Chapter 19:
The road to Rei's home was filled with silence, nobody wanted to talk or joke, after the news that we are now in the realms of self-help, with little or no chance of help coming. There was one shred of good news though and that was there were safe zones out there. The one nearest to us was on "Nagashima Island" about 400 miles away. About 10 days travel if we kept to the side roads and avoided what would be filled, or jammed up highways and towns full of infected. This could gave our group hope for one and a place to finally rest and maybe get some sort of normality, a goal to reach for.
The weather had changed to a thick fog causing difficult driving conditions even with the lights on visibility was down to about 10 meters every now and then the Toyota would buck and bump as it crashed into or over one of the zeds.
"Five minutes out to the next stop." Takashi shouted "Kohta up you get take top cover from Rei. Rei get down here we will be there soon."
Then as I rounded the next corner into the street that was our destination I slammed on the brakes out of the mist appeared a barricade blocking the street "Fuck me!" Came the shout from Kohta as he was bounced around in the cupola
"Sorry brother I did not see it" I chuckled out. "End of the road Takashi."
"I can see that James you dick…" came the grumpy reply as he rubbed his head after hitting the dashboard "Ok everyone out. Rei take the front you live here"
We all piled out of the Toyota leaving Kohta in the position on top to keep an eye on us and Saya in the driver's seat.
On getting out I decided that it would be best if I hang back to let the teens deal with this. Keeping a watch on them as Kohta did the same from the Toyota. I could not help much after all however I had this feeling that something was wrong with all this. The street was completely blocked off from wall to wall with furniture and doors forming a large nearly 9 foot high wall.
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"Mom hello mom it's me Rei are you there." Rei was shouting out her voice eerily echoing out in the dead streets and mist. The hope that had been building in her had finally boiled over to the point of near hysteria.
Nothing but the silence responded to her calls. Turning towards her lover as sadness creped across her face. "Takashi do you think anyone is there." Her eyes began darting back and forth doubt filling her mind "Mom! Please answer me!"
"She is not here… So go away and stop shouting you will bring the monsters on us all….." A voice from the other end of the barricade shouted back
Rei looked on with surprise at what she heard "What? Who is that? Where is she? What happened to her? Where is my mom?" she started to hysterical shout at whoever it was on the other side.
"She went out for supplies a few days ago. We have not seen her since; now go away I won't say it again."
Takashi then spoke up in frustration at the lack of information the others were willing to share "Well at least tell us where she went too."
Silence descended with no answer. "Come on you bastards what are you not telling….."
"GUN!"
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At this point I was about to say something until some movement in the middle of the barricade opposite Takashi caught my eye. Then as a dark slim object was pushed through the gap "What the fuck is…" as I recognised what it was my instincts kicked into high gear.
"GUN!" I shouted losing off a volley of 5.7mm at the barrel that appeared through part of the barricade as I dove on Takashi. looking across Kohta had dived on Rei. The shotgun responded firing a loud boom as the dear slugs peppered the Toyota where Takashi and Rei where once stood.
Rolling with my momentum and landing on one knee I returned fire with a long burst of half the 50 round magazine on the P90. Turning as I fired I could see Kohta doing the same with his AR-10, firing rapid single shots into the area the shot came from the barricade started to hiss and spit bits of wood and debris as the bullets slammed into it.
"Get in the car!" Takashi yelled as I heard the engine fire up Saya had taken the opportunity to start it up and move into the cupola now firing her mp5 at the barricade.
Kohta actually took charge from this point shouting at Takashi and Rei "You go we will cover you now move James cover fire them then we will withdraw!"
"Got you!" I slowed down my rate of fire to a more controlled pace now placing well aimed shots at the area of the shotgun barrel as it was pulled away and returned for another exchange.
"James you first I will cover MOVE!" Kohta then ordered me for all his shyness and nervous quiet traits it was good to see him thrive in this, under the ultimate pressure of a fire fight he was becoming a true soldier that even my uncle would have been proud to serve with.
"Moving!" I shouted to Kohta letting him know that I was up and running for the car, reloading on the move, as we started a sequence of fire and movement.
"Covering!" Was his shout as the CQC training we had practiced kicked in? The act of fire and movement is a simple concept that is nobody moves unless someone is providing cover fire. Key to this is aggression, speed , momentum and weight of fire. Achieve all three and you can pretty much roll over any foe that gets in your way.
Sliding to a halt next to the car door jumping behind the now open door , turning then firing a short burst "Move!" bam the shot gun sounded again taking out the front left wheel. Another set of bursts from me as Kohta ran for the vehicle
"Moving!" Kohta was now up and running. Fucking hell for someone that is still a little heavy set, he can run when it's needed. I heard Saya scream "fucking fat ass!" at Kohta as he pulled her from the top of the Toyota. "I'm in."
"Then let's get the fuck out of here." Takashi shouted out as he fired his last few shots at the barricade. Then dove into the passenger side of the car.
Not needing to be told twice I jumped in and slammed the gears into reverse, checked everyone was in. Then gunned the motor it roared into life catapulting us in reverse back down the road, with a flick of the wheel and a pull of the handbrake the 2 ton car was slid round to face the other way stalling out the engine as more dear slugs peppered the back of the car. Thank fuck it was only dear shot.
