Author's notes: Well, the poll results are in; Takashi will be meeting his dad in a few chapters. But, since chapter 29 of the manga just came out, I'll be including Rei's mom as well soon. I have something I want to do before that after the mall, so it may take a couple of chapters; any suggestions on a name for Takashi's dad? I'll probably have a poll up if I get enough suggestions.
Chapter 13: Mall of the DEAD
Takashi sighed to himself as he walked through the mall with Kouta at his side, his mind drifting to the night before; they had made it to the mall late last night, and with Kaede's lock picking skills, they had gotten inside easily. The problem was on the inside...
There was already a group of people situated, along with a police officer which they assumed was the leader of the group; before approaching her, Saya had mentioned they should hide the guns before anyone saw them; so, they did, Takashi expecting an explanation later, but trusting Saya's judgment for now.
And so, now, he and Kouta were wandering the mall while the other group had a meeting among themselves, dressed only in their uniforms now, though they did have their Mk 23s under their jackets, which Kouta had insisted on keeping just in case. Their goal was to try and find things that would be useful to them, but Takashi really had no idea as to what they should be looking for.
Thinking on the path of recent going ons, his mind soon came to this morning, where they had a bit of a chat with the police officer, whose name was Nakaoka Asami; apparently, she was just a patrolwoman of the traffic department, and hadn't been the one that organized the survivors. It had been a senior officer, who Asami only referred to as Matsushima-senpai, who had just recently went back to their headquarters for help.
They didn't have the heart to tell her the police station was completely empty now, and there was more then a chance the senior officer was one of the undead now.
When the officer had been called off for the meeting of the original occupants of the mall, Saya then explained why they had hidden the guns, and the problem with the other group; the other group, just like with the vassals at her home, would think a bunch of teenagers should be using the guns, even if they were the most 'qualified' to do so, and would want to put them to use for their own means.
As for the group it's self, despite having enough food(apparently, the senior officer had the meat gathered up and dried after the power went out) and water, the foundation of the group, namely the officer that had organized them, was gone; that, and various other things taken away, such as electricity and showers, which Alice had actually pointed out, the people would be irritable, and less likely to cooperate with one another, which had already been seen plenty of times through the hostility of the other survivors.
In any case, Saya had sent both he and Kouta to look for things while the other group was occupied with their meeting, warning them to only take things they'd really need since the other group had already laid claim to everything in the store. Thinking back to Saya made him grumble under his breath.
"...man, she's got some nerve pushing us around like that." Takashi muttered, and Kouta, catching his complaint, grinned lightly as they walked side by side, along the second floor of the mall, not really looking for anything because they didn't know what to look for. "Meanwhile, she's just..."
His and Kouta's mind drifted to Saya's parting words.
"I can't wear this kind of flappy clothing anymore." she had said, holding up the hem of her frilly skirt she had been put in by her mother at the mansion while Alice, who had expressed her want to change as well a bit earlier, stood behind Saya. "I'm going to go change with her..."
"...doing what she wants." Takashi finished with a sigh, before looking at Kouta with a frown. "By the way, just what did she mean by 'only what we really need'? You have an idea, right?"
"Well, other than batteries for the flashlights, no, and I'm not sure were we'd find them either." Kouta replied with a light scoff; he was just as clueless as Takashi, since it seemed Saya was implying to more than just batteries. "Should we try talking to the police woman? She seems unreliable, but it looks like she knows the stores pretty well..."
Though he spoke as it was a suggestion, with Takashi's nod, it was made a statement, and it was decided they'd be seeking out Asami the police woman's help soon.
"I'm glad we hid the guns." Takashi said, out of the blue and getting a clueless look from Kouta, so he continued on. "I just don't think it would be a good idea to carry guns like those around with a police officer here, especially since she's suppose to be in charge, and they hardly even acknowledge her in that way."
"Mmm...true, but there's only so much we can do without them...weapons tend to bring respect and power..." Kouta replied, and Takashi couldn't exactly read the real meaning as to what he was saying.
"You do know your guns...what are you trying to get at?" Takashi finally asked, looking at Kouta a bit wearily.
"It's nothing really," Kouta said, a dark grin forming on his face. "Just wondering whether we should put the guns to their intended use..."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now..." Takashi said, now getting fully what Kouta was implying, and though it would be pretty easy to do something like that, he wanted to refrain from thinking about it as much as he could.
"But you get what I'm saying, don't you, Takashi?" Kouta asked, his gaze on him.
"I guess..." Takashi muttered in response, a bit worried for how much Kouta seemed to be pushing that idea onto him. "I don't think that's the best course of action though..."
