ugnnn…"

Shit! I didn't see that fucking can. Moans of the dead soon filled the air and my heartbeat raced as I saw those creatures pouring out of everywhere. There were at least 70 or maybe 80 of them making their way towards me.

Great! I have been fucking surrounded! My eyes darted around left and right to look for any possible escape route, my legs chose left by instincts and I ran towards an alleyway. They were already closing on me as I jumped above a car and into the narrow space. It was a dead end like our apartment, I spun on my heels swiftly and swung my sword to the nearest zombie I can reach. I took down six of them quickly.

"YAH!"

"Huuu!"

I took down at least a dozen more before fatigue began to reach my muscles but as soon as I cleared a batch, still more of them are following suit. I inched slowly backwards as the heaviness of my arms began to slow my movements down. Honestly, I'm not much of a fighter, that's why I chose to specialize in the medical field. My back touched something metallic but I really don't have the time to check what it was right now. I charged at a few more who were already at arm's length and I started feeling dizzy, my vision was already blurry from pushing myself to the limits as well as from the sweat that was dripping from my forehead and into my eyes.I slashed fervently in every direction as a futile attempt for what it is to come goodbye world, goodbye science, goodbye books, goodbye everyo―

I flinched as an arm pulled me backwards into a room.

"Will you stop trashing around you shitty bastard!" It was a man's voice. From his accent, he must've come from france or maybe italy. I can smell cigarette smoke and cheap perfume coming from him.

"That was fucking close! Thank you for saving me!" I turned to my savior who was smoking, he seems to looked at me and shrugged. I shrugged as well. I took in his appearance as my vision gradually went back to normal. I also looked discreetly at his arms and legs for any bite marks. He was a blonde, tall, slim man who seems to be in his early 20's. He was wearing what looks like a dark blue three-piece pinstripped suit with a matching vest and neck it! I still can't see clearly! My eyes are still adjusting but I started to see more of his noticeable features, his hair was parted from the side with only one visible eye exposed and huh? Was his eyebrows curled?

He motioned me to follow him inside and opened another metal door. The sudden entrance of light from the chandeliers flooding my eyes made me squint but it wasn't painful or anything just damn uncomfortable. I groped my way to a chair and he served me a glass of cold water which I took gratefully and drank every drop of it. Glancing around the spacious diner, I saw that all of his windows have a metal shutter and a lock.

"So, what was your name again?" He asks, he never actually asked earlier though.

"Law, Trafalgar Law, it's a pleasure to meet you!" I said as I offered my tattooed hand to his seemingly delicate ones. Yes, it is now safe to say that his eyebrow was really curled!

"Sanji, likewise." He answered as he took my hand and firmly shook it.

I hesitated for a bit before asking him, he quirked a curled brow at me and I finally continued what I was gonna ask. "Sanji-ya, do you know what happened these past few days?" I looked at him, hopeful for any more information.

He shook his head slightly."Don't have much to tell but it looks like a motherfuckin' zombie apocalypse shit is happening right now!" he said before taking a long drag from his cancer stick, speaking of which… I'm quite in need of a stick myself. "You a tourist?" He asks as he took a seat in front of me. Seeing me eyeing his cigarette he offered me one from his pack which I gratefully accepted.

"No, I live here… but I just woke up yesterday morning at the hospital and I don't really have any idea what happened this past few days" I answered, those questions that I tried to bury in the further recesses of my mind resurfaced again.

Sanji-ya looked at me with an unreadable expression he opened his mouth slightly as if wanting to say anything but closed it shut again. "You know, I just moved here three fucking days ago!" I can hear the sympathy mixed in his cold baritone voice. "Today was supposed to be the first day that I'll be opening this restaurant but―" he sighed at the last part and shook his head. I gave him a sympathetic nod, I understand where he's coming from. "Anyways where were you heading?"

"I almost forgot about that…" I muttered. I took the cassette recorder from the pocket of my pants and handed it to him. He looked at it curiously, it has been a long time since that kind of device was used by the media. We both listened to the contents with sanji nodding here and there and me answering some of his questions with my own theories. He seems to have taken it in stride. With the recording finished, he stood up and went to the kitchen. I followed him with my eyes, over all I can say that sanji-ya is a decent young man, he's actually pretty smart himself, but I think he is a little strange… not that it matters now anyway.

He returned with a box and placed it slowly on our table, I saw that it was loaded with kitchen knives. I smirked at him while his dark blue eyes shone with contempt. He took one and eyed its sharpness meticulously. With a sharp flick from his arms the knife flew in the air and hit the center of a painting.

"Nice shot…" I commented, well atleast he's not a wimp that's a plus.

"I grew up in a kitchen with ex-convicts for chefs…" he answered with a wink and laughed.

"Sure, but would you mind explaining me how we're gonna get of here?" Duh! We're trapped remember?

