Hello there, sorry for the wait
Hope you enjoy
Chapter 8: Bleak
He heard ruckus around him, voices.
He quickly remembered where he was as he slowly recovered his full consciousness; inside the Humvee, with Shizuka at the wheel, surrounded by his friends.
Man he had slept like a baby, or a bear during winter. It was one of those sleeps that you wake up feeling like you lost half your brain cells and it would take you a while to recover them, yeah one of those.
After all, last night had been… exhausting, to say the least. And realistically he hadn't slept well ever since when they were back at the bus, and that was a horrible sleeping session. Maybe due to the fact that he was surrounded solely by his friends minus the group of idiots that wanted to throw him out the bus this time, this session was just what he had been missing.
Oh, also a man and his daughter were with them.
Like he would ever forget the events of yesterday anyway.
Things didn't go exactly as planned, since the original plan was to leave the house early in the morning today, but it all went well in the end, kind of. While he and Takashi were busy trying to not die while saving the father and daughter duo, the rest of the group back at the house loaded the Humvee with the bags Ren had left back at the entrance, bags that had food, clothes, tools and other stuff that could help, etc. Kohta also – of course – got all the guns in the car, before they drove their way to pick them up. And Ren's dog, Guts as well, was somewhere around the Humvee as well. Not like they could leave him behind.
Couple of minutes after they drove away from the neighborhood and the emotions settled down, they finally had a good talk. They learned that the little girl was named Maresato Alice, who was only 7 and her father Maresato Hideo, 34.
Mr. Maresato insisted that he couldn't thank them enough, but finally Rentaro managed to stop him and proceeded to introduce himself along with the rest of the group. He made it very clear that they didn't want anything in exchange for saving them and that they were ok if they tagged along – not like they had another choice – but immediately told Mr. Maresato of the objective of the group. They weren't going to look for shelter or something immediately, but look for their families first, which meant it could be dangerous, but if along the way they found shelter or a group of people that could be trusted and that he and his daughter could stay with, then fine. They also learned that sadly, Alice had lost her mom, Mr. Maresato's wife, literally just hours before the rescue happened.
Not much else was said after that, as they all got as comfortable as possible – thank God the Humvee was ample – and went on to fall asleep.
And now here he was, slowly drifting back to consciousness.
He heard Saya's voice, probably yelling at Kohta for who knows what; it had become a routine by this point.
He finally fully opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a pair of legs, he slowly raised his gaze to find some black booty shorts that were barely keeping that person's assets away. It was Takagi Saya of course, as she was currently sticking her upper half out of the Humvee's sunroof and checking the surroundings, Ren figured.
He didn't see Kohta around nor Alice but could hear their voices; also did notice that Mr. Maresato was now sitting at the front passenger seat. Guts on the other hand was sitting in front of him, looking outside the window; no idea where the little dog was though, now named Zeke – which came from the American army, since it was a codename given to the Zero fighters – and they could thank Hirano Kohta for that, of course.
He groaned as he tried to stretch his back a bit while also cracking his neck, trying to fully wake up now. Finally, he decided to look to his right and found both Takashi and Rei looking at him; the latter openly giggling while the former was trying not to.
"Idiots".
He looked funnily at them for a couple of seconds.
"What, do I have something in my face?" he questioned.
Takashi snorted and looked away with his hand covering his mouth, not able to hold his laughter anymore.
Rei on the other hand looked at him mischievously.
"You're popular" she said while pointing at his lap.
Ren raised an eyebrow at this before taking a look at what she was referring to.
Then he saw it, or rather her.
"Oh… well-"
Not the way he expected to wake up, not even in his wildest dreams.
In short, Busujima Saeko herself was laying on his lap, fully asleep. He had also noticed that there was a clear wet spot in his pants, despite them being dark. Yep… she had drooled all over him.
Was it weird that he wasn't bothered at all by this?
Aside from the two idiots laughing at him right now of course.
Now, how was he going to deal with this?
"Wake up everyone, we're almost there!" Shizuka announced.
And shortly after, the Humvee took a bump. Seems like they were finally coming out of the water. And of course, this series of actions were enough for Saeko to finally open her eyes.
He looked at her in silence as she raised her head from his lap and looked around, clueless. Her eyes finally seemed to notice that Rei was looking at her while giggling; Takashi was still looking away while covering his mouth.
"Mm?"
"Comfortable?" Rei said.
Saeko kept looking at her funny until she finally noticed, as she looked down and immediately after looked up to find Rentaro looking at her as well, who was trying his best at hiding the slight blush that had taken over his face.
Ren didn't really know what to say as he just simply bit his lips while he witnessed the whole thing. He also noticed that there was a string of drool coming from Saeko's mouth as she looked at him and he didn't care what anybody else said, that was an adorable sight.
"Morning?" he muttered.
Of course it didn't take long for a blush to take over her features before she sat up while wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Uh-Um…" she stuttered.
Ren quickly raised his hand towards her. "Don't worry about it, it's ok".
He then heard Takashi snorting and turned around to look at him, before elbowing him right in the gut, which quickly got him to shut up.
"And ignore them" he said, while turning once again to look at Saeko.
Takashi holding his gut in pain apparently made Rei laugh even harder, so Ren responded by turning to look at her before flicking her in the forehead, hard.
"You too".
"Asshole" she muttered while holding her forehead.
Saeko on the other hand could only lower her gaze embarrassed, while still blushing. Was it out of pure shame or because she was specifically on his lap? He didn't know, but he had to admit he enjoyed seeing this side of her, the usually calm, collected and mature even when surrounded by zombies, now blushing and stuttering.
And he wanted to see more of those reactions, minus his two idiot friends of course; he didn't feel like sharing. Thankfully, none managed to catch her while she was wearing just an apron and a thong right? Nobody else needed to witness that.
He kept ignoring Rei's complaints and her tucking his shirt aggressively from behind, clearly pissed at him flicking her. He noticed that Saeko was still looking away in shame.
Ren fought back a smirk before moving closer to Saeko as he brought his hand near his mouth, like he was about to tell a secret.
"As long as you return the favor in the future, we are good" he whispered to her before turning around to climb off the Humvee, through the sunroof and joining on the roof Kohta, Alice and Saya who had also recently climbed up as well. Before leaving he did notice from the corner of his eyes Saeko's expression though; eyes slightly widened and a deeper blush… who would have thought he was going to enjoy life so much in the middle of a Zombiepocalypse?
After a couple of seconds, the whole group was finally out of the vehicle and checking their surroundings. Not long after, Ren thought that this was a good time to have breakfast, so he, with Saya's help, distributed some of the food they had brought. It wasn't a lot, but enough so they didn't starve at least till the night arrived. Ren had an anpan, half a bottle of water and he was good to go. He also made sure to open a can for Guts and give a little bit to Zeke as well.
They had successfully crossed the river to the upper-class side of the Onibetsu River. They didn't cross the bridge; the water was shallow in that area, and the police couldn't watch everywhere so they made their own way.
Currently at the riverbank, Rentaro looked around and smiled as he saw Guts walking around happily, followed by Zeke, who apparently had found himself a big brother.
If he suddenly forgot the events of the past 2 days and woke up today, he'd think he's on a fun trip with his friends. There was not a single one of them around; no sound could be heard aside from the water from the river flowing, and the sky was as clear as ever. Ever since this began, not for a single moment he thought that he'd be able to experience this type of thing again. It was as peaceful as ever… but sadly his brain constantly reminded him that this was just a mask of sorts; they'd run into them again in no time and the world as a whole was anything but peaceful. Had it ever been?
The group, more specifically the girls, seemed to be unloading some of the bags from the Humvee's trunk, meanwhile Takashi also checked his surroundings, alongside Mr. Maresato.
"Guys" all 3 males turned around to look at Kohta, who was still at the rooftop of the Humvee, alongside Alice. Pretty impressive that Mr. Maresato entrusted Alice to him for a while. "Help me out, let's get Alice-chan down" he said while carrying the little girl in arms.
