I do not own Highschool of the DEAD or its characters.
Updated: 10/16/13
"About twenty behind us!" Kohta called out.
"Twenty to thirty in front!" Takashi replied.
Kohta ripped open his back pack and yanked out the MP5, "Saya! Drop your Luger and take this! Rei, Saeko cock your weapons and be ready! Remember to try to count your shots if you can, and fall back when you get close to running out!"
Takashi racked home a shell in his shotgun and loaded another behind it.
Saya dropped her Luger onto the cart and charged the MP5. Raising it, she checked the sights, but didn't fire.
Let Kohta handle it till he needs me, he's the best there is. She thought as he advanced on the crowd of undead to give the non-combatants more room to breathe.
"I love you!" she called out to him.
Glancing back, he flashed a smile, "Tell me that again tonight!"
Stopping ten meters away from the undead he started picking off targets.
Ka-pow! Ka-pow! Ka-pow! Three shots, three kills. Two more, three more, two more. Half a mag down, he thought as he heard Takashi's Benelli roar for the first time.
Glancing back he saw Saya watching the others as Saeko rushed the horde on the left, while Rei drove forward on their right stabbing and slicing. Takashi walked up the road in the middle, taking careful aim before expending shells.
Five more shots from Kohta, fire more went down. They had moved to within five meters of him now so he backed up another five.
Ka-pow! Ka-pow! Ka-pow! More undead were coming out if the church. Shit I wish I had a grenade! Kohta thought as he spent six more rounds.
Leaving one round in the chamber he dropped his magazine and pulled another from his vest.
Takashi looked around him taking in the battle. Rei was being pressed and as he watched, her bayonet jammed in the skull of one of Them. Before he could move toward her though, she clicked the safety off and pulled the trigger on the rifle. The undead's head exploded in a spray of gore as the one behind it when down from the shot also.
BOOM! BOOM! Takashi's shotgun roared as he tried to get more than one of Them in one shot. Shit I wish I was as good as Kohta! He thought as he stepped back and crammed more shells into the gun.
Glancing left he saw heads and body parts fly as Saeko hit her stride. Jumping, spinning, and slicing she ripped a path through the undead. She then reversed her course and came back the same way, finishing off those she had only de-limbed before. She slid to a stop and took several deep breaths before turning back towards the enemy.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Takashi fired again knocking down five at once as Saeko dashed back into the fray.
Saya looked back at Kohta, who was holding his own, before turning back to Rei.
The flank is folding! She thought as Rei had to give ground towards the center of the street.
Stepping up, Saya put the gun to her shoulder and took a sight picture like Kohta had taught her. Quickly sighting on the first she pulled the trigger.
Pooff! The silenced weapon made a noise between a puff and a pop, but much quieter than Takashi's shotgun or Kohta's rifle.
Saya missed. The bullet creased the side of the first one's head but hit the second right between the eyes.
Damnit! She thought as she took aim again. Pooff! This time the creature's head exploded and it dropped to the ground.
Suddenly there was undead falling to the ground to Saya's right.
Where the hell did they come from! Saya wondered. Looking she saw that the tall retaining wall they were next to had a group on top of it. As others behind tried to get to the sound of the battle, the front ones were being pushed over the edge.
The first few died as they hit head first, but then as the bodies piled up, the next ones rolled off and began to try to stand.
Oh crap! She thought as she moved toward Them and started shooting before they could stand.
Stepping back, as one rolled to the ground at her feet, she tripped and fell on her back.
Suddenly it was over her and reaching out with its teeth. She threw out her forearm and it clamped down on the leather jacket she had put on only a couple of hours ago.
She was trying to bring the MP5 around when a small shadow crossed her and Alice stepped up beside her. With both her small hands on the Luger's grip she put the barrel to the creatures head and pulled the trigger.
POW! The Luger bucked as brains and skull flew away from the pair. Even though it kicked her hard, Alice pulled the pistol back into firing position and took aim at another advancing monster.
"NOT! MY! SISTER!" she screamed as she pulled the trigger again.
Saya scrambled to her feet and stood behind the child. Two more shots from the MP5 and the falling undead had stopped.
"Alice, protect Sensei!" Saya said as she looked around trying to get a sense of how the battle was going.
Saeko was still cutting through the undead, but had slowed. Her breaths were coming in gasps as she tried to hold what seemed to be the last wave off.
Takashi stepped up beside her and cut loose with three more shotgun blasts before hearing the inevitable click of an empty chamber.
"I'm out!" He called as he dropped the gun and pulled his baseball bat from where it was slung behind his back.
Saya looked around to see Kohta drop the last of the undead coming up behind them. Three of the ones that fell from the wall were behind him now though.