"Leave it to me…" he went back to the backdoor and hummed an unfamiliar jazz tune while I followed him out of curiosity. We reached the same room where he saved me from those ghouls, but instead of going for the door, he turned to his right and opened a cabinet loaded with a huge variety of alcohols. His slender finger brushed along the neat stacks and took 5 bottles of vodka and gracefully went back to the dining area.

He proceeded to drain half of its contents in the sink, I swear from my position, I can see from his face that he was sad in wasting some good liquor but we don't have any choice do we? He filled every bottle with what seems to be gasoline from a 5 gallon plastic container and gave it a good shake. He loaded each bottle with rags that was soaked in gasoline and motioned me to take the plastic tanks of gasoline with me. It took me three whole seconds to realize what he's planning to do. He's going to set them on fire!

We ascended the second floor of the establishment which turns out to be his own living space. It was pretty neat for a man's room and was decorated with a french touch. He slid open the window that was facing the front of the restaurant. He grinned maniacally when he saw that the horde of the undead was compact, clawing against the steel shutter.

He looked at me and bobbed his head at the direction of the window. It was quite heavy but I manage to soaked them with the flammable liquid. Sanji lighted one of the improvised cocktail with his lighter and threw the bottle immediately incinerating a wide area on the ground. He flashed me a shit eating grin while igniting another bottle and handed it to me. The putrid smell of burning flesh was getting stronger as we threw the rest of the bottles on the ground.

"Now we can escape!" He shouted as he ran down the stairs to the dining area. I immediately prepared my sword as he unlocked the front door of the building. He grabbed the box of knives as I took down those who were still standing. The pavement was still hot and it reeks of burning gas, but most of the infected have been burned to a crisp, we fled towards the direction of the mall with a small horde of zombies behind us. I can already see the brightly painted building from here.

We climbed across the fence and continued running towards the front gates. The grated shutter were down meaning luffy-ya's and his crew may still be there. We ran clockwise around the mall searching for the employee's entrance which sanji found but was locked.

"Hey! Who's there!?" A gruff voice shouted from the second floor of the building, I can only assume that it was zoro-ya's voice. Both sanji-ya and I looked up and saw a tan man with green hair wearing a police uniform glaring at us.

"We're not one of those things!" Sanji-ya shouted and police-ya's eyebrows suddenly went up and immediately went back inside. I glanced at the front gates of the mall where a horde of infected that followed us was struggling to breach the tall chicken wire fence built around the mall. The door was opened by a petite teenager that resembles a reindeer with stubby nose and brown wavy hair with matching doe-like eyes, this must be chopper-ya and zoro-ya. The young medic of the group immediately checked us by groping our arms and leg for any signs of blood or bites.

"We-we didn't get bitten…" my companion said quietly, chopper-ya beamed cutely at the chef while zoro-ya was a little bit skeptical but merely sighed before motioning us to enter. We passed through several doors while chopper locks every door we passed through before getting to the atrium of the mall. I can hear someone boisterously laughing at the department store.

"Guys! We found survivors!" Zoro-ya exclaimed and in a few moments we were joined by two women and two men.

"Yo!" A teen with raven hair greeted. He must be luffy-ya. The picture in the bedroom was obviously taken a few years ago, this luffy who was standing in front of me seems to have aged a little, his lithe body now has some lean muscles and his round face had hardened a little, the same crescent scar was still there under his big expressive eyes. He was extremely attractive to say but give or take he kinda looks like a 16 year old kid, I don't want to hit on a kid whose 10 years my junior… that would be very inappropriate.

"Hi" This time a tanned man with black curly hair waved at us, he had a very… uhm… peculiar nose. I bet this one is usopp-ya.

"Good morning!" This one I'm not sure who she is, she could be nami-ya or maybe someone they met prior to arriving here. She had straight black hair, blue eyes and a volumptous figure with a fairly thick book clutched in her chest.

"Hello!" Coppery orange hair, fair skin and tall. I really don't know about the girls much and frankly, I don't care either. I'm just relieved that I'm not th only one who is alive in those god forsaken city.

We met their greetings with our own and sanji-ya immediately began fawning over the girls and introduced himself quite enthusiastically. He was doing some kind of freaky noodle-ish dance while he approached the girls. I know something was up with sanji-ya! He's a god damn pervert!

"My name is Trafalgar Law, please just call me law, it's a pleasure to meet everyone!" I said. I'm not really a people person. I guess everyone I knew is aware of that.

"Hello tora-o!" Luffy-ya immediately walked towards my direction with a cheek splitting grin. And where the hell did he get that tora-o from? I swear I clearly said trafalgar.

"Uhm… it's actually trafalgar or law luffy-ya…" I answered him back. Damn! His smile was so contagious I can't help my lips curl up a little!

"Well, I can't say trafalgar properly, I think tora-o is better!"

"Erm, you just said trafalgar" I informed him, he did say it correctly though.