Both Rentaro and Takashi looked at each other before walking towards the girl, while trying to push each other out of the way. Finally, the two stood in front of the girl while raising their arms.
"Alice-chan, here" Takashi said gently to the little girl.
"Don't listen to him Alice-chan, now come to onii-chan's arms" Rentaro said before elbowing Takashi, which earned him an elbow back.
The little girl looked between the two teenagers with a blank expression before concern took over her face, as she finally turned her head to look at her father.
"Daddy…" she whispered, before throwing her arms in his direction.
Mr. Maresato chuckled at this before walking her way and carrying her, which ended up with Alice hugging him and resting her head on her dad's shoulders. Her dad on the other hand hugged her while rubbing her back, before noticing that the two teenagers were now looking at him, jealousy in their eyes.
"Guess daddy will always be number one" Takashi said while scratching the back of his head.
"I'll never forgive this humiliation" Rentaro said while crossing his arms.
Kohta chuckled as he came down from the top of the Humvee. "Sorry boys, but I guess that beside her dad, she likes me the most".
Now Rentaro and Takashi were staring daggers at Kohta.
Mr. Maresato simply chuckled nervously at the boys' reactions.
"You boys really are just brutes" Rei said and all 4 males turned around to look at her. "We're going to get changed so don't look over here!"
And thank God they were. Rei still was basically in her underwear, while Saya's was leaving almost nothing to the imagination. Shizuka had a shirt on that was barely buttoned up. At least Saeko was the one most decently clothed, thanks to Ren; if he hadn't stepped in… oh boy, he'd probably be trying to gauge everyone's eyes out. The girls didn't seem bothered by this – weirdly enough – but for Ren it was slightly uncomfortable and so for the rest of the boys, in a way. He had noticed poor Mr. Maresato trying to look away as much as humanly possible; Takashi and Kohta? Barely held back.
"As if we would have" Takashi muttered.
"You heard that boys, abort the mission" Ren said sarcastically, which earned a glare from Saya and Rei.
"Maresato-san, do you mind if we take Alice with us?" Rei asked nicely, with a smile.
"No problem" the man said, before putting her daughter down, who had no issue in taking Rei's hand and accompanying her towards the back of the Humvee, where the rest of the girls were.
"Hey, the bag with my clothes should be around there" Ren said loud enough so any of the girls could hear him. "Would you mind-"
Before he could finish, Saya came from around the corner of the Humvee and threw the bag towards his way with help from both arms, which landed not so far away from his feet.
"Thanks" he said, though he didn't get a response back.
He zipped it open, revealing the clothes that were inside.
"You guys are free to take anything you'd like, no problem" he said before taking out the clothes he was going to use. "There must be something in here for everyone. You too Maresato-san, don't hold back".
"Ah, thanks" the adult responded. "If I find anything that fits, hope you don't mind Sakata-kun".
And Rentaro absolutely didn't; dude had been carrying a blood-stained white shirt for a while now.
"Rentaro is fine, or Ren" he muttered with a friendly smile.
"In that case, it's ok if you boys call me Hideo. I don't mind".
"Man, I think we just became best friends" Rentaro muttered.
"Are you replacing me?" Takashi slipped in.
"What? No, you're still number one".
"What about me?" Kohta asked.
"Number three".
"What?! Who's number two?"
"Guts".
"Oh".
Hideo simply chuckled at the 3 teenagers' interaction.
Few minutes passed and they were all ready.
Rentaro was now wearing a black slim fit zip pullover, black street cargo pants and black & white running shoes, alongside some biker's black fingerless gloves and a sportwatch on his left wrist. He had also put some elbow pads on.
Since he was a bit around Ren's size as well, Takashi managed to find enough clothes as well. He now wore a red hoodie with black jogger pants, white running shoes and also some biker's fingerless gloves.
Kohta didn't change much, aside from putting on a green tactical vest with multiple pockets alongside an additional ammo belt. After all, he was much shorter than Rentaro, and chubbier, so there was really nothing around his size.
Hideo on the other hand simply settled with just changing his shirt, and was now wearing a plain white long sleeved t-shirt.
"Man, I feel brand new" Takashi said. "Thought I was going to wear the school uniform forever".
"Are the girls not done yet?" Kohta asked.
"They are girls, let them take all the time they need" Ren said, before starting to stretch. "Yep, this is way better now" he muttered before doing a high jump followed by a high kick and then a couple of slight hops.
He then turned around to face the rest of the men, who were looking at him now.
"What?"
"Awesome" Kohta said.
"You're very athletic Rentaro-kun" said Hideo.
"Show-off" that was Takashi.
"I can't stretch now?" Rentaro fired back.
"Stretch like a normal dude; who do you think you are? Bruce Lee?" Takashi said.
"Bruce Lee, really?"
"Can you do a backflip?" Kohta asked.
"Huh?" Rentaro looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"He can" Takashi responded.
"He can?! Awesome!"
"Yeah, he can; show them Ren" Takashi said.
"Weren't you calling me a show-off? Now you want me to do a backflip?"
"Oh c'mon, for the boys".
"Yeah, do it".
"Do it".
"Do it".
It didn't take long before they started chanting it.
"Dorks".
Rentaro noticed that even Hideo was looking at him now.
Crap.
He couldn't disappoint them, could he?
So, he did it.
And it was perfectly executed, that he made sure of. It would have been pretty laughable if he had failed, broke his neck and died after making it this far, wouldn't it?
Funnily enough, Takashi and Kohta erupted in cheers, even Hideo was clapping. Ren even made a mocking reverence.
"Would you guys shut up; you are being loud!" the unmistakable voice of Saya shouted from the back.
"You're even louder" a thought that went through all 4 male's heads.
They stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds before the massive four legged figure of Guts appeared in front of them as he rubbed his snout against Ren's hand, asking for greetings.
"Hey boy" Ren muttered before greeting him back.
"A Tosa Inu, right?" Hideo asked.
"Indeed. His name is Guts".
"He's huge".
"Well, it's a Tosa Inu after all".
The 4 of them then noticed the small figure of Zeke appearing shortly after and barking a couple of times.
"And you're as hyper as ever" Takashi muttered before picking the little puppy up with both hands as he happily wagged his tail. "Is he a… beagle?"
"Coonhound I believe, just a couple of months old though" Rentaro said.
Takashi looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"What? I've always liked dogs".
"And I've always liked guns" Kohta said, making the rest of the group turn around to look at him. They noticed that he was currently getting all the guns out of the Humvee and placing them on the ground.
Ren noticed that one of them was missing. But there was no way in hell that Kohta was leaving one of them behind, right?
"May I ask?" Hideo began, gathering everyone's attention. "How did a group of teenagers and their teacher get all of this? N-Not that I'm complaining of course, don't worry about me".
"From a…?" Kohta began.
"Friend?" Takashi added.
"Cousin" Rentaro chipped in.
"Really?" Hideo questioned.
The boys looked at each other for a bit.
"Actually" Ren began, while facing the adult with a serious expression. "We are super teenage soldiers that have been trained since we were kids and were sent to this city to exterminate all the undead".
Hideo now had a bewildered expression.
Ren chuckled at this with the rest of the boys, before waving his hand. "Just kidding. We're normal highschoolers that just have been lucky. The guns are from my cousin, basically my sister. She's an SAT member so I guess she had… contacts; they were all at her home, where I lived too, back at the neighborhood where we met".
"O-Oh… well that's way more believable" Hideo said while chuckling nervously.
Ren chuckled once again alongside the rest of the boys.
They all inspected the guns from up-close, with Hideo staring from the distance, not wanting to really touch them.
"Use this Komuro" Kohta said as he handed the shotgun to Takashi. "It's a shotgun, so you only have to aim in the general direction of their heads".