"KOHTA! Behind you!" Saya cried out as he turned to face a new battlefront.
Suddenly, Saya felt wind as something went by her ear with a buzz like a bumblebee.
The zombie's head closest to Kohta suddenly exploded.
Kohta looked on with shock on his face as he heard zzzzzzzzzwwww, and the head on the second creature burst open.
Zzzzzzzzzzzwwwwww once more and the last undead smashed to the ground before him.
"SNIPER! WE GOT A SNIPER SHOOTING DOWN ON US! EVERYBODY PULL BACK!" He called as two undead near Rei suddenly fell.
Takashi grabbed Rei by the arm as she stumbled trying to get away. Pulling her close he helped her away as Saeko covered their backs.
Kohta stepped out in front of the others as he saw five undead to the sides crumpled to the ground with their heads blown open.
Five left, but we are now in line with where I think the sniper is. Kohta thought as he pulled his rifle back to his shoulder.
Five quick shots ended the battle with everyone gasping for breath.
Kohta scanned the buildings down the road from them looking, searching…there!
He had a cold chill run up his spine as he looked dead into the scope of the snipers silenced rifle, as he looked back at Kohta.
I've heard tales of two snipers finding each other like this. He thought as the sniper raised his trigger hand and waved it to show he was friendly.
Kohta mimicked the motion and the sniper stood up. Waving his hand in front of his face, a sign to look at me, he pointed to himself, made a walking motion with his fingers and then pointed to Kohta.
He is going to come to us. Kohta thought as he replied with thumbs up.
Watching Kohta through his scope, the sniper nodded and turned to disappear from sight.
"What the hell was that?" Takashi asked as Kohta finally took his gun from his shoulder.
Kohta turned to look at him, "There was a military sniper down the road about 400 meters. He was on top of a building looking down on us and to be honest, he saved our asses. He just told me through sign that he is coming down to meet us."
Saya walked up. "Hey you," She said quietly with tears in her eyes. She held up her arm where Kohta could see a bite mark on the sleeve of the leather jacket.
"It worked, they didn't get through," Saya whispered as Kohta handed his rifle to Takashi and grabbed her pulling her close to him. He hugged her and rocked back and forth as tears began to flow down both their faces.
Stepping back to give them time, Takashi walked over to where Saeko and Rei squatted and drank water while Shizuka checked them for wounds.
Standing beside them, with a determined look on her face, Alice stood with Saya's Luger still in her hands.
Looking up she smiled, "It's on safe, big brother."
Bending over, he kissed her on the forehead and rubbed her hair before turning his attention back to the others.
Saeko looked up and blew out a breath before shaking her head, "That was too close. I don't want to do that again anytime soon."
He squatted down facing the two girls and pulled them both into an embrace. He held them for a minute and then kissed each of them on the side of the head. "I'm sorry," he whispered to Rei as she nodded and reached out to grip Saeko's arm.
They stayed like that for a minute before Takashi stood back up.
Turning back to Saya and Kohta as they broke a kiss, he pointed down the road.
"Here comes our friend, Kohta," Takashi said as he handed the young man back his rifle.
Nodding, Kohta raised his arms out to his sides. "Do as I do," he told the others as the sniper stopped in the road about ten meters away and mimicked his moves.
Satisfied all was well, the sniper slung his rifle behind his back and advanced with a smile on his face.
Wait, Takashi thought, that's not a man, that's a woman!
As she got closer, Shizuka suddenly let out a shriek, "RIKA!"
The nurse rushed forward and threw herself onto her friend as Rika laughed. After kissing her full on the lips the sniper said, "Whoa, whoa there boobzilla! You're gonna kill me with those things!"
"I haven't killed anybody with them yet and I've made young hearts flutter since I've last seen you!" Shizuka retorted.
Laughing, Rika hugged her again and said, "Okay, okay, introduce me to your friends."
"This is Rika!" Shizuka called out, not wanting to let the woman go.
The others laughed as Rika peeled Shizuka off of her and made her stand to one side. "Now stay there. Stay! No don't move! Stay!" As Shizuka stuck her tongue out and made like she was going to pounce again.
The woman then faced Takashi and Kohta and with a relaxed salute she said, "Sergeant Minami Rika, First Squadron prefecture police SAT, at you service."
Takashi and Kohta returned the salute as best they could, and Takashi introduced himself and the others, "I'm Komuro Takashi this is Hirano Kohta, Busujima Saeko, Miyamoto Rei, and Takagi Saya. The little girl is Maresato Alice and the fur ball is Zeke."
Rika nodded to everyone and then stepped in front of Kohta. Holding her hands out, palms up, all she said was, "Rifleman?"