"Hey, Takashi! Hirano-kun!"
The two looked up as their names were called to see Rei and Saeko in one of the mall's cafes, Rei behind the counter with Saeko sitting at it, and both of them looking towards the other two; Takashi's eyes caught Takashi's, and she smiled lightly while Rei frowned.
"Have either of you seen Kaede?" Rei called over to them; not what she was originally going to ask, but now, she was reluctant to have Takashi and Saeko together in front of her, especially when she hadn't seen her own counterpart since the morning.
"No, I haven't." Takashi replied, shaking his head while Kouta did the same behind him; now they were both a bit curious as to where Kaede had disappeared to, though, it did occur to Takashi that Kaede had kept the Baikal shotgun with him.
That with the conversation they had last night gave Takashi some clues, but he figured it wouldn't be too long before Kaede showed back up and reunited with the group, though it did seem to put Rei off that Kaede's whereabouts were unknown to her.
Hopping he hadn't damned Kaede for no good reason, Takashi waved them both good-bye before walking once more with Kouta to find the place where the other group of survivors where having their meeting and talk with the police woman...
"How long are we gonna sit around here for!"
That simple statement pretty much summed up every meeting the mall survivors had so far, even before the senior officer had left; the meetings always have been held in the staff room on the first floor of the mall, and that's where they were gathered.
"Bitch said we'd get help soon, but those motherfuckers just keep comin'!" one of the survivors, easily described in Japanese terms as a 'yankee', a delinquent. "And on top of that, the power and phones and shit are all fucked up!"
"I-I'm fine with anything...but," an elderly man, sitting on a couch with his wife leaning against his shoulder, and obviously sick. "My wife needs to have her weekly blood transfusion, so can we go to the clinic soon?"
"You know, I still need to contact my office somehow!" a middle aged business man tossed his complaint in, helping with the bombardment of things that needed to be done on the officer, who was standing at the head of them, obviously having a hard time with all the needs that were being placed on her shoulders, some more pressing than others.
"B-but, um...uh, senpai..." Asami finally swallowed her uncertainty, and assured them of the only thing she herself was sure of. "Officer Matsushima said to wait here until she comes back with help...s-so, Asa-no, I mean, this officer will do everything she can to..."
"You have no right to keep us prisoners like this! What you do have is a duty to protect us!" one of them yelled, making the young police woman flinch.
That outburst, plus all the survivors, including a young man looking near psychotic with a kitchen knife in his hand, an elderly man lighting a cigarette and a teen cowering in the corner in the middle of a break down, Takashi and Kouta, who had just found the staff room, could now understand what Saya meant when she said the group of survivors was near breaking down.
"Looks like..." Takashi muttered, Kouta finishing for him.
"They're all causing a lot of trouble for her..." not exactly what Takashi was going to say, but basically the same, if not more honest.
"The group's really falling apart then, huh?" Takashi muttered, looking over to Kouta, and away from the heated argument that had broken out between the survivors.
"If that was all, there wouldn't be much of a problem." Kouta said with a sigh, fixing his glasses with a frown as he watched the argument suddenly turn on the police woman before explaining further. "Groups are suppose to be together for a certain purpose; that's not the case here. They're just clinging to the authority of the police..."
"But they're putting the blame on her..." Takashi muttered as the survivors continued yelling about this and that, doing just what Takashi had observed.
"They've realized there's no use in relying on the police anymore; they've realized the police aren't the saviors they thought they'd be," Kouta replied as they watched the police woman Asami near tears at the anger the other survivors were unloading on her, everything seeming to make even more sense to Takashi as Kouta explained. "So they're placing the blame on the police woman now...Takashi. I know we shouldn't come to the rescue of every last person we meet who's in trouble..."
"Yeah..." Takashi said, blinking as it didn't seem that Kouta wasn't going to continue right away, though he was starting to catch on at Kouta's grin.
"But..."
"That's boring!" they both yelled, grinning at each other; they were both thinking along the same lines now.
"Let's make things more interesting!" Kouta said, and placed his hand in his pocket; Takashi didn't think Kouta wouldn't have been happy with just the Mk 23 on him...
"What is talking like this going to do!" the business man yelled as the police woman.
"If you were a respectable police officer, you'd do something about those monsters outside!" another survivor yelled, a woman this time.
"B-but this officer..." Asami sniffled, trying to hold back the tears welled in her eyes from the added stress and trouble from the survivors. "Asami didn't get very good grades at the police academy, and she's just one girl..."