Takashi inspected the gun, now in his hands.
"But, I don't know how to use it…" Takashi muttered. "I'd be better with a bat, or using the shotgun as a club".
That comment earned a glare from Rentaro.
"A bat?" Ren said, earning Takashi's attention.
"What?"
"A bat instead of a shotgun or using the shotgun as a club… against them, Takashi, really?"
"Says the guy with the bokken?" Takashi fired back.
Ok, he got him there.
But still.
"Just shut up and let Kohta teach you, dumbass" Ren clapped back.
"Alright, geez. Whatever you say boss" Takashi replied sarcastically.
And with that Kohta started explaining to Takashi how the shotgun functioned, while the latter did his best attempt at paying attention with Ren also recommending that he could stuff the shotgun shells on the jacket's front pocket. In the end, even Takashi started really taking interest in Kohta's explanation.
Good.
Ren then noticed that Hideo was looking at the guns in silence.
"Ever used a gun, Hideo-san?" he asked.
"N-No… I was a columnist for a newspaper, Rentaro-kun" he replied.
Right.
"Well…" Ren muttered, then eyed the crossbow. "Were you by any chance in the archery club back at school?"
"I was in the newspaper club…"
Of course.
"Well, it's not like we can force him to fight with us… although it would be nice to have more cavalry. But maybe it's best for him to just stay guarding his daughter. Just hope he doesn't feel like he's deadweight or something".
Ren eyed the guns again and noticed the bowie knife inside its scabbard, he picked it up and noticed he could place the scabbard around his chest thanks to the straps, which he did. He practiced unsheathing and sheathing it a couple of times with his left hand. Conclusion, that it was at a perfect height for him to draw it fast enough.
He then noticed the two holsters on the ground, near the handguns. Those would come in handy. Ren grabbed one and it didn't take long till he figured out how they were supposed to be used. One was a shoulder holster and the other one a belt holster. He put the shoulder holster on and placed the gun in it before practicing pulling it out with his right hand, aiming and reloading once again, just as Kohta had taught him the night before.
"You already got the hang of it" Kohta said while walking up to him, seemingly finished with the explanation to Takashi.
"Kind of… don't know how I will do under pressure though" Ren muttered back before putting the gun away and grabbing the remaining handgun with the other holster.
"You wanna use the two handguns?" Kohta asked, a bit surprised.
"What? Oh no… I mean, I'm good with both hands, but I don't know" he said while eyeing the other handgun.
His dominant hand was the right one, but he had developed ambidexterity through his kendo training back in the day. His sensei was adamant that all his students needed to give both hands equal usage and become dominant with both, in order to become a great kendoka; man had unique views. Despite leaving kendo, that had been something that had stayed with Rentaro, as he kept on trying to give both his hands almost equal usage.
"I'd like to use my bokken or the knife as well" Ren said. "So, I guess I could just give it to someone else. Tried to tell Saeko about it but she wasn't keen with the idea… maybe I could convince her though".
A silence followed through.
Ren lifted his gaze and noticed that all 3 males were looking at him now, suspiciously. Takashi with a teasing smirk.
Ren sighed. "What?"
"Nothing" Takashi answered. "Just that you and Saeko seem to be getting along well…"
"Is that a bad thing?" Ren said while raising his eyebrow.
"No… just saying… it's just that your eyes seem to shine every time you mention her" Takashi said in a teasing tone.
That seemed to get the mood going, as Kohta made a surprised expression before giving Ren the thumbs up.
"Hmm, teenage love" Hideo muttered. "Even with the world in this state, it can't be stopped".
Bro what?
Ren looked at Hideo confused for a couple of seconds before he turned and just eyed Takashi with his eyebrow raised. His friend should know better than trying to tease him.
"Don't know about that… but what about you and Rei?" Ren asked, quickly shifting the attention from the rest toward Takashi.
Who was now eyeing him nervously. "W-What do you mean…? Rei and I are just like always…"
"Right" Ren said with a smirk before turning around and starting to roll his shoulders. The teenager then started humming a song and much to Takashi's embarrassment, started singing right after. "Rei and Takashi sitting by the stairs, K-I-S-"
He was cut short by Takashi who came from behind and put a hand over his mouth.
"Alright I get it, sorry. So please shut up!" Takashi whispered at him.
Ren just chuckled at him before removing his friend's hand.
"Daddy!" that was Alice voice
"What are you idiots doing?" that was Saya.
Both Rentaro and Takashi lifted their gaze to find out all the girls were standing right in front of them, now fully dressed.
In short, they had mostly gone back to their uniform, that were now clean an dry once again, and dry. They all looked stunning, but as expected Rentaro's eyes landed and never left Saeko's figure.
She was still wearing her school uniform, but now slightly altered. The long green skirt was completely gone and replaced by a much shorter black skirt that revealed her entire right thigh. She was also wearing long laced purple stockings and female battle boots with heels.
Ren was enjoying what he was seeing… because of the mobility it provided her compared to her previous outfit, of course.
Heh.
Though, he also noticed that surprisngly enough, Rei was currently carrying the gun that had been missing a couple of minutes ago, the Springfield. He really couldn't picture Rei using a gun, and if he did, he'd be nervous. Maybe because it had a bayonet and could be used as a spear? Right, that.
While the rest of the group engaged in conversations, he noticed Saeko walking up to him, with some clothes in hand, perfectly folded.
"Once again, thanks for the clothes" she said with a smile, while giving them to him. "Sorry I couldn't return them clean, if given the occasion, I'll properly wash them".
"It's alright" he responded by grabbing the clothes, trying to not think too hard about them not being washed meaning that her scent was impregnated on them. Man he really had to control himself. "Anytime you want".
She smiled once again, this time a little more flirtatiously as he scanned him up and down. "You look combat ready…"
Considering he currently had a knife sheathed on his chest and a shoulder holster on, he figured he'd look pretty prepared.
Rentaro began to feel more bold and returned the favor, by eyeing her up and down, almost shamelessly. "You're looking pretty good as well".
Saeko almost instantly tilted her head at this, as her eyes now had a dangerous glow, coupled with a teasing small smile from her.
"For combat… of course" Ren finished, with a smirk.
Saeko giggled at this. "Well, it's certainly much more comfortable than the long skirt… though, your clothes weren't that bad either".
Rentaro could feel his heartbeat increase its pace by the second… this woman really, no, really had a crazy effect on him. Her blushing and nervousness a few moments ago could be very misleading; she could be very assertive and aggressive herself, if she wanted to, whenever she wanted.
"As I said, anytime you want" he replied, with a smirk, trying to keep his composure, something in which he failed a bit since he couldn't help but to eye at her lips, memories of the day before flooding his mine.
One thing's for sure, if they weren't surrounded by their friends right now, things would have gotten way more heated already.
"All ready to go?" they overheard Takashi ask in general.
"All set" Saya responded.
Takashi turned to look at him and Saeko, to which he responded with a nod, before turning his head to look at Saeko once again.
"Well…" he began.
"Well…" she followed.
And just a few seconds later they both started chuckling to themselves.
"I trust you will have my back out there, aye?" he told her with a smirk.
Saeko chuckled and smirked as well after hearing him.
"Of course" she responded. "And I trust you will have mine, aye?" she whispered to him while slightly grazing with her fingers the handle of the bowie knife that was sheathed on his chest, before walking away towards where the girls were, near the Humvee.
…
"Fuck" he muttered as he watched her walk away, very intently.
Right now, he was pretty sure that before the zombies could get him, that woman was the one that was going to kill him.
Thank God she walked away, because if she would have stayed, he would have turned into a stuttering mess without a comeback for that… yes, for that small gesture of her.
Was this her payback for the moment they had in the Humvee after she woke up? He was definitely getting her back for this, eventually… hopefully.