Takashi and the others were surprised when Kohta snapped to attention. He dropped the magazine from his weapon, cleared it and handed it to the Sergeant.
She took it, flipped it around, checked the chamber, sights and barrel and handed it back to him the same way he handed it to her.
Nodding she said, "Very good! Except for today's action, it's as clean as I ever kept it. Where did you get your training?"
Kohta smiled, "I went to America and took…"
"Could we do this later? I think we need to get moving before we get ambushed again."
Rika turned her head left and cocked it to one side as she looked at the speaker, Saya, who was standing with both hands on her hips and a frown on her face.
Glancing back at Kohta, and noticing a drop of sweat on his forehead, Rika asked, "This one yours, Pinky?"
"Damn straight," Saya replied as a smirk appeared on her face.
Rika nodded and smiled as she reached in and pulled a small cigar from her pocket, "She's right, we need to move. Who's the road boss?"
"That would be me," said Takashi.
"Then lead on, leader," Rika replied with a grin. "I assume you have a base camp somewhere?"
"Hold on a minute please, we need to reload and check weapons. Rei let me have your magazine," Kohta said as he held out his hand.
Rika walked over and watched as Kohta reloaded Rei's and handed it back to her. He looked around to Saeko who shook her head, "I did not fire mine, weapons master."
One eyebrow went up on Rika's face as she heard this. Weapons master, huh?
Even as he was keeping an eye up and down the street, Takashi stepped up next to Rika and explained, "He taught all of us everything we know about guns. We would not have lived this long without him or Busujima-san and her sword work."
Rika watched the grace and coolness in the tall girl as she paced up and down the street ever-watchful while the others reloaded.
Having seen part of Saeko's fight through her scope, Rika thought, That's death incarnate right there. She worked that sword like something out of samurai legend. Busujima…where have I heard that name before?
Rika looked over at the pink haired girl who was holding bullets as Kohta reloaded spent mags. Takagi also, there is something I was supposed to remember about that name.
Kohta stood up, "We're as ready as we are going to be, Takashi."
"How many rounds do you have left?" Rika asked.
Kohta thought a moment. "About seventy-five to eighty for the rifles and thirty-five for the MP5 and Luger, there are 15 in Saeko-san's M92."
Reaching into his pocket he held up the S&W Police. "Also have ten rounds for the M37, and Takashi is completely dry of shotgun rounds."
He held out the M37 and extra rounds to Takashi, who put them in his pocket.
Rika turned her back, and therefore, her backpack to Takashi. "Look in the right, outside pockets," she said. "There should be two straps of 12 ga. 00 buck. Take them both since I'm not carrying a shotgun right now."
Takashi grinned as he pulled out the two twenty round straps, "Thanks! This will be a life saver!"
Turning back to Kohta, Rika added, "I have five hundred rounds of 7.62 in my pack…" Kohta's eyes lit up like a schoolboy on Christmas morning. "…but it will take a bit to get to."
Looking back at Takashi, "If it's alright with you, I'll stay in the middle. I can reach out and touch Them at a long distance so that is the best place for me. I would also suggest that you hold action if we run into any at range. I might be able to take them down and not have us get into another melee again today."
Takashi bowed his head. "I bow to your superior knowledge Sergeant-san. Any suggestions you have, please speak up."
Rika laughed, "Why aren't you the good little lieutenant! That's my job Komuro-san. Keeping little lieutenant's and their charges alive to become great captain's."
Takashi smiled, "Please Sergeant-sensei, call me Takashi, just Takashi."
She nodded and looked around, "We better get moving. It bothers me we have not seen any more Zeds as of yet."
Nodding, Takashi walked out forward and motioned for the others to take their positions.
000
A few minutes later they rounded a corner and found what Takashi was hoping not to find.
The buildings on the same side of the street as the pharmacy had slid down the hill in the landslide. The front half of the pharmacy was still standing, but the back was gone.
Not thinking clearly, Takashi ran ahead with Zeke. Stopping at the front door, he opened it slowly as it creaked and moaned with the stress of twisted wood.
"Tanaka-san? Tanaka-san are you there?" he called into the wreckage.
Nothing. Not a sound other than the noise of a wooden building creaking that might give way at any moment.
Moving away, he went to the side where he could look down into the landslide as the others stopped out front.
Kohta walked up beside him and handed him the binoculars.
"He's not in there huh?" Kohta asked.
Shaking his head no, Takashi began to scan the wreckage as Rika walked up on his other side.
"Looking for someone?" she asked.
Takashi nodded, "The owner of this store was kind to us and traded for medicines we needed. We were bringing some items back to him is why we stopped here. He was living in the back of the store."