Despite the truth in her words and the sense that the words should have put int the survivors, they continued with their onslaught, verbally abusing the officer, until the chubby teenager that had shown up with those other high school survivors slid up next to the officer.
"Uhh, 'scuse me, miss police officer..." he said, loud enough for the others attention to be put on him and the officer.
"Can't you see we're in the middle of a very important conversation!" the business man yelled, turning his attention on Kouta.
"Ah, well, I found something the police officer dropped, so I wanted to give it back to her..." Kouta replied with a sly grin.
"I...dropped something?" Asami said, looking at Kouta more surprised than relieved; her surprise was greater than the other survivors when Kouta pulled out what he was referring to.
"Yes, this." Kouta said, pulling out the revolver, and the first gun they had gotten out there amongst the dead. "Isn't this a police officer's gun?"
There were a few gasps, one even from the officer her self, but luckily, she caught on pretty quick.
"Y-yes, it is!" she said, her mood lightening up; it seemed she understood what having a gun would do for her, and took it from Kouta's offering hands, though ignoring his nervous reminder of her trigger finger, which was on the trigger. "A Smith & Wesson M.37 Airweight! The Prefectural police use this gun to enforce the law!"
"Whoa! Fuckin' yeah! With that thing, you can wreck those motherfuckers outside!" the yank yelled, staring at the gun in Asami's hand.
"But..." Kouta was suddenly beside the yank now, looking up at him with a dark look. "If the gun goes off, they will all come and gather at the source of the sound, won't they? It would put us all in danger to use it like that...plus, there are only about as many bullets as there are people here."
Kouta's words struck a new fear into the survivors, and they all looked at Kouta with fear, then to the officer.
"But, anyways, the police officer should be the one with the police officer's gun, right?" Kouta said, leaving it at that and turning to Asami, saluting her before heading out of the room. "Well then, I trust you to use it wisely!"
"I will!" Asami said, straightening up and returning the salute to Kouta, her entire stature changing, now that she was armed like a proper police officer. "Thank you for your cooperation!"
"I think that should work out fine." Kouta said with a chuckle as he went and joined up with Takashi, who was waiting outside.
"Are you sure that was the right thing to do? If she has a gun like that..." Takashi said as Kouta walked over to join him, and they both started walking again, though it did occur to them both that the had lost sight of their original purpose to find the officer. "She may end up with more responsibility than she can handle..."
"Many years ago, the Sergeant Majors in England's military forces used no muskets, but spears." Kouta said, watching Takashi's clueless face. "Even today, high-ranking officers on the battlefield use relatively weak handguns...why do you think that is?"
"So that they can defend themselves...?" Takashi guessed, but with Kouta's words, he doubted that was the real reason, even though it seemed like the most reasonable.
"It's to maintain the unity of the group." a different voice answered, and they both looked up to see Kaede walking towards them; he had changed, and held with Baikal, which had been greatly modified as Takashi had guessed, and Yuki at his heels. "It's to remind to lower rank who's in charge, and that they can kill anyone who tries raising against them..."
Kaede had changed out of the jumpsuit and was now wearing a pair of long, black denim shorts that hung loosely around his mid-caves; along with his button-up school shirt, the sleeves rolled up, with a pair of half-tied boots and a pair of thick, fingerless gloves, he looked ready to head out at any moment.
With Kaede's explanation, Takashi looked over to Kouta, having expected something like that.
"Was that what you were getting at?" he asked, and Kouta nodded.
"More or less..." Kouta replied with a light grin as Kaede stopped in front of them. "Imagine the position that police woman is in now that she had the gun; it's better this way."
Kaede blinked, now wondering what kind of conversation he had just walked in on. He shook his head, since it was he that had practically disappeared for most of the day to work on his shotgun, which he had been able to do everything he had wanted to do to it in the hardware section of the mall, and missed a lot. So, he didn't ask.
"In any case, have either of you seen Shizuka-sensei?" Kaede asked, his hand on his right shoulder that had been cut in the dual against Souichiro at the Takagi manor; pain shot down his arm and he winced from just barely touching the bandaged wound, fearing it may be getting infected, especially since it had been a few days since the bandage had been changed.
Kaede's question suddenly had Takashi and Kouta's attention all too quickly; like Kaede, they hadn't seen Shizuka at all so far today, and there was a lot to worry about when it came to their ditzy nurse.
"Um, wait, this isn't..." Shizuka protested weakly; she was on one of the many beds in a mattress store of the mall, and her clothes were in disarray, the man responsible for it advancing threateningly on her.
