Now the Wolfpack has truly reconvened, setting things down and preparations for relaxing came very quickly. Ryuji prepared drinks and began cooking up a pot of curry, a convenient dish enabling him to mix in a variety of vegetables as well as meat. As the smell of various spices wafted through the air, Kota came lumbering down the stairs, eyes widened in surprise at Ryuji's efficiency at housework.
"You can really do a lot of things, huh?"
"The six men and women you covered paired up and took shifts of two months to spend with me. I didn't have much of a choice when I had to stay home and hold down the fort. As for cooking, there are two people who are extremely picky and are sticklers for respecting the process of preparing food. Now you could throw me into a mountain, and I'll find a way to make the best food available."
"I believe you. And your….parents, I guess? They're really good. I've seen the SAS do worse. No wonder you're such a badass." Ryuji snorted. Who does he think they are? They are the specialists in specific fields of warfare who make self-proclaimed specialists seem like rank amateurs that barely a pinch of people could hold a candle to. Forget the SAS, Delta Force and Spetsnaz. They'd be torn apart and become their buffet lunch.
As much as he wished he could say that out loud, Ryuji managed to stifle that urge and smirked a little with pride. "I went to wake the ladies up, but they're still probably rolling around trying to catch another wink. Go wake up the good doctor and Takagi. I'll get Saeko. We'll explain our plans from this point on."
Just as he placed the pot of curry and the large rice cooker on the table, they came down the stairs, all cleaned up and in a fresh change of clothes. All of them were dressed in cargo pants or sweatpants and tanktops, with sidearms and knives still hanging from their thighs and hips like Ryuji.
"God, that smell is making me even hungrier." Hector rubbed his growling stomach as he eagerly took a seat.
"Go ahead and help yourself," Ryuji switched to Spanish as he motioned the others to sit. "Whatever drink you want is in the fridge. We got three more coming."
"Sure thing." Hector nodded as he helped himself to a bowl full of rice and a generous helping of curry. "Who's he though?" He asked, pointing at Kota with a spoon. Karena's gaze followed the spoon, and her eyes momentarily had a dangerous light in them, the reason being that Kota was still holding onto Ryuji's MP7 with the spare magazines stuffed in his pockets.
Kota immediately regretted meeting their gaze, and immediately shifted his gaze down. While receiving training in handling firearms overseas, he met active military officers at the range, and their expression was frightening. However, Karena and the other five men and women sitting with her were far worse. That is, they wore their fighting spirit and killing intent that seemed to be causing a difference in the atmosphere's temperature so naturally like it was an article of clothing. Lowering his gaze, he immediately realized a small red dot dancing across his chest. It was from a laser sight of a handgun. And Vladimir was holding it. The sunken eyes of the Russian sniper paired with his pale skin reminded Kota of a skull, and the thin smile on his lips did not help. Vector, who was sitting next to him, was spinning a knife between his fingers, with eyes on Kota and ready to make him taste steel should he try anything.
"That's one of the four people I told Vladimir about who ended up tagging along with me. Don't worry, best to my knowledge, they won't do anything stupid. They enjoy the privilege of breathing freely." Hector laughed upon hearing the last sentence. "Kota, come on. Go upstairs and get the others. Oh, but uh, leave the gun here, okay?" Kota wasted no time in removing the sling and magazines and racing up the stairs, the look of fright clear on his face.
Ryuji then sauntered back into his own room and found Saeko still covered in nothing but the bedsheets, rubbing her eyes. "Hey." He said knocking the door.
She turned beet-red, and began fumbling around for the robe and her lingerie. "G-good morning." Saeko replied once she was decent. "Were those gunshots?"
"Yeah, my people are back. Took 'em long enough, I might add."
"Well, better late than never. Besides—" Saeko stopped mid-speech, noticing the teeth marks, love bites and thin, long welts running across his body. They were only visible on his arms, neck and shoulders. Some of them had formed scabs, meaning she drew blood. and there were definitely more underneath. "Oh my god….Did I…Was that me? I am so sorry, I-I didn't mean—"
"It's fine," Ryuji silenced her by placing a finger on her lips and then stoppered her lips with his before any more words of apology came streaming out. "I did the same thing to you, so we're even. Besides, I like girls that are…passionate in the sack and the battlefield, which you are. Come on. I'll introduce you." Taking her hand, he guided her to the living room.
"So, this is the girl you were talking about with Vladimir." Karena eyed her carefully from head to toe, evaluating Saeko's potential as a soldier. Saeko stared back at her, and was surprised. Her Japanese was nearly flawless aside from the close to nonexistent accent.