"move! move! move!" Takashi was shouting at me.
"Really you think! And I was just going to ask if they had the kettle on for some fucking tea!" I shouted back as I fumbled with the key, switching back on the engine to wheel spin away as fast as I could get the Toyota to move down the street away from the barricade. The steering became heave as the shot tyre lost its pressure. Thank god for bead lockers and run flats or this could get interesting and end up as a walk home.
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"Just… what happened? They were my friends and neighbours. How can they do this where is my mom?" Rei sank into a deep depression all her hopes where smashed. First was the news that, there is no help then her dad was nowhere to be found and now her mom is gone. She felt truly alone and in despair that was until a voice called out
"Rei!" the girl looked up to see who it was that called her name straight at Takashi but he was talking with James giving him instructions "Rei!" there it was again but this time a hand grasped hers It was Saya "Don't think about it, trust me I know it hurts but don't." If there was anyone that could probably understand it was Saya as she had lost her parents' when they ran from her home, the worst part about it though was leaving them to an unknown fate.
Turning to the pink haired girl Rei could only nod a reply to her then Saya did something Rei though she would never do in all the years they had known her. She hugged Rei. Saya had always been a bit cold towards her, more because of the way she had treated Takashi in the past she reckoned.
Rei had thought of Saya as a love rival at one point, until she realised it was more a brotherly and sisterly love that they shared, but then Rei was always quick to become jealous of any girl that caught Takashi's eye, even when she was with Hisashi. But now she just wanted him to recognise that she is hurting like she did for him yesterday.
However Takashi was deep in thought of what should happen next most of the whole day had been a bust with bad news after bad news. Then to cap it all off he is going to have to keep his family together longer and what is going to be a long journey 400 miles was it even possible in their current state they were lucky just now as nobody had been hurt, but 400 miles, Luck can it last that long? can it?
"James what do you recon?"
"About what brother?" came the staunch reply?
"The safe zone can we make It?" after all was that not their new goal to get somewhere safe, so he could guide his family. The thought then made him chuckled a little to himself. Family this rag tag bunch of survivors they are my family now.
"Yes. If we drive during the night rest up through the day, avoided large towns and cities then I see no reason why not." he lied a little and also had hope but deep down something was nagging at him that they will probably lose someone on what is a long and dangerous journey.
More because of the great unknown than the members of their group. The other problem with that, as he thought about it, was they had all become very interdependent on each other. each brining skills such as Takashi's leadership, Saya's brains, Kohta's natural ability at shooting, Saeko's deadly closes in fighting, James's powers of observation and gut instincts, Rei's positive outlook the cup is always half full with her, Shizuka's exceptional medical skill, and Alice as the reminder of innocents and a driving force to keep her safe. That is what locked their team into a strong unit, but the weakness there is if you remove one then the houses of cards could fall.
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At the end of the street in an abandoned house that looked towards the clinic two men sat watching.
The first Maeko Kri an overweight ex company CEO and he was bitter. Bitter that his world collapsed and where he once held influence on others, He was now a lackey tasked with gaining information to possible resources. "So what do you recon Saeto-san." he asked his partner as he planned what they should do.
Saeto was slimmer than the other man. He was a street sweeper in the old world and was happy that he was surviving, even thought it was at the cost of others. At first he found it hard to justify killing, but now it still bothered him just not as much. "About what? Those creatures or the kids in the hospital?"
"What do you think dip shit… the fucking kids held up in that hospital."
"hmmm well if you ask me we could easily take what we want. There is only about seven of them, we just go up to the gate with some more of the men and demand what we need. They ether give it to us or well… well that will be up to boss Tanaka." He could still not bring himself to say it even though he knew what the answer was.
"You know it will not happen that way… but let's stay a little longer see what we can see." Maeko turned away from Saeto. Then as he started looking through his binoculars he mumbled under his breath "The poor fuckers… don't know how bad it is about to get for them."
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The Toyota limped back into the compound of the clinic as Saeko closed the gate and looked on at the cracked glass and dented body work wondering just what had happened. It was as the tired and weary team got out, or more like flopped out. She then queried the first to walk past her Kohta "What happened out there?"
Looking up with a set of tired eyes Kohta mumbled he was just too tired to think too much about it "Long story short we got shot at and on our own." He limped off next to Saya who only said "I need sleep."
Looking around she spotted Takashi And Rei having a moment. Deciding it was best not to interrupt she then looked for James Who was already under the Toyota. Walking up to him she gave his leg a playful kick, only to see him slide out from underneath and looking directly at her with the expression of fucked off.
"What?" he grumpily said until he seen who it was staring down at him, eyes narrowing to his rudeness "Oh… Saeko… hi… sorry just a long day."
Seeing the frustration and anger in his eyes she let slide the rude comment and softened up to him. Kneeling down next to him she placed a hand on his chest "Tell me about it."
Taking her offed hand he looked at the girl next to him and sighd "I will just let me see how fucked this is first."
"I take it its bad news then?"
Grumbling James answered her "You could say that. But then do we get much else these days."
"No we don't" was all Saeko could say after the chat she had with Shizuka about her body.
After getting up James cursed again "Shit well that's the Toyota totalled the dear shot has ruptured