And at this point, he was pretty sure that the thing they had going on was, well, real… not to mention they had already locked lips. Not like they were dating or anything, but he wasn't dumb either. He'd have to be pretty dense - like Takashi - to not realize that Saeko was clearly very into him. How flirtatious and teasing she could be definitely caught him by surprise, he had to admit. Despite being very friendly and easy to approach, although strict when it came to kendo, back in their school days, she was never the type to have really hang around nor make friends, despite being the school's most popular. She was solely focused on the kendo club and in training, also her grades were excellent; he was pretty sure she was the top student of the Third Years last time he checked, probably the best student in the school right after Saya. To think the well mannered Busujima-san could be this straightforward and assertive, was pretty shocking… not that he complained, especially if it was only towards him.
But he was a tad confused, because, since when? Before or after the zombies took over? He was no love expert nor a psychologist, but he knew that the stress of disasters, specially as big as this one, could bring people together; also that the mental fatigue and anxiety from the situation basically made the brain go survival mode, not exactly in terms of only trying to not die, but by making the primal instinct of trying to reproduce kick in more than ever… basically increasing one's sex drive. So, it could be no surprise.
If she did like him before the zombies arrived then… shit, he was going to smack himself for not noticing sooner.
"I mean, Takashi and Rei were already at it, despite Hisashi not being gone for not very long at all…"
It also helped that they still clearly always liked each other but…
He hoped Hisashi wasn't feeling too bad about it in the afterlife, if there was one.
And he felt a bit sorry for chuckling at this thought.
He hoped he was resting in peace; man he missed him…
"Fuck?" he heard Takashi question as he approached him, with the shotgun in hand, looking ready to go.
Ren didn't bother to turn his head to look at him, but he did notice from the corner of his eye that Takashi followed his gaze, which was still on Saeko.
"Oh" Takashi muttered, and despite the fact that he couldn't really see him, he could feel the eat-shitting grin that took over his face.
When Ren turned around to look at him with a raised eyebrow, it confirmed it.
"Shut up" Ren muttered to his friend.
Takashi chuckled at this while bringing his fist to his mouth.
"Listen…" Takashi began. "Am no love expert but…"
"Oh definitely not" Ren chipped in.
Takashi raised his eyebrow and grimaced at this. "Am not a love expert, buuut, I've seen the way she looks at you, and she doesn't try to hide it either, even an idiot could tell".
"And you just proved it" Ren chipped in again.
This time, Takashi elbowed him in the ribs for it, to which Ren chuckled.
"Even Rei has noticed… and no, I'm not talking about her using you as a pillow earlier today".
"Yeah, I mean, I know but…" he began. "Since when?" was the question that was hanging in his head. Not like it was that important, but besides him wondering that, it's not like they could just suddenly make it official out of nowhere, considering their situation, something like that deserved a more… fitting, atmosphere. Maybe once they were all safe. But he was also a firm believer of letting things flow, and not like he disliked their current dynamic… but ever since a couple of days ago and from now on, everyday had a big chance of being their very last.
Love was still very complex and hard to deal with, especially in the middle of a Zombiepocalypse.
But he was going to figure it out eventually, he was confident.
After having a small feedback with the group about their current plan, which was going to Saya's home first. Ren and the boys readied themselves to climb out of the riverbank towards the road nearby, all with weapons in their grip.
Ren had one of the handguns while Kohta carried the sniper, Takashi on the other hand kept the shotgun of course, while Hideo was carrying the second handgun; the man had insisted on joining in with the rest of the males, probably didn't feel right that he was the only one that stood back and did nothing, although nobody was protesting about it. Ren had to convince him to take the handgun though.
Ren and Kohta also tried to come up with a name for the 'operation' but Saya quickly shot it down.
The boys all looked at each other before nodding.
They started walking uphill towards the road, and as they all reached it simultaneously while aiming down sights, looking for any potential threats…
They noticed it was clear. Completely
Which was surprising.
It looked almost too peaceful to be true.
"Nothing?" Ren asked.
"Nothing" the rest of the guys responded individually right after.
"Alrighty then…"
Man, he was almost disappointed.
Takashi walked towards the edge of the road and waved at the girls, who were still waiting below, with the Humvee, alongside Guts, who Ren commanded to stay and guard them… oh, and also little Zeke.
"Operation 'Over The Hill' was a total success" Ren commented.
"Wait, wasn't 'Ascension' the name?" Kohta questioned as he approached Ren.
"It had a name in the end? Takagi shot it down pretty quick" Takashi chipped-in from afar.
"Yeah, it was Over The Hill" Rentaro responded.
"I thought Ascension was the final pick" Kohta added.
"Ascension sounds way too serious for this" Rentaro replied.
"And Over The Hill is too simple".
"Yeah, but perfect for a simple operation like this one".
"Ren has a point, Hirano" Takashi intervened.
"See Kohta?"
"But Over The Hill does kind suck…" Takashi continued.
"Oh c'mon!"
"Umm, boys…" Hideo tried to intervene.
"Sorry Hideo-san, but this is a serious matter" Ren stopped the adult.
"Uhh but…"
"Over The Hill fits perfectly".
"Ascension is way cooler".
"Or maybe Ascension Over The Hill and that's it?"
"Shut up Takashi"
"Uh… boys!"
Both Ren & Kohta stopped their yapping and looked at Hideo, while Takashi still watched from a couple of meters away.
But it was too late, and they both just noticed as the sound of the Humvee's engine approached dangerously fast.
"Oh" both muttered.
While Ren jumped out of the way as quick as he could, Kohta could only watch the Humvee fly over his head thanks to the momentum of driving up the riverbank, while frozen.
Immediately after, Kohta was on all fours, trembling in shock from what had just happened while muttering stuff to himself, Ren on the other hand was on one knee, laughing out loud.
"H-How can she make the Humvee move like that…" Kohta muttered in a trembling voice.
"That was crazy!" Ren kept laughing.
"You guys are idiots" Takashi muttered while sweating a bit, not really knowing how to react.
Hideo on the other hand just chuckled nervously at their antics.
While Saya checked the surroundings herself with a pair of binoculars, while talking to Rei and Saeko, Ren took the opportunity to simply kneel and pet his dog.
It was a nice method to relax.
"You getting along with Zeke boy?" Ren asked him, to which Guts simply kept wagging its tail. "Alright".
Ren took the moment to look at Zeke, who was currently biting the hem of Takashi's pants, who had just accepted his destiny at that point as he just looked at the little puppy funny, all while little Alice was trying to pull him off.
He chuckled at this.
"Rentaro-kun" he heard Hideo approach him.
"Ren is fine" Ren smiled at the adult while standing straight after giving Guts one last pet.
"R-Ren-kun, here" he said while handing him the handgun back.
He looked at the handgun before looking back at Hideo.
"You sure you don't want to keep it?" he asked.
"N-No, it's fine… I don't really know how to use it anyway".
'You can learn' or 'use it to protect your daughter' were some of the things he thought of to respond to him. But he held back.
Hideo and Alice were now essentially part of the crew, and Hideo was a full-grown adult male, but he still couldn't bring himself to convince him to fight, especially with his daughter along with them. He was better off just staying by his daughter's side while hugging her if necessary, while they took care of things, since they were already fairly experienced to a certain extent and from what he learned from Hideo in their chat while in the Humvee with the rest of the group, is that he hasn't personally took any zombie out yet. Not to mention that if something happened to the man, he would never forgive himself. Alice-chan would be well, devastated.
Things were fine as they were for now. Also, it's not like fighting was something they were looking for; they would avoid combat as much as possible.
Though a part of him wouldn't mind bashing a couple of them along the way.
So Ren simply took the handgun while smiling politely to the man.
"No worries".
After Kohta finally recomposed and Zeke stopped attacking Takashi, the group readied themselves one last time before entering the Humvee.