"Oh Did I? Shishishi! Tora-o is shorter, it's handy when I need to call you during emergencies right!?" There he goes, that weird giggle/chuckle that only sounds right when he does it. Tsk! Fine, whatever tora-o it is.

"Hey wait a minute! How did you know my name was luffy?" He asked as realization seems to dawn on him, a little late if you ask me but I'll let it slip just this time and pretend that I didn't have a tiny little bit of crush on this surprisingly cute but dumb kid.

"The recorder… I actually broke into your house… sorry" did i just say 'I broke into your house?' '

"Oh! I forgot about that! (See!) Well, its okay! Atleast you got here safe" I nodded slightly while our eyes are boring into each other, I didn't notice until now how dark his irises are. This is the first time I saw someone with almost black irises. It's like you'll fall in its depths if you don't thread carefully. He waved at me before going to sanji's direction, probably for introductions.

"Hello! My name is usopp and this is chopper!" I didn't notice them the first time they called me as I was still looking at luffy-ya who was laughing with sanji-ya and the others. Hmm… Not good.

"Hel-lo!"

"Oh! Sorry, hello usopp-ya and chopper-ya, what can I do for you?"

They both shot me a look that says 'do we know each other' but usopp-ya brightened up in a second.

"Ah! The recorder!" I nodded.

"Uhm… so law… what do you do when there are no zombies around?" Awww, chopper-ya is very adorable.

"I'm a surgeon." His smile brightened as he heard surgeon, he must be interested in the medical field as well.

"Really!? I'm a pre-med student at the university, I want to be a doctor too!" He bounced and clapped cutely as he said this, usopp smiled and ruffled his hair affectionately. He looks very young to make it into the university, well I did start early too but looks can really be deceiving huh?

"I'm sure you will…" I said then I turned my attention to usopp- ya and asked him what he was doing before everything went ape shit.

"I'm an art major!" He said.

I nodded, he does look like an artist to me. "But how did you know about these zombies?"

"Oh! I actually own a huge collection of zombie films that was released in the early 2000's along with books and anything related to it―" he blinked a couple of times first before continuing "― ya know, geek stuffs"

"Well, if it weren't for his geekiness we would'nt have any idea of what's going on" zoro-ya interjected as he offered a hand to me. "Roronoa Zoro, police officer"

"Nice to meet you zoro-ya, I already knew your names from the recorder at luffy's house."

"Yeah, it was actually the smartest thing he did ever since this shit went down" he deadpanned. I shrugged, well he got to know boy first so I guess I was correct in my assumptions about luffy-ya. The three men engaged in a conversation about our next move. They haven't come up with a plan till now. I glanced back at luffy-ya, he was still talking animatedly with the other black haired woman who was giggling at his antics. She noticed me and gave me a slight nod to which I politely replied with my own, taking it as a cue, I made my way to them and introduced myself.

"Law-san, you work in the medical field do you not?" She started as I shook her hand.

"Yes I do, sorry for being rude but do we know each other?" Okay, she was a little mysterious but I can tell from her aura that she wasn't bad or anything.

She shook her head slightly "I'm nico robin, its a pleasure to meet you again, we actually went to college together"

"I'm really sorry I wasn't actually the most social person back then, did we share a same class together?"

"We did, I was your classmate in World history when you were still a freshman and I was on my master's degree back then. " Her name sounds very familiar but I still don't remember her, I was very anti-social back then. All I did was study day and night. I didn't have much of a social life except for the late bepo,shachi and penguin.

"It's okay if you don't remember, that was pretty long time ago." She beamed before the one with the orange hair did a round house kick on sanji-ya who slumped on the floor with a love sick expression, it was quite strong that it gained the attention of everyone in proximity.

"Ugh! Get away you creep! Oh!oh- my… sorry about that!" she waved at us dismissively before scadoodling towards our direction.

"Hi! My name is nami～ Pleased to meet you law!"

"Please to meet you too Nami-ya!" I nodded.

"EVERYONE! Get your asses over here!" She shouted with such ferocity that even I, a very composed person flinched. "Luffy, you go!" She said.

"Okay, so now we have two new members added in our team, the mall is big and loaded, we have all the supplies we need to survive. We have already blocked all the openings last night but I want each and everyone of you to stay on your guards, we don't know want any cases of zombie infiltrating our home or anyone getting bitten. Sanji and Tora-o if anyone of you needs to go somewhere you can't go alone alright, always bring someone with you where ever you go." He explained. He seemed to be thinking.

"Does anyone else have a plan?" He asked.

I glanced towards the others who were lost in their own thoughts as well.

"Then by dinner let's talk about what each and everyone of us had come up"

"Yosh! For the mean time let's go have fun guys! Shishishi!"

To be continued…

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Sorry for cutting it like that guys! The next chapter would focus on their relationship towards each other. I hope you enjoyed reading!

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