"Ah," she said as she raised her rifle scope to her eye and scanned down the slope for bodies.
After a few minutes of looking Takashi froze, "Got him, down by the big piece of machinery. Can you see him, Kohta?"
After a few seconds more Kohta replied, "Yeah, got him about one hundred and ten meters out."
Making sure she knew where they were looking, Rika focused in on the spot. She saw an older man in his 60's or 70's laying on his back with his legs pinned under some equipment. He had a sharp piece of wood sticking out of his lower right abdomen, about where his liver would be.
As she watched he moved slightly, reaching for the spear as if to pull it out. The pain on his face was beyond belief.
Rika raised her head and looked at the young men next to her. Her voice was heavy as she spoke, "Takashi, you know he can't survive a wound like that."
Takashi nodded.
She sighed, "If it's alright I'll put him out of…"
"Sergeant-sensei?"
Kohta looked at her with dead eyes as he handed his rifle to Takashi and bowed slightly to her, "Would you give this humble one the honor of borrowing your weapon for a moment?"
"Hirano-kun, why would you want to be the one to do this?" She asked.
"I Feel I owe him a life debt and if I can relive him of his pain it would be a great honor to me and pay that debt."
Glancing at Takashi she saw him mouth the words, 'I'll explain later'.
She sighed as she held out the sniper rifle to him. "What makes you think you can hit a target like that the first time with a weapon you have never fired before?"
Before Kohta could answer Takashi spoke up, "The first time he fired your rifle, he took the head of one of Them as it was going to kill Alice at about fifty meters. I have never seen him miss, even in a situation like this."
In a situation like this? He's done this before!? Her mind raced as she wondered just what these kids and her friend had been through since Z-Day.
Kohta glanced at the settings on the scope before putting the rifle to his shoulder, "Scope is set on 400 meters correct?"
"Yes," was all she said.
Behind her she heard Saya, "Kohta? What are you about to do?"
Rika heard Saeko whisper, "He's doing a man's work now. Support him when he is done."
Silence, followed the crump of the suppressed rifle shot.
Kohta turned and handed her the rifle back, bowing slightly, "Domo arigato, Sensei."
Leaving his weapon in Takashi's hands he walked over and took Saya in his arms, holding her tightly as she whispered in his ear.
Rika raised the scope to her eye and found the body. A single bullet hole perfectly centered between its eyes.
Takashi leaned over near her and said quietly, "One shot, one kill, one bullet, one life. Isn't that how the saying goes, Sergeant-sensei?"
Rika nodded as Takashi turned away and started up the hill, handing Kohta back his rifle as he went past.
Shizuka had a sad look on her face as she waited for Rika to walk over to her. Taking Rika's arm, she put her head on her shoulder as they followed the teenagers up the hill.
000
An hour later they finally reached their destination.
Rika shot seven of Them on the way. Always at long range and quiet enough that no others swarmed as a result.
Everyone could see them now. The undead were in houses, standing in windows, at gates, waiting to get free. The earthquake had awakened them from whatever slumber that had caused them to be unseen at the beginning of the day.
Rika had watched as Takashi directed the group with hand signals. He's a natural at this, she thought.
She was impressed on how the little team moved.
Saeko would start out at Takashi's left rear and slowly fall back till she was beside Kohta. Her head turning, eyes watching for danger.
Rei held her position on the right but was always looking behind her and making sure she knew where her other team members were.
Saya stayed in the middle, watching over Alice like a mother hen, but looking back at Kohta every so often.
She watched as Kohta tried to look everywhere at once and pull the cart. Falling back she motioned to him she would watch the rear for a bit and he nodded relieved.
Takashi raised his hand for a halt as they reached the gate to the house.
He and Saeko made sure the yard was clear before gathering everyone in it.
Next the boy unlocked the door and the pair went inside to check it.
Declaring it clear and safe, he and Kohta pulled the cart inside to the kitchen so it could be unloaded easier.
Rika looked around as Saya, Rei and Shizuka stocked the pantry. Saeko opened the back doors and checked the back yard for danger before letting Alice and Zeke loose in it.
Kohta had just sat down to start cleaning guns when he heard Alice crying out back. Jumping up and rushing outside he found her kneeling beside the koi pond.
The earthquake had cracked the ground a little and the water of the pond had flowed away. Dead koi lay in a pile at the bottom of what was left.
The boy sat down and gathered the little girl to him, holding her as she cried over the loss of the fish.
A/N: This was an easy chapter to write and I was really looking forward to bringing Rika into the mix. Next chapter she will began to learn the group and they will learn what has been going on in the world.
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