Ren whistled at Guts while telling him to enter the vehicle, while holding the door open, to which the dog rapidly complied. As he was about to close the door and walk to the other side of the Humvee to enter himself, he noticed that Takashi and Rei were sitting at the back on top of the Humvee, completely relaxed while giggling to each other like lovebirds.
How cute… not.
"Oh no, no" he muttered while looking at them. "You guys actually think this is a fun, inoffensive field trip, or a date? Get your asses in there".
"Oh shut up, the coast is clear" Takashi replied.
"Yeah, shoo, go sit and drool next to Busujima-senpai like a nice boy" Rei teased.
Ren stood his ground by crossing his arms in front of his chest while looking at the duo with a raised eyebrow, like they were idiots.
The staredown contest went on for a couple of seconds before Rei finally huffed angrily and hopped off the top of the Humvee.
"Let's go Takashi, you know him, he was gonna stand there forever".
Takashi sighed to himself before following Rei.
Ren simply stood beside the door, holding it open for them, although, with a smug expression on his face.
Which didn't stop Rei from glaring daggers at him.
"Party pooper" she muttered before entering the Humvee.
"Mood killer" Takashi muttered as well, before entering right after Rei.
Ren simply chuckled a bit at their reactions. "Dimwits" he fired back at them, before finally closing the door and walking to the other side of the Humvee to enter himself.
"Alright, all set" he said, specifically to Shizuka, who shortly after started driving.
And guess what? Not only did he get a window, but he was sitting right next to Saeko, sweet.
The drive went quiet for the first couple of minutes before the rest of the group started talking to each other, minus him and Saeko. Bored out of his mind at the moment, his brain immediately tried to look for another source of entertainment or something that grabbed his attention away from his sadistically dumb thinking.
Which was very easy, considering he had Saeko sitting right next to him.
He turned his head to look at her, who had been sitting in silence as well the whole time, and he noticed she also had been looking at the window that was right next to him… or maybe really at him? or not. Perhaps he was getting a bit too cocky about the matter, eh?
Saeko almost immediately shifted her gaze towards him, and even smiled politely.
"She's way too stunning" he thought.
Like, unfairly beautiful.
Man, was he a lost case.
And now he was at loss for words once again.
So much for him considering himself a confident, straightforward dude.
So his brain immediately started looking for another thing to do, to which he ended up pulling out one of the handguns he had been taking care of, and started practicing unloading and reloading the mag repeatedly, over and over.
Which was pretty fun, and oddly satisfying to be honest. He might have found himself a weird new distraction to keep himself busy.
"You're pretty good at that" Saeko whispered to him, dangerously close to his ear.
He tried to not react too wildly at this.
Was she this flirtatious on purpose or she just did it unconsciously?
"Uh… yeah, I already kind of got the hang of it… just don't know how well I might do it under pressure" he commented to her after finally getting his composure shortly after her little stunt.
She humm'd at this pensively. "Well, you've always struck me as a very composed individual, especially these last couple of days, so I know you'll be fine".
I mean yeah… well, besides him perhaps having a bit too much fun at times while dealing with them, he knew his good qualities. Still, he'll only find out once it's put to test.
"Thanks" he muttered to her with a genuine smile before stopping to look at the handgun for a couple of seconds, before an idea came to mind. "Wanna try it? It's pretty… entertaining" he told her while handing the gun.
Saeko looked at him and then at the gun back and forth a couple of times, clearly having second thoughts. They both knew this was Ren's attempt to once again convince her to use a handgun.
Ren knew this but simply smirked while gesturing her to take it, while looking at her directly in the eyes, mayhaps, unconsciously a bit too intensely, too which apparently Saeko couldn't say no, as she finally extended her own hand to grab the handgun.
"Don't worry, it has, of course, the safety on" Ren said as he made sure to point to where the safety was, so she would know. Meanwhile Saeko inspected the weapon with her eyes and hands.
"It's heavier than I thought" she revealed. "How do I…?"
"Here" he muttered before showing her how to take the mag off, and the rest of the process, using his own hands to guide hers.
Showing the girl you love how to handle a gun very intimately? As romantic as it could get in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse while fighting for survival.
"You got it?" he asked her, to which she replied in silence by repeating the process slowly, but without failure.
"Perfect, you're a fast learner" he muttered before pulling out the other handgun from its holster he had strapped on to his side. "Once you get the hang of it…" he said while repeating the process himself, significantly quicker than Saeko.
"I still have a long way to go" Saeko said, with a bit of seriousness in her tone, Ren noticed. Was she really putting her mind to this, that much? Talk about being a dedicated individual, which wasn't surprising considering how much she trained. It was that kind of mentality that put her above the rest.
"Don't worry about it, you'll reach there faster than me probably, and it didn't take me long personally" he commented. "Then, when it comes to firing it…"
Ren had readied himself to continue explaining to her about the functioning of the gun before he realized he wasn't probably the best qualified for it, and nowhere near as versed as Kohta. He had only done airsoft, videogames and watched movies after all.
Was he gonna miss his chance to be Saeko's sensei for a bit though? No.
He'd try his best before Kohta explained her more in depth, so he proceeded to explain it as well as he could.
"It's like… a camera, just point and shoot" he explained.
Saeko chuckled at this. "Perhaps a bit too oversimplified?"
"Not really, just aim down sights and, pew" he explained while doing exactly that, minus actually firing the gun of course.
He heard giggling right after.
"Is making that sound also necessary?" she asked sarcastically.
She's got jokes huh.
"Don't worry, that was just my best impression of a gunshot" he responded jokingly.
"A bit adorable in comparison, don't you think?"
"Alright miss comedy, just ignore it, ok?"
She giggled a bit more.
"Anyway, if you've seen movies and stuff you'll get the general idea anyway" he commented, getting back to the guns matter.
"I kind of do, although I wasn't really into movies, not the ones involving gun action anyway" she replied.
"Hmm… let me guess, mostly drama or historical movies?"
"Indeed, and…"
"Samurai movies?"
"Yes" she smiled.
Of course.
"I guess it could be said that I was a fan of Tosawa Akira's work mostly" she continued.
"Well, he's the legend after all" he joined in. "What is your favorite work from him?"
"Seven Samurai".
"Saw that coming".
Saeko giggled at this.
"I loved Seven Samurai, but personally, I liked 'Kagemusha' a bit better" he commented.
"Kagemusha was also great".
"Right?"
…
Were they like, having a moment?
They were.
Both continued talking for several minutes, essentially getting to know each other a bit better. Their likings, what they enjoyed and other casual stuff. And they were enjoying it. To think they could still have this kind of just light fun conversations in the middle of their situation, was nothing but rich.
The drive went surprisingly peaceful, with not a single of them in sight, at least from his side of the windows.
Again, very surprising.
Too good to be true even.
He almost wanted the assholes to finally appear.
Dumb intrusive thoughts.
"Some of them ahead" Saya announced to the rest of the group.
Dammit.
Him and his big mouth.
He instinctively looked out of his side of the window to check and he noticed a couple of them. It was to be expected though, since they were essentially getting closer to the center of the city.
But there were still too many. And the situation went in crescendo surprisingly fast.
"Whoa! Here too, I don't think I can't take much more of this!" Shizuka cried at the wheel.
"Left turn, left there!" Saya commanded, to which Shizuka complied.
"What's going on?!" Rei cried. "The closer we get to Higashi Hill's, the more of them there are!"
"There must be some reason!" Takashi commented.
"Just keep holding on tight!" Ren commanded while now looking at the front. "There's a bunch of them upcoming!"
"We'll have to hit them!" Saya said.
And they did, sending a good bunch of them flying, and hopefully to their end.
But Ren then noticed something from afar, that they were getting closer to.
"What the…?" then he noticed. "Stop!"
"Huh?" Shizuka was confused.
"There's wires stretched out across the road" Saeko pointed out before he could as she leaned to the front. "Turn the car!"
"Hang on tight!" Ren repeated.