"Come on, just this once?" he said as Shizuka moved to the far end of the bed, pulling her shirt that had been tugged up over her breasts, her black bra showing, the lacy fabric only fueling the man's lust. "Come one! You're the one who said you wanted to come here, aren't you?"
"N-no, I just meant that I wanted a bed because I'm so tired." Shizuka replied, not catching on that it was more than just a misunderstanding, though was a bit fearful from the wild lust in his eye as he looked down at her body. "You just misunderstood what I-"
"I don't give a shit! Just let me fuck you, okay?" it was a statement, not a question, that the man spoke, moving onto the bed and advancing towards where Shizuka was. "With all the monsters roaming around now, I'm not gonna meet any more women like you with such nice bodies! And, if I'm not being clear enough..."
The man drew the knife at his belt with one hand, holding it threateningly as he forced Shizuka's legs apart with the other; Shizuka let out a scream as the man reached to start tearing away her clothes, but he was interrupted by a click, and a shaky voice shortly after.
"S-stop it, Shimada-san!" Asami yelled from behind the man, Shimada, who hardly gave the police officer a second thought.
"What, you want some too, police girl?" Shimada said over his shoulder, before turning to look at the police woman behind him. "Sorry, but you're not my type-"
He was suddenly silenced as he turned to find a gun pointed straight at him and the police officer holding it.
"Drop your weapon and let her go!" Asami ordered as firmly as she could, but her voice was still uncertain, and her hand shook. "I'm warning you! Let her go and drop your weapon! Or else..."
Asami's voice wavered, and Shimada saw through Asami easily.
"You'll shoot?" he said, sitting on the edge of the bed now, facing Asami with his knife held loosely in his hand, watching the officer, confident she wouldn't shoot him. "You're shaking so much, and you expect me to believe you're gonna shoot! If you're going to shoot men, then shoot me!"
As much as Asami had prepared herself when the teen had given the gun to her, she still couldn't pull the trigger, no matter how much she needed to; Shimada wasn't the only one who noticed her hand waver.
From outside the store, Kouta moved quickly, gathering a few things and making something from them as Takashi and Kaede watched the officer and man, as well as nearly every one else residing in the mall, their shouting having alerted and drawn everyone to the mattress store; in a matter of seconds, Kouta was ready to come to the rescue.
"What's the matter? Shoot me!" Shimada yelled at the wavering police woman, beckoning her for she couldn't pull the trigger, and he knew it. "Or is the little police girl too scared!"
"She can shoot...she has to shoot!" Asami yelled, tears blinding her vision as she grasped at the gun with both hands. "Asami's a police officer, so she has to shoot to uphold the law!"
Though she still couldn't pull the trigger, Kouta deemed her resolve was plenty solid, and intervened before she did end up shooting blindly and hurting someone else than the would-be rapist; the otaku was behind the man and before Shimada could register someone was behind him, a wire was wrapped around his neck, and pulled tightly.
With a chocking sound, Shimada tried struggling, but Kouta only pulled the wire tighter around his neck. The man emitted gurgling sounds as he tried to breath, his fingers clawing at the wire digging into his throat.
"You finished?" Kouta asked, pushing his foot against the man's lower back, furthering his discomfort and the wire's hold around his neck. "It's futile to resist; it's digging into your skin, so there's no way you'll get it out. What're you going to do now? I have no problem with strangling you to death..."
Not having much of a choice, Shimada dropped the knife and, just before he became unconscious, Kouta eased up and pulled the wire from the man's neck, kicking him forward and onto his knees. Takashi walked up and picked up the knife while Kaede moved with zip-ties in his hand already; he proceeded to tie the man's hands behind his back as Saya and Alice approached Asami.
"It's alright, you can stop now." Saya said as she walked to Asami, placing her hand on the officer's shoulder; she still had the gun raised, but her arms were weak and it was only half raised. "It's over already! You don't have to shoot anyone!"
Though Saya wasn't the most comforting one, Asami slowly lowered her arms, panting and trying to speak, but she just couldn't form any words.
"It's okay, police lady! Kouta-chan saved her!" Alice added in, tugging on Asami's coat to get her attention.
"Ah...right..." she said, nodding as she relaxed her grip on the gun, catching her breath as she looked down at the gun, then up to Kaede tying the man up, who was only cooperative because Kaede had laid his shotgun within arms reach, and there wasn't a doubt in Shimada's mind that he would shoot without hesitation. "Y-yeah..."
"Why the hell does a kid like you have a gun anyways?" Shimada growled under Kaede, trying to buck him off but Kaede only pushed down harder on his arms, bending them in the awkward position that made him groan in pain. "Wasn't your friend that said the police should have the guns!"
