"In here?" checking yet another building, the small group had entered another debate on whether or not to remain in the newly discovered area. The place they had just found was a small abandoned restaurant, empty of all life, living and dead. After a brief argument where Yukoto said leave and Youko said stay, the red eyed boy came out victorious,pointing out the door of the establishment hanging off its hinges. The search was becoming very tedious, the sun having set so long ago, yet the dead needed no sleep. Fighting through the city was of course exhausting, and the group would surely perish if shelter was not taken soon.

Everyone had taken seats around the eatery, excluding Tyson, who went behind the service counter to pick at the warm food sitting in the serving plates. Resting his head onto the table before him Yukoto starts to show how exhausted he is, the brief rest he was taking trying to force him into sleep. Standing up as he prepares to leave, he grabs a bottled water from his backpack, unscrewing the cap to pour the cooling liquid all over his face. With a single motion of his hand, he ordered the group back into formation. Since Tyson's arrival a few hours ago, the group had formed a square formation, a teen on each side with the two young girls behind them for protection. Otome and Youko had the sides, avoiding using their firearms unless necessary. In the front was Yukoto, slashing through with his katana as Tyson blocked the rear with his knives. Stepping outside the group immediately took their places, noticing that the activity was still as strong as it was earlier, if not more heavy. Looking down the street, a lone figure was running down the road towards their direction.

"Tyson, you said you live near here, right?" Yukoto turned to Tyson, who happily shook his head.

"My house is around the corner."

"I thought you said you lived in an apartment?" Yukoto stopped the group, turning around to point his now unsheathed blade towards the American boy.

"C-Calm down, I know I said that, bu-"

"But what? Look, if you end up or plan on leading us into danger then don't bother trying to help at all."shoving the blades tip at Tyson's nose, Yukoto grimaces darkly, a mass of frustration and fear in his eyes.

"L-Look, It was a simple mistake. I-I promise. I live in a rented out house. I promise." gulping at his last uttered word, he breathes a sigh of relief when Yukoto lowers his blade to his side.

"Fine then. Lead the way." sweat dropping, the American boy swaps places with Yukoto, and starts running a certain direction. As he slides his blade back into its sheathe, Yukoto starts to hear footsteps coming from behind him.

"Wait! Please, wait!" a woman's voice echoed through the streets, bouncing off the walls of the silent night. The group turns around watching her approach with a few of 'them' slowly limping after her from afar. Through the shadows and darkness, Otome could see her carrying two things: a large looking rifle, and a small plastic bag. The woman looked utterly exhausted, her tattered clothing ripped and torn in various areas, and her heavy breathing pointing that out. As she stops in front of Yukoto and the others, he notices something familiar about the woman. "It's you!...Oh how good it feels to find someone like you, of all people!..."

The woman was Yamada Amaya, a nurse from the local hospital, and one who was most often sent to care for Mrs. Yukiko. As she made smalltalk with the young man she gave her deepest sympathies, discovering his mothers fate, and then immediately cut to the chase. Requesting to accompany them, he fails to think of any repercussions, and ends up saying yes. Beaming with relief, the woman hugs him, backing away afterwards to hand him the rifle in her hands.

"No way!...That's an M16!...How'd you get ahold of an American military firearm!?..." Tyson ran up to Yukoto, questioning the woman as he admired the weapon.

"American?...I didn't know it was American...But it was my husbands, he gave it to me..."

"Then why give it to me?..." Yukoto asked her. As he awaited her answer, the woman simply frowned, moving into the light to show him why. A series of bite marks were along her bare right leg, each mark light, yet fatal. Her reason revealed, the woman starts to cry, her hair hanging over her face.

"PLEASE! KILL ME! Don't let me turn into one of THEM!" shouting at Yukoto she pulls the barrel of the gun to her head, yelling her request once again. Pulling the butt of the gun to his shoulder, he puts his finger near the trigger, listening to her repeat the impossible request again. He pondered on killing a human, which still seemed imorrall in the way things were becoming. Staring at the woman before him, he starts shaking as she begins to cough up dark blood. As she hangs on to her humanity, she looks Yukot in the eyes as he finally pulls the trigger, ending her suffering.

"T-Tyson...lead the way..."

"Here, take these. That woman was carrying them on her." Youko handed Yukoto four fully loaded magazine clips for his newly acquired weapon. Taking them in hand, he slides one into each of the pockets of his pants. As they continued walking, Yukoto moves the katana from his back to his waist, and hangs the rifle behind his back using its sling. "And then there's this thing. Don't know what it is though."

"That's a suppressor. It holds back the noise when the gun is fired. Thanks." taking the valuable piece of equipment he reaches behind himself to screw the piece onto the front of the weapon.

"Are you okay."

"I'm fine. We should catch up to the others."

"You're exhausted. You need to slow down and take it easy."

"If already need to rest, then tomorrow I'll surely die, because I don't think any of this is something that just 'rolls over' and goes away after a week."

"We've been walking for awhile now, all while fighting those things. It's natural to feel tired after all of that. So what's up with you?"

"What's up with you? Where are your insults and accusations?"

"Why would I insult you?"

"That's what I kept asking myself, back then when you spearheaded the verbal assault that would come to ruin my life."

"That has nothing to do with-"

"Yes it does, because now I don't get a chance to fix all of that. But then again a 'Red Eyed Demon' like me shouldn't care now, right? The world starts to end, and previous squabbles become non-existent, is that what you think?"

"It was only childish teases, I didn't know that-"

"That what? The kids from grade school wouldn't be around the years after that? Well they were, and those childish teases, they hurt. So stop acting like you're my friend now, because you aren't...and you never will be."

"Hey! Hurry up, we're here!" Otome shouted from ahead, waving them down as Tyson wrangled with a few zombies behind her. Shooting Youko one last dirty look, Yukoto runs forward to catch up with everyone else, with the other girl jogging slowly behind him. The neighborhood they had ended up with was a few blocks away from Onbetsu Bridge, and had very narrow streets throughout. Unlike the other houses around it, Tyson's didn't have a wall or a front gate, but it did have a large two car garage.

W-Wait...I forgot to give you these." Youko quickly runs back to his side, lifting a plastic shopping bag in front of his face. Taking it from her hands swiftly and rudely he parts it open, revealing a small black box. Using his thumb he flips the lid open, revealing a reasonable amount of loose bullets, most likely compatible with his new weapon. Abandoning the bag and box he motions for Hotaru to join his side, removing the backpack from her body to dump the ammunition and extra magazines into one of the empty pockets.

Even with the bag now full of ammunition, it's weight seemed light enough for the girl to manage, seeing as took the bag back in stride, lifting on herself without a problem.

"We've got a problem..." Otome whispered aloud as she and Tyson hung their heads down in shame. Walking closer to everyone else, the American boy steps forward, taking a deep breath before letting his bad news be heard.

"I left my house keys in the car."

Frowning immediately, Yukoto grasps the sides of his head, opening his mouth to silently scream out his frustrations. Grabbing Tyson by his collar, he shakes him wildly, uttering a series of insults into the boys ear before finally releasing him. "You don't have any other way in? Anything?"

"There's one way, now that you mention it... But it probably isn't-"

"I dont care!...Just tell me what it is!..." looking towards the top of the house, Tyson spawned a mischievous smile, before turning back to him and releasing a small chuckle.

"You've heard of Santa Clause before, I assume?..."