She did, but it was too late, as they literally started skating towards the wire fence, dragging another bunch of them alongside, who ended up being diced to pieces thanks to being sandwiched between the Humvee and the wires. And they just didn't stop sliding.
"Why won't it stop sliding?!" Shizuka questioned.
"All of their guts are making us slide!" Saya pointed out.
"Sensei, the tires are locked!" Kohta revealed as he was looking out of the window.
"Shizuka, let go of the brakes and hit the gas just a little bit!" Ren told her.
"Wha-? Ok!" she quickly complied and they finally managed to stop sliding, but…
"Watch out Shizuka, the wall!" Ren pointed out. If she kept driving forward they were gonna crash.
The blonde nurse was already on the edge and at the peak of her nerves, but still managed to hit the brake, so hard that the car titled a bit frontwards, which wasn't the most uncomfortable thing, for example, if Takashi and Rei were still on top of the Humvee, at least one of them was getting sent flying away. Thankfully that didn't happen; but Ren, who wasn't really in the most comfortable of positions as the vehicle came to a halt, was sent crashing to the front, towards where Shizuka and Saya were sitting.
And then the world spun around for him.
He knew exactly what had happened, but at the same time, he didn't. He was looking towards the Humvee's ceiling, which was a bit shaky, but managed to see the face of concern of both Shizuka and Saya at the corner of each of his eyes; he was apparently laying between them at the front seat now, and he also noticed his legs were up… talk about an awkward position.
He heard lots of ruckus, way more than when he woke up earlier today. Barking, screaming, his name… it was making his head hurt. He wanted to take a nap more than ever now, but he was way too uncomfortable, not to mention he definitely couldn't with all the noise, which suddenly got worse due to… gunshots.
Gunshots?
"Ren-kun!" he heard Shizuka's voice.
His eyes shot fully open as he took a big breath, before smacking himself in the forehead and pulling his hair back, though he felt something wet, he looked at his hand, noticing blood in it. He was bleeding from the impact around his forehead, great. No wonder he was basically out for a bit, the hit was right in the temple.
He looked around confused, and noticed Shizuka, Saya and even Saeko as well looking at him from the backseats.
"F-For-" he cleared his throat. "For how long I was out?!"
"Just a few seconds" Saya responded.
A lot of shit happened in those few seconds.
"Are you okay?" Shizuka questioned.
"Yeah, just…" he muttered while trying to get up; he then noticed Saeko extending his hand to him, which he took before she helped him out of the front seat, back to his previous spot at the back. Immediately after he was almost concussed again by his dog Guts who started rubbing his face with his snout.
"A-Am okay boy!" he said while trying to calm his dog down before he looked out of the window and noticed Takashi and Rei outside the car, fighting the zombies, each with their weapons in hand. He then also finally noticed that Kohta had his upper half sticking out the Humvee's sunroof, and also heard him telling the other two outside a couple of commands, probably explaining them about the weapon functioning. They were all firing, killing as many of them as they could.
Finally, he also noticed at the very back of the Humvee, Hideo was hugging Alice while hiding her face in his chest and covering her ears as he looked out of the window with a face of concern, while little Zeke was barking frenetically at the window nearby.
They were pretty much stuck in place at the moment. A wire fence was blocking their way right now and dozens of them were at the other side blocking their path. If they tried to run all of them over again, just like before they would end up sliding, crashing and possibly even flipping the whole thing.
It was either stay inside the Humvee surrounded by them and till they find another source of attention so they would walk away, or try and clean their path the best they could instead of being stuck inside the Humvee for hours or even days.
There was a bad option and a very bad one; fight or hide.
Clearly they all had taken their pick while he was drifting back to consciousness.
And he agreed with their choice.
Ren groaned before cracking his neck as he grabbed his bokken that was resting near the door, checked that the handgun was still inside his shoulder holster and the bowie knife on his chest.
"You sure you're ok?!" Shizuka asked from the front.
"You're bleeding!" Saya pointed out the obvious.
"It's just a scratch!" he said, before looking at Saeko, who was still inside the Humvee and looking at him with a bit of concern still, while right in front of the door to get outside.
"Are you sure you're good?" she asked.
"Positive" he said while looking at her directly in the eyes, intensity in his features. He really couldn't make the rest of the group fighting outside wait much longer, although he was still feeling a bit dizzy.
She looked at him one last time before nodding, and opening the door. They both quickly got out as soon as they could, and were welcomed by the sight of dozens… no, his previous thoughts were an understatement, they were easily in the hundreds.
Holy shit.
His dog who also had gotten out started barking again at them.
"Protect this spot boy!" he commanded to Guts, signaling him with his hand.
Guts responded with another bark.
"You're alright Ren?!" he heard Kohta ask behind him.
"Better than ever!" he responded. "Am not…" this last part he muttered under his breath.
Who would be in the middle of this situation?
Was there really a way of cleansing their path at least a bit before they ran out of bullets or stamina?
Well, less thinking and more action.
Both him and Saeko darted forward almost at the same time with their bokkens in hand and started bashing heads, while being as careful as they could to not be grabbed by any of them.
Takashi and Rei on the other hand kept firing their guns, with Rei occasionally mixing it up by using the bayonet. Thankfully, Kohta as always was just being a machine and being as effective as ever in taking them out.
Ren hit one of them in the head before kicking a big one in the stomach backwards, making it lose balance and sending another couple of them down with him.
"I'm not on the menu fucks!"
They were being surprisingly effective, but they just simply had no end.
"Zombitches".
He was really starting to hate them.
After taking a couple of more of them out with his bokken, Ren took a few steps back to a safe distance and decided to pull out the handgun. Time to test it. With only his right hand he got the gun out and immediately aimed down sights towards them, and even though he was just using one hand since the other one was holding a bokken, which is not recommended, it didn't feel bad.
He took a deep breath before finally firing.
Bullseye.
He almost smiled at the result.
He repeated the process a couple of more times; all of them hitting the target.
It also helped that they were all agglomerated together, which made it hard to miss, but it was still pretty awesome. Though, he had to watch his ammo. With his bokken, he started hitting zombies again and pushing them back as best as he could while constantly aiming down sights with the handgun just in case for any potential threat.
He also was checking on the rest of the group from the corner of his eyes usually to see how they were doing. Everyone was still firing their weapons, while Saeko as efficiently as she could, even more than Ren himself, took zombies out with her bokken.
Suddenly, he saw one of them grab one of her arms sleeves, but with a swift move she quickly let it go of her and soon after the zombie was on the floor, completely limp thanks to a hit to the skull. But thanks to that small situation, another one managed to grab her, but not only her sleeve this time but her whole arm.
He immediately pointed at that said zombie's head, making sure he was aiming at it perfectly and to not accidentally hurt Saeko.
He took a quick deep breath before he shot his gun
And he was successful.
The zombie fell completely limp, letting go of Saeko's arm, who turned to look around at Ren this time, surprise in her eyes.
Ren returned the gaze and simply nodded at her, but he then noticed her eyes opening up in even more surprise.
"Wha-?"
It was too late once he felt a zombie grab his own arm, around the wrist area; more specifically, the one he was using to hold the handgun.
"Shit-!" he tried to pull his arm out of the thing's grip, but it was too strong.
The zombie opened his mouth to clearly take a bite of his arm, and as he readied his bokken with his other hand to try and take it out before he got bit…
He heard Guts barking.
And in a flash, he saw his four-legged friend jump and bite the zombie right in the arm it was grabbing him with, dragging it down to the ground and making it break its grip.
Ren looked down to witness Guts ragdolling the zombie by the arm, clearly not liking the fact that it got close to him.
He quickly put his foot on the zombie's chest, holding it still, before shooting it in the head.
"Good boy!" he told Guts, who responded with a bark, before taking a step back, making sure he was at a comfortable enough distance from the zombies in front of him.