"Dunno about that, but this is a civilian firearm, modified, but still civilian in accordance to Japanese law." Kaede replied as he finished with the binds, moving off of Shimada and picking up the sawed-off Baikal. "So it's fine for me to be carrying it around, right?"
Shimada only growled as he sat up on the bed, there being little to gain from arguing at all. As for Asami, she seemed to have calmed down considerably compared to what she was just seconds ago. She suddenly sent a look over to Kouta that made Saya look at her in complete disbelief.
"Kouta...san..." she said, dreamily, and Saya only stared.
"Uhh, police g...officer, c'mere for a sec..." the yank said, waving Asami over to the rest of the survivors.
"So...?" Rei sighed, her question directed straight to Takashi with her hands on her hips, standing behind the counter of the coffee shop they had made their 'base' inside the mall. "How long are we going to stay here?"
"Everyone's exhausted, so..." Takashi muttered; he, Saeko and Saya were sitting on the other side of the counter while, behind them, Shizuka, Alice, Kouta and Kaede sat among the tables of the shop.
"So how much longer will we be staying here!" Rei repeated, louder this time, obviously not wanting to stick around any longer after what just happened, or nearly happened, to Shizuka. "How can we relax in a place with a guy who has no problem raping women in front of other people!"
"Ah, well..." Takashi tried thinking of something to say, but Rei hardly gave him time to think of a good response.
"Fine, Takashi! Go get yourself raped by some hard gay bodybuilder, and then come back and maybe you'll understand what I'm talking about!" Rei continued, more than obviously hating the thought of rape more than anything, which was understandable but it was starting to get a bit out of hand.
"Miyamoto! Can I say something?" Saya cut in firmly, hardly giving Rei much of a choice.
"What?" Rei snapped back, turning to Saya, and it took a bit for the genius to keep calm.
"Try looking at this in a wider perspective..." Saya started with a frown. "If we want to reach our goals, we need to plan ahead, and that will take awhile, a day or two at the most. Plus everyone's tired; we can't keep pushing ourselves like this..."
"I agree; we need to figure out what route we're going to take get there, first off. So far, we've just been winging it, and it's caused us a lot of trouble when we do." Saeko added in. "After that, we need to start thinking of other things, like how much food and water we'll need to bring along, and what other supplies we'll need."
"My house is a twenty minute walk from here, and we have the truck still!" Rei shot back, another one of her worries surfacing.
Even though Rei did have the point of being eager to look for her parents, snapping at Saeko was a bad idea, shown by her expression changing from being taken back, to a calm anger.
"A twenty minute distance can take as long as a whole night, even with the truck..." Saeko said in a low voice, having the same effect as a slap to the face to Rei, though it did serve to 'sober' Rei up a bit, and they fell into a short silence before Kouta walked up to the counter.
"Uh, Saya-san, I have a question." Kouta said, looking towards the genus and continuing as she nodded. "I don't know much about electromagnetic waves and stuff, but...could that E.M.P. blast really break every last piece of electronic equipment? And isn't there equipment made to withstand lightening or inside a shelter? Would they be okay?"
"Protection against lightening wouldn't do shit! The limit of any of that kind of stuff would be broken by an E.M.P. immediately." Saya replied with a light smile from enlightening the rest of the group, though it wasn't exactly things they'd like to hear; at least they knew, and would get their hopes up if they came across anything like that. "Shelters wouldn't help either...buildings are made to allow incoming and outgoing signals from electronic equipment through antennas...but it also depends on how far of an area the blast effected, but it's not like we can figure that out easily on our own..."
Through out Saya's explanation, the group listened intently, therefore, no one noticed Rei behind the counter, working with the drink dispensers; though she may not have liked to admit it, Saeko had made her calm down a bit, and she decided to do a little something to make it up while the talked.
"What about equipment inside a bank vault?" Takashi asked, thoughtfully.
"There's a possibility that they'd be okay..." Saya said, thinking as well; she wasn't too sure herself, but it did seem possible.
"Then let's look and see for ourselves after the meeting then!" Shizuka chimed in, hopping from her seat. "There's a bank here, so we may find a laptop or something to keep up with that Jay Alert thingy!"
"Yeah, you're right!" Takashi replied, knowing about the bank as well. "You're right, Shizuka-sensei! Let's check it out!"
"That's be great..." Saya muttered, but there was a problem that she saw in that plan; not being shy to point it out, she continued with her statement. "But what if the other group wants it? They've already laid claim to everything here..."
The group was silent at Saya's words, and Takashi frowned noticeably.