"Yup, this is Saeko Busujima. And FYI, she's planning to stick around with us."
"Is she any good?" Karena continued to look her over several times, cocking her head slightly to one side. "I will give a pass in terms of never touching a gun before in her life, since it can't really be helped considering the laws of this country, but unless she is as proficient in combat as either you or Vector, I will have to veto."
"I'm aware and I understand. But I promise you, she'll learn quick. She's been doing martial arts probably since she could walk, so she definitely has the dexterity and stamina of a soldier. Well, more a fresh recruit, but you know what I mean. Give her a machete, a compound bow, or just some long, blunt instrument and she'll be good to go."
"Ma'am, I have no intention of putting anyone here at risk, aside from myself. I will clean up any mess I make. I may have been born into the family of a martial artist, but compared to you, I am nothing but a mere girl. I will not complain if the situation compels you to sacrifice my life. All I wish for is to fight beside him." Watching the girl bow her head, Karena shifted her gaze to Vector, speaking to him only through stares. Vector met her eyes with his lips to a cup of cold green tea. His gaze flicked several times between her and Saeko, but gave a small nod in silence.
"If you say so. But," she added, cutting off Saeko's words of gratitude which were just on the tip of her tongue, "A word of warning from one woman to another: the men here—"
"Professor? It's you, isn't it?" Shizuka's voice came from the stairs, followed by Kota and Saya. She was staring at Michaela and Christine with eyes wide in disbelief.
"Oh my. I haven't seen you in a long time. I knew you were a gem since I first saw you, but you have certainly turned yourself into quite the sexy heartbreaker, Shizuka. So? Did you find anyone worthy?"
"Wrong question to ask in this situation." Christine said after swallowing a spoonful from her bowl. "But I must admit I am genuinely surprised to see someone as air-headed and ditzy as you survived up to now."
It was unclear whether the shower and sleep eased the burden of fatigue or because she saw Michaela and Christine, she raced down the stairs faster than anyone had ever seen, and tackled the two with a hug, her face glistening with tears and snot as she cried her eyes out.
Christine frowned at the unwelcoming sensation of her clothes getting dampened, but took no action to shove her away. Michaela on the other hand patted her on the back and stroked her hair like she did before when Ryuji was still young and cried more frequently.
Unable to understand what was going on right now, Kota and Saya could do and say nothing.
The meal proceeded silently. Kota and Saya both went to the bathroom, unable to bear the weight the atmosphere carried due to the silence.
"Now, just to reconfirm for the immediate future." Karena broke the silence (in Japanese) after finishing her cup of tea. "Two of the four that came here with Ryuji wishes to stay with us, and the other two wishes to go to the Takagi mansion?"
"Ah, Karena, if I may?" Vladimir raised his hand with a cigarette in his mouth. "I am not too keen on letting them go too easily. The girl is the only daughter of the head of one of the most powerful ultranationalist organizations that I know of in this country. I don't know much about the mother, but the father absolutely despises gaijin. Now that they know about this place, wouldn't giving her back to them pose a liability? For all we know we could have their forces crashing through the walls of this compound in the future."
"How dare you insinuate such a thing!" Saya stood up, knocking the chair flat on its back, glaring at Vladimir. "Do I look like that much of an ungrateful bitch to you?!"
He merely snorted and shrugged, unimpressed. "Say what you like. I just have a very careful disposition. We all have a common goal of survival and I am merely counting off one of the possibilities to ascertain what we must do in order to achieve that common goal. So if you wish to leave, I suggest you start making a better impression."
"Vladimir, give it a rest. It's unbecoming of you to act like a bully." Ryuji tossed the empty can of beer aimed at Vladimir's head, but he caught it deftly in midair without so much as a glance behind him.
"Sorry. Doing it to you guys gets boring after being together for as long as we can remember." He blew several rings of smoke into the air as he chuckled to himself. "Anyways, leaving the highly unlikely event of being attacked….We should expect trouble if we're going to bring them back. Who knows? Someone may die." He jammed the cigarette stub into the ashtray. "Even if we use gas masks to hide our faces, anyone aside from Vector, Christine and Ryuji have an accent in their Japanese. One slip of the tongue and things will get ugly."
"Right." Ryuji said as he loosened a rather loud belch. "The people who are one hundred percent safe going there is three people including me, since I'm acquainted with both of them. We should have at the very least two people marking each mark."
"May I assist you, if that is the case?" Everyone turned their head towards Saeko, who spoke up. "If I go, the number of people needed to cover the two will balance out. I also do remember my father speaking to a man with the name Takagi as well. Whether or not the person we are about to meet is the same one, my presence should not pose a problem. I am fully Japanese, after all."