At the corner of his eyes he saw Saeko get back in action once again, after she apparently had tried to dart towards him when she saw the zombie grab him.
Ren clicked his tongue twice, getting Guts attention.
"There boy!" he said, pointing out at Saeko's general direction.
Guts barked before darting towards where Saeko was, and tackling yet another zombie down, who was getting close to her.
Not like the idea of using his dog as some sort of weapon fascinated him, but right now they could use all the help they could get, and the fact that dogs ignored zombies and that Guts was massive, so he could easily ragdoll them, was a huge help.
They continued their assault for several minutes, taking dozens of them out… but the fact that they were having no end got clearer and clearer with each passing minute.
Ren took a group of two of them out with his bokken before killing a third one with his handgun.
Hell, if they weren't into such deepshit and he didn't have a huge headache, he would have been having a blast.
Ren shot yet another one that was getting close, and looked to shoot again, before realizing he was out of ammo.
"Shit"
And the mags were inside the Humvee.
He sighed before putting the handgun inside its holster.
He was definitely not being his sharpest today.
Having a small concussion earlier also didn't help.
He suddenly heard the door of the Humvee closing behind him; he turned his head around to notice that Hideo had gotten out of the Humvee, with the other remaining handgun in his hand. Ren had completely forgotten about it; Saeko probably had left it on the Humvee's seats or somewhere around. It was hard to think straight during that situation after all.
"Hideo-san?" Ren said.
"I just couldn't sit and watch, sorry!" the man said as he pointed the gun at a random direction, although towards them. His hands were trembling.
"Take a deep breath and aim at the center of their hands with the top of the gun" Kohta explained from the top of the Humvee. "Take the safety off first".
"T-The safety?"
"Hand it to me!" Ren told him after kicking another zombie back as swiftly as he could.
Hideo extended the gun towards him, and once he got a hold of it, he took the safety off and fired several times, taking a good number of them out, while walking backwards.
Ren noticed Saeko swiftly jumping backwards right next to him and taking a hand-to-hand combat position.
She had just lost her bokken to them.
It was just getting worse.
"Saeko!" he called her name and as she turned around, he lobbed his own bokken at her direction, which she quickly caught and in a swift movement, used the momentum to hit a group of three of them in one swing.
She then turned around to look at him once again, and readied herself to swing the bokken in his direction. He knew what had to be done, as he bent his knees to give her enough space to take the zombies that were behind him. He quickly stood straight up, and shot another zombie down, that was behind her.
Without saying nothing, they quickly separated and got back to taking them out separately.
Ren groaned as he stomped another zombie in the chest that Guts was ragdolling before shooting it in the head and taking a few step backs.
And he couldn't help his blood boil in both angers at frustration at the sight of them just keeping coming and they were getting pushed back because of it. There were still hundreds of them. How many had they collectively taken out at this point? Not to mention the gunshots probably dragged even more towards their spot.
It was truly fucked.
He heard the door of the Humvee open and close right behind him again, and this time it was Saya, stepping out of the Humvee with the crossbow in hand.
"Saya?" he questioned.
"Do you know how to use it?!" Kohta questioned from his spot.
"I am a genius!" she responded.
"Takagi?!" Takashi shouted in confusion.
"Call me by my first name from now on!"
"What are you doing?" Rei asked this time.
"Not dying!"
One zombie got dangerously close to her but Saeko quickly took care of it, although accidentally splashing Saya with the undead's fluids in the process.
Saya looked a bit shocked at this first, but her expression quickly hardened seconds later.
"I'm not shy… I'm not timid…. I'm not a coward!" she shouted as she aimed at the zombies' direction. "How could I just die?! What kind of person just let themselves die?!"
"My house is just a little farther that way!" Saya screamed as she shot the crossbow, nailing one of the zombies in the head perfectly.
Ren smirked at this. "That's the spirit… Guts, there, protect Saya!" he commanded the dog who quickly ran at Saya's direction
Her little speech had certainly gotten their spirits up; she was right, they couldn't just die, if anything, he was not dying until he got everyone else to safety.
But still…
What the hell were they supposed to do?
It was all due to that damned wire fence.
The fuck was it there for?
Just as Saya had pointed out, her house was right in that direction, if it wasn't for it, they probably would have already reached her place.
Ren took a quick look behind him, towards the wired fence.
And then another one.
And yet another look.
"Of course".
He finally realized.
And he should have sooner.
The road at the other side of the fence was completely clear, without a single one of them at sight. It was put there to hold the assholes back of course.
Climbing the fence was of course out of question, because they would lose their fingers before they climbed it… but it just so happened that there was a Humvee stuck in place that could be used as a platform to jump to the other side. There was a big chance the landing wasn't going to be very comfortable… but it was better than dozens of them biting your flesh off then becoming one.
"Hideo-san!" he called out the adult that was right next to him, who was holding the same wrench he was using the day before as a melee weapon with trembling hands.
"Yes?!"
"Take Alice, Saya and Shizuka and help them climb to the other side of the fence, it's clear there!" he told him.
"W-What?!" both Hideo and Saya questioned at the same time before looking by himself at the other side of the fence.
"It's the best option right now!"
"What about you guys?!" Hideo asked.
He could tell that the man was giving the idea second thoughts, but both knew that it was clearly the best option right now, especially because Alice was in danger, whose life was Hideo's priority to protect. That's why he referred to Hideo instead of Saya when he revealed the idea.
"We'll follow right after!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Saya said. "Are you saying I'm useless here?!"
"I'm saying you shouldn't die! You're the one that knows the way towards the house!"
He did as well, but he omitted that part.
"Then what about you, and the rest?!"
"We'll follow right after, we're not staying here!"
"B-But-!"
"We'll cover you guys, go!"
Saya stood frozen in place still.
"Go, now, leave!"
"Let's go!" Hideo said before grabbing Saya's arm.
Saya still looked like she didn't agree with the decision, but still, while biting her lip, complied and followed Hideo inside the car.
Saya was emotional and still well… an immature teenage girl, but she was also a highly intelligent individual. She knew deep down it was the best option; the ones who could actually fight efficiently should stay behind for the moment.
"Kohta!" Ren called.
"I'll help them!" he replied instantly.
"Everyone else, prepare to climb on top of the Humvee once the first group is over the fence!".
"We'll still have to make room for us to be sure about it" Saeko pointed out.
It was true, since they were completely surrounded at the moment.
Ren started shooting the other handgun again emptying all the bullets in the mag, but taking several of them out.
"Well…" he muttered while flipping the handgun to his other hand, looking to use the end of it as a melee weapon. Then with his other hand, the right one, he unsheathed the bowie knife from the scabbard on his chest. "One last push".
One zombie extended its hand towards him, and Rentaro quickly sliced its fingers off with the bowie knife, before hitting it in the temple with the handgun knocking it down.
Ren used the knife effectively, slicing and stabbing them in the head, while constantly looking at the top of the Humvee, checking on the group that was about to jump to the other side.
The first one to pass was Shizuka with the help of Hideo, and with one on both sides now, they would help little Alice - who was holding a barking Zeke - and Saya to the other side.
Good.
Ren now found himself standing right next to Saeko with Guts barking nearby in a defensive position. They were on the left side, at the back of the Humvee, while Takashi and Rei were at the right side, at the front of it. Only gunshots that could be heard were Kohta's; everyone else had run out of ammo, with the rest of the mags and rounds inside the Humvee, so they were all relying on melee now. Takashi ended up using the shotgun as a club anyway while Rei was stabbing zombies in the head with her bayonet.
Saeko was still holding the bokken he had lent to her, her white school uniform all bloodied, while she panted heavily.
He probably looked somewhat the same.
Actually, everyone probably looked somewhat the same.
Although she somehow managed to look beautiful even amidst this crap.
At the same time, they both darted forward, looking to take out the zombies that were getting close before taking a few steps back.