"...even so, we're the one's that would find it if there is one in the vault..." Takashi said with a serious look. "I wouldn't mind sharing, but it would be ours, since we found it."
With a smile, Saya hopped off her chair, and clapped her hands.
"Then that's that! We have out leader's order's, so let's get going!" Saya said, and they were riled up once more, even Kaede, who had been keeping Alice busy by teaching her on how to start training Zeke, had stood up with the need to find something for himself; a proper hostler for the now shortened shotgun.
"Ah, before we start...!" Rei said as she turned her back to the others for a moment.
"Hey, we've got stuff to do..." Takashi's sentence fell off as Rei held out a cup of coffee to Takashi.
"Those other people haven't found this place yet, so there's plenty for everyone..." Rei said as she picked up another two cups, handing one to Saya and Saeko and picking up another set. "The dispensers still work, and there's plenty of bottled water too..."
"Wow, you're quite good at this!" Saeko commented after taking a sip of the drink.
"I worked part time at a cafe one summer..." Rei said as she took two more cups around the counter for Kouta and Shizuka, leaving the last two behind since she could only carry two at a time. "My dad found out though, so I had to quit after a week, but I still had gone through the training."
"Wow, this is good!" Shizuka exclaimed, though Alice looked at the glass with disdain.
"Coffee's gross..." she muttered, but Rei had caught it.
"There's juice back here too, Alice-chan" she said, smiling lightly as the young girl rushed over to the counter, Zeke following along with her. "And there should be a pet shop with toys for Zeke."
Takashi lightly smiled at the two as Alice jumped around happily as Rei got a drink for her too, glad to see Rei back to normal again; he, along with most of the others, set down their glasses as they finished the drinks Rei had made for them.
"Now, let's split up. We should leave the guns hidden for now." Takashi said, thinking of how to do so. "The girls should check out the bank and see what they can find. "Saeko-san, I'll trust you to take care of things if there's an emergency..."
Takashi paused, getting an nod from Saeko while Kaede walked to the counter, since it looked like Rei wouldn't be delivering the drink that intended to be his any time soon, and with them getting ready to split up, he didn't want to be the only one left out(though the though of Rei in a maid uniform was compensation enough for the 'delay in service').
"I'll go check the offices and see if there's anything the electromagnetic waves didn't reach; Kaede, do you do the same, but at the electronics stores." Takashi continued, getting a nod from Kaede and a tip from the glass he was holding. "And Kouta, you go to the roof and see how things are outside..."
Even though it was easy to guess the situation, Takashi wanted to be sure of their outside surroundings before heading out, even if there was a good chance they wouldn't be leaving until the next day.
"Yes sir!" Kouta said with the expected salute, which faltered lightly. "Oh, I'll stop at the camera shop and book store on the way to pick up some extra binoculars and a map too, alright?"
"Yeah, that's perfect!" Takashi said with a nod and, now that everyone knew their tasks, waved his hand. "Alright then, we'll meet up here when you're all done!"
"Looks like that way's no good either..." Kouta muttered, marking off yet another route on the map he had picked up after surveying a car crash completely blocking on of the roads away from the mall; accidents like that and the massive amount of the walking dead made it hard to find a clear route to get away from the mall with the Komatsu. "Their numbers just keep increasing too..."
Kouta peered through the binoculars he had picked up on the way to the roof, and looked towards where they had parked the said truck; it couldn't be seen by anyone that happened to look by, by Kouta knew where to look, and saw the dark green military vehicle where they had left it. He again looked to one of the routes; it was clear of car crashes, but completely packed with them.
With the pencil, he marked off that route again and, before looking through the binoculars again, looked up at the sky. There were dark gray clouds floating across the sky, casting a looming shadow over everything; spring in Japan brought all sorts of weather, and this one seemed most fitting for what was happening. Kouta made a mental note to mention the possibility of rain to Takashi later before raising the binoculars to his face again, not even noticing the door onto the roof opening behind him.
"Um, Kouta...san?" came the police officer's voice, making Kouta jump in surprise, turning to find Asami practically leaning over his shoulder already, with a kind smile on her face. "What are you doing?"
"A-h, well, I'm just checking out the area to see how everything is out here." Kouta said as Asami looked down at the map sitting in his lap; from her expression, Kouta could guess she hadn't a clue what he was doing with it, but was soon praising him for it anyways.
"Wow, that's amazing! You're just a student, but you're still much more thorough than Asa...I mean, than this officer!" she exclaimed, making Kouta blush and scratch his cheek sheepishly.