"Better safe than sorry. We could use the numbers, so I'm all for it. Anyone else agree?" Ryuji raised his hand, and everyone else soon followed suit. "Okay, we have a unanimous decision."
"We use the Tahoe outside. We roll out tomorrow morning at 0730. Get your gear ready by then and meet down here. We adults have some….business to attend to. Michaela, Christine, if you would be so kind?" Karena lightly touched her left arm with a finger. The two nodded, and they took Shizuka along with them at the head of the line. Everyone else left the room to the second floor.
"Oh my fucking god." Kota let out a long sigh of relief. "I've never felt so high strung while eating. I couldn't tell the taste."
"Really? I think it tasted marvelous." Saeko flashed a knowing smile at Ryuji.
"You may think so since you're going to be staying, but the same can't be said for us, okay? Jeez. So, what was that hand sign?"
"What hand sign?"
"Are you seriously playing dumb with me right now?
"Are you seriously willing to risk meeting your parents in one piece?" That shut her up instantly. Although coincidental, they are still under the care of the Wolfpack. Food, temporary safety, and a place to rest were all provided by them. Their lives were in the Wolfpack's hands. They had no place there as strangers to the pack; nor were they even welcome. The only choice they had was to obey. "Look, I don't mind your being sharp, but don't ask too many questions for both our sakes. Saeko, you go with them too. Tell them you're there on my behalf."
With a small nod, she silently ascended the stairs.
"Now then, how to proceed with this negotiation?"
"What negotiation?"
"Do I really have to spell this out? There is still some risk involved in delivering you to Mr. and Mrs. Takagi. We'd like a profit of some kind if we're going through with this, like information they have about what's going on that we don't have, some fuel for the journey back and maybe even some ammo. I know for a fact that they have military grade weapons acquired through illegal channels from a U.S. Army fort in Japan and from the JSDF. If we can't get ammo.…well, two out of three ain't too bad, right?"
The Wolfpack, Shizuka and Saeko meanwhile, were getting vaccinations of the T-Virus. Although the reason for the pandemic still remains unclear and made it seem pointless, it was still a precaution worth taking than not. During this time, Michaela gave a short synopsis of part of her life story while leaving important parts vague.
"I never would've guessed that you two were former military members. Now that you say that, I can imagine you two in uniform."
"I'm a scientist by profession so I spent more time in the lab than in the battlefield though. Now that we've taken some precautions, I need to organize the things that we know about this pandemic in order to get a better understanding of the virus that caused it." Turning on the projector, Christine's laptop screen lit up on the white wallpaper.
Manmade virus (T-Virus?)
Exclusively targets humans
Slower physical activity than T-Virus contractors
High muscular strength
Relies on auditory senses only
Extreme loss of body parts or destruction of head neutralizes them
Faster infection speed than T-Virus (time varies)
Infection route: bites (saliva/blood?) others unknown
Possibilities of mutation/evolution : unknown
"Shizuka, do yourself a favor and commit these details to memory. It'll save your gra—life. I meant life." Michaela giggled quietly at Christine who was talking as if she were giving a lecture in college again.
"Yes, ma'am. But there's more that's unknown than what is known. Infection routes vary by virus types too. isn't airborne infection a possibility?"
"Good question. That is highly unlikely, thankfully. Before we got to Japan the surrounding area was infested with infected and we weren't wearing gas masks then, so if the virus were aerial, we would be long dead. My hypothesis is that it's either the blood or the saliva, or maybe a combination of the two. Or it could be something else entirely." During the two times Saya and Kota excused themselves to the restroom, their food and drinks were spiked with a milliliter of blood and saliva, respectively. However, no matter how much time passed neither one of them showed even the slightest of the early symptoms of infection, ridding the possibility of oral and mucus infection.
"So the only possibility for a healthy person to get infected is through biting?"
"That's the only known way to us that we've seen thus far, yes. I need to sleep and then leave once it's lighter out, so if you have any more questions, ask them before I leave."
"Hmmm…." Shizuka pursed her lips and frowned for a bit and asked, "what is this T-Virus? I've never heard of it."
"It'll take a while to fully explain and for you to understand so, get the abridged version from Michaela. Good night."
"Hey!" Michaela protested as Christine quickly walked off to her room and shut the door. Vector had already disappeared as well, which nobody noticed until they heard the door shut and the lock click into place. "Alright, come along. I'll tell you in my room. Make sure you take notes, because I won't be repeating myself again."
"Okay!" She smiled and followed her former mentor as if she were back on the college campus again, humming a tune.