"You ok Ren?" she managed to find the breath to ask.
"Yes" he responded in a breath.
It was a lie. He was not only growing tired, but also even more dizzy, nauseous even. Probably the impact he received earlier in the temple coupled with the stress and exhaustion over the current situation weren't the best combination. If it weren't for the adrenaline coursing through his body at the moment and desire for surival, he'd be on his ass as of now probably. Also the injury on his head was also bleeding a bit more profusely now, probably due to his blood rushing at the moment.
"You should climb to the top first, I'll cover you" she said.
He just responded with a throaty noise. Not that he agreed though.
"Alright! They're on the other side!" Kohta announced.
Best news ever.
"I'll cover you guys, let's go!"
Easier said than done. They were completely surrounded and not in a comfortable position next to the Humvee; one moment of distraction and they were getting grabbed by one of them and it was game over. One had to cover the other while they got up. Kohta couldn't possibly cover both sides at the same time. Takashi and Rei were probably having the same dilemma at this point.
One, just one small mistake and goodbye.
This situation really sucked, like really.
Suddenly he felt stupid for even thinking not minding finding a few of them along the way for fun.
What was fun about this?
He and his dumb thoughts, really.
But if there was one thing he was going to do correctly, it was to protect Saeko.
He heard behind him the voices of Shizuka, Saya, and even Alice screaming with Zeke also barking, stuff he didn't bother to understand at the moment as his mind was completely focused around what was in front and next to him.
What were they being so loud for anyway?
He finally took a deep breath, hitting a zombie that was nearby the Humvee and grabbing Saeko the arm, looking to get her to climb the vehicle.
The group on the other side kept being loud for some reason.
Then he finally realized what was happening, as he heard another unknown female voice.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!"
Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed what seemed to be a group of firefighters, with helmets on, running at their direction from the other side of the fence with what seemed to be a cannon in their possession.
Did they have any other option?
He quickly brought Saeko's head close to his chest as protection and knelt down, taking cover.
What happened next was him hearing the sounds of something similar to gunshots, but little different. He also felt drops of water covering him.
Were they water cannons?
If anything they were extremely efficient, once he lifted his gaze a bit towards the zombies, he noticed they had all been knocked back several feet away on their asses.
Which means, they were good to go now…
"Quick, now!" the same unknown female voice said. "You can retrieve the car later!"
He quickly got up on his feet with Saeko and helped her up the Humvee before climbing himself.
"Let's go boy!" he called Guts while hitting the Humvee with his palm, who with a big leap got on top of the vehicle himself.
The firefighters had put a ladder on the other side, which he, Kohta and Saeko used to climb down to the other side, while Guts simply jumped down.
Takashi and Rei on the other side managed to go through the fence once one of the firefighters helped by opening the space between the wires wider, and they had no problem getting to the other side as well.
Ren looked around with wide eyes, what had just happened just sinking in.
He looked for each and every single of the individuals in his group, making sure everyone was fine.
Takashi and Rei were currently on the ground panting heavily, although with relieved expressions.
Kohta was also lying on the ground taking deep breaths with a smile.
An overexcited Shizuka was hugging a Saya who just let it happen, because why not?
And Hideo and Alice were currently hugging, while little Zeke was running around them all happily.
Speaking about dogs, he noticed Guts approaching him and then licking him in the face, something he gladly welcomed.
"Yeah, I'm okay boy thanks… you were amazing out there weren't you?" he muttered while petting the dog.
He then also noticed a pair of legs in purple stockings walking towards him. He stood up to meet Saeko face to face.
She was both relieved but with bits of concern in her face probably in regards to him.
He was probably looking pale at this point.
"You're alright?" he managed to ask before she could herself, landing one of his hands on her shoulder.
She looked a bit taken aback by this, but nonetheless, nodded.
"Yes" she whispered while holding his hand that was on her shoulder with one of her own. "You?" she asked, now putting a hand on his chest.
"Better than before definitely" he said in a light tone while chuckling and returned the favor by holding the hand that she put on his chest with his free hand.
They both smiled, with their faces close to each other, relief and happiness in their eyes. And despite them wanting to stay like that for a bit more, they shifted their gaze toward one of the firefighters, the one that seemed to be the leader and that was currently commanding orders and giving directions to the rest, who obeyed without a second thought.
That firefighter seemed to be the same female that warned them to get down… although at first an unknown voice, now in a more tranquil atmosphere, Ren thought he had heard that voice before. It had almost a nostalgic feel.
Both him and Saeko shared a look before nodding, then walking closer to that individual, with the same thing in mind.
Least they could do at the moment is thank the leader of the group that had just saved their lives.
They stopped right in front of that person, who seemed to notice them and looked at the two in silence.
Ren bowed down without saying a word, followed by Saeko.
"Thank you for rescuing us in our time of need" Saeko said.
They heard the person in the suit slightly chuckle.
He had definitely heard that chuckle somewhere, it was way too familiar.
"You've grown Rentaro-kun" she said.
Ren immediately lifted his gaze in confusion.
What-?
She then proceeded to take off her helmet, and it immediately all made sense.
"I would help my daughter and her friends anytime" she said, as she revealed her beautiful features and light purple hair.
Takagi Yuriko herself had rescued them.
"Aunt-" he muttered in shock, before turning his head around looking for Saya. But it wasn't necessary, the pink-haired was already on her way running to embrace her mother.
"Mama!" the girl cried while in her mother's arms, who in return hugged her tightly with a smile.
Rentaro took a few steps back, gazing at the view with a smile. He had never been more glad to see the person that was pretty much his aunt doing fine. She would talk to her later, but right now, this moment belonged to her and Saya.
He felt his knees growing a bit weak and decided to crouch down with a hand on the ground while taking a deep breath. The whole thing from beginning to end had been tough on him, starting with the bump he took in the Humvee and finally, the adrenaline was going down, so he was finally starting to truly feel the pain from the headache and the dizziness.
He wanted a big rest more than ever now.
Saeko knelt down beside him.
"Don't worry, I'm just a little tired" he muttered.
Saeko just stayed there in silence for a couple of seconds, before she grabbed him by the shoulders, much to his confusion.
"Perhaps there's no better time to return the favor" she whispered.
"Hmm?" he was confused.
And he was still confused as Saeko basically brought him down to the ground with her grip on his shoulders, from a crouching position, to him lying on the ground; he just let it happen.
It's not until he felt his head land on a soft, warm, comfortable surface and he immediately then knew what she was refering to.
He was now currently resting his head on Saeko's lap, as she was now sitting on her knees, the Seiza way and rested one of her hands on his head and the other on his chest.
Ren didn't protest at this and just sighed. It was too comfortable, surprising considering they were in the middle of the streets. Still, he didn't mind, and it seemed like she neither.
He looked at Saeko one last time, who had a relaxed expression on while wearing a smile, before closing his eyes, not even caring if someone was looking at them or anything. The icing on the cake was Guts walking up to them and laying down beside, while resting his head on Ren's stomach. He smiled at this and petted him, while he heard Saeko giggling at that. Nothing else needed to be said really, they just enjoyed the silence.
Everyone was happy. Saya had just reunited with her mother, and everyone was safe.
They really had gotten out of that crazy situation.
But at the same time… it was just their very first day out there after their break.
They had prepared, shared info and armed themselves up, even got a Humvee and knew exactly what had to be done and what hadn't.
They still were almost done for.
Eventually, they all had to sit down and think that through, but for now, they probably should enjoy the relief and the reunion.
He finally could relax.
They finally could relax…
Or could they?
Hello everyone, thanks for the wait really.
College and overall life was a little bit rough this past couple of months, but I eventually finally found the time to continue the story.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and the new interactions
And many thanks as always for keeping following this story. It means a lot!
Reviews are always welcomed!
Hopefully I can finish the next chapter sooner, stay tuned. I'll definitely continuing this story!
Have a good one y'll