"But Nakaoka-san, you showed us that you can be a pretty amazing police officer as well" Kouta said with a smile, hoping to boost the officer's self esteem by pointing out she did do a big thing earlier on by helping Shizuka out.
"No, not at all! Asami doesn't know what would have happened if you weren't there, Kouta-san!" Asami replied, shaking her head back and forth. "S-so, umm..."
"Y-yes?" Kouta said, nodding for her to continue.
"Really, thank you so much, Kouta-san" Asami said with a genuinely thanking smile.
"N-nah, it was nothing really..." Kouta said, waving his hand as he blushed, Asami starting to get to him even more, since he wasn't exactly one that would talk to girls on a regular basis before the Outbreak, but now, he had a cute girl nearly fawning over him.
"What are you talking about? This offi...Asami was really in trouble!" she cut in, shaking her head again, and her hands started reaching for Kouta; the otaku stared, dumbfounded, as Asami's hands reached for him. "So...really! Thank you so much, Kouta-san! You saved this useless police officer!"
Asami hugged Kouta tightly; though it was to thank him, it was more than enough to get Kouta's heart beating in his chest and his blood to quicken. Though the hug was a bit stimulating for the otaku, Asami's feeling were pushed across, and Kouta felt a sort of warmth inside; the feeling of being looked up to for protection. To protect someone close, and to be able to lean on that person for comfort when things got rough.
The feeling was a little premature, but Kouta's hands moved around Asami's waist hesitantly, the thought of Saya passing through his mind for a moment; she didn't comfort him like Asami was right now, so he let the though of Saya, and their little encounter last night at Kaede's house fade from his mind.
Kaede was the first to have gotten back with Alice and the two dogs; he had volunteered to escort the girl to the pet store after checking his given area, the electronics shop. The only thing useful in the long run he had found was a shortwave radio and plenty of batteries(he had took pretty much all of them, since the previous survivors hadn't figured out that most battery-powered electronics still worked).
He was sitting on a chair while Alice watched the two dogs eat the dog food from the bowels they had taken from the pet store when the girls showed up, empty handed.
"There's no way we're getting that vault door open on our own, and it was electronically locked" Saya had explained with a sigh. "I was kinda thinking that would be the case, but there wasn't any harm in looking, right?"
Takashi had shown up next at the coffee shop they had made a base, and now they were waiting for Kouta, though there wasn't anything that they were really waiting to do; so, Rei had made some more drinks for them all from what was there at the shop, and Takashi reminded Kaede he had been searching for Shizuka earlier.
As if being reminded of the possibly infected injury, Kaede's hand when to his shoulder as a spike of hot pain shot through his shoulder. Shizuka quickly beckoned him to remove his shirt; seeing the would inflamed, Shizuka quickly sent Rei for any bandages and rubbing alcohol she could find, Alice going with her.
"It does seem to be getting infected, Himoura-kun..." Shizuka said, he usual attitude changing from her usual ditzy-ness to a more serious tone, which was quite common when she was dealing with injuries. "Looks like we can't leave it alone for even a few days; it'll be fine though, the infection's not too bad yet."
Kaede only sighed and shifted, the nurse's breasts pressing against his back as she examined the wound on his shoulder; she may have gotten serious, but there was no changing how Shizuka was, no matter how serious she got. Though, Kaede had to admit, it didn't feel too bad, the feel of the large, squishy orbs of flesh compensating for the pain of their owner prodding at the wound with careful fingers.
A cold chill ran over him after a short while though, and Kaede looked up to be met with a death glare from Rei; the girl dropped what she had found on the table and huffed off behind the counter, more than obviously jealous and angry at Kaede. Alice also set somethings on the counter; they had gathered plenty of bandages and medicine, as well as a bottle of alcohol and cotton balls to use.
As Shizuka moved to the pile of things, Saya turned to Takashi, who had been sitting and staring off into space.
"So? Any luck?" she asked with her arms crossed, already able to guess the answer.
"Nope, none." Takashi replied with a sigh, laying his head against the counter. "Everything in the offices were fried, like everything else..."
"I thought as much...looks like this entire area was affected by the E.M.P." Saya muttered with a sigh, leaning against the counter. "If only we knew the full radius of the blast..."
"How would we be able to figure it out?" Takashi asked; he could figure out that it was impossible to do themselves, or else Saya would have mentioned earlier, but there was no harm in asking about it.
"Well, it's certainly not easy..." Saya muttered, pushing her glasses up on her nose. "It's not something any civilian can do either, regardless if it now, or before all this. Putting it simply, we'd need access to images taken from a satellite, so it's pointless to really even hope to get it, unless the information is released. In that case, we'd have to find a way to get the information from the J-Alert system."
"Figured as much..." Takashi groaned, noticeably annoyed with the information but knew he couldn't do much about it; Takashi ran a hand through his messily spiked hair before he spoke again. "So, if we do come across any of the Self Defense force...what then?"
"Well, assuming they actually have the information..." Saya sighed as she replied, crossing her arms again. "Which they might not, but if they do, the may have a estimated distance at which the E.M.P. effected, though it's pretty doubtful a grunt would have any information like that..."
"Then we'll just have to deal without electronics for now then, huh?" Kaede said from his spot; Shizuka had finished redressing his would, so he was now free to pull his shirt back on and start buttoning it, but Rei's eyes were still glaring holes in his back.
"That's a crude way of putting it, but yes." Saya said with a light smirk, having been on the path of saying the same thing herself anyways. "We've been doing a good job so far anyways, right?"
Takashi nodded slowly; Saya had a point there, like usual. His train of thought was abruptly when the yankee came rushing towards the coffee shop, breathing hard; it was obvious he had been looking for them for awhile.
"Yo, nurse lady! We've got a problem...!" he yelled out between gulps of air.
"...isn't it funny?" Asami's voice suddenly broke through the silence that had developed between her and Kouta, though, she hardly saw it as an awkward silence, since just being near the teen that had done so much for her already was enough, whether there were words or not, though she was getting a bit fidgety, being a talkative person by nature. "Asami promised her boyfriend she'd become a great police officer."
"Ah, that's great..." Kouta replied, not having much else to say to such a comment.
"No it isn't; Asami didn't too so great at the police academy, so her boyfriend broke up with her! And now she's single now..." the police woman grumble, shacking her fists and pouting lightly and she turned to Kouta, hopefully.
"Th-that's no good..." Kouta muttered, now getting a little nervous; Asami shifted closer to him, and she started sweating bullets.
"Ohh, you think so?" Asami continued, a smile spreading across her face adding to the suggestiveness of the whole conversation, along her shoulder now touching Kouta's; it was nearly too much for the otaku who hadn't been this close to a girl other than Saya, ever.. "It is, isn't it? Asami's the type who's really dedicated to her relationships..."
"S-sounds rough." Kouta stammered out.
"Yeah it does, right? So..." Asami pressed on, her hand now sliding a bit closer to Kouta's; his however, shrunk away from the touch of their fingertips, but that didn't seem to dampen Asami's spirit at all. "When you helped Asami earlier Kouta-san, you..."
The police woman trailed off, the dreamy smile she sent towards Kouta being more than enough to push across her growing feeling to Kouta, who was turned into a blushing, stammering mess in the face of affection from an almost complete stranger.
Luckily for Kouta's pounding heart, any further advances from the slightly older police officer were halted by the now familiar voice of the yankee.
"Hey, police woman!" his voice echoed across the roof to Asami, making both her and Kouta jump out of their skin. "That kid-the one that was with use before-isn't doin' so great. That sexy doctor lady's takin' a look at him, but she said it don't look too good! She may have to do a surgery or some shit!"
Chapter 13, End
Author's Notes: Uh, I was going to continue longer is chapter, but I'm sure plenty of people have forgotten about this fic already, thanks to my long absence. I'll try to continue updating somewhat regularly, but I can't promise anything.
As you may already be able to tell, I won't be faithful to how this part of the storyline goes; instead of the old lady needed a transfusion of blood plasma, I'm going to have something a little easier to deal with, since the blood plasma would technically be bad at this point.
Now for a quick review reply...
To TVMaster2000: For your review on Chapter 10: Eh, don't like it, too bad. If you don't like influence from other zombie media, you might wanna stop reading this story; there will be plenty more later on, because the HOTD zombies are just too easy to deal with. And thanks for the sarcasm, ass.
For your review on Chapter 12: This one's a bit more of a legitimate review, so I'll be a little more serious; sorry about that, but do try to understand that he was pretty much raised to follow in his father's footsteps, and though I haven't touched up on him much yet, he was a top notch Marine in his time. Plus also being raised in a strict Japanese household, Kaede would naturally have quite a few skills that would outshine a lot of others in a zombie situation.
As for him being a better version of Takashi...I dunno where you got that from; they aren't suppose to be anything alike. Takashi is suppose to have a sort of natural leading ability, and I try my best to portray that in him, while Kaede is more of the 'lone wolf' type, and would make a horrible leader.
But your advice will be taken into consideration, so I'll try and pull back on Kaede and bump up the other characters' bad-assness in their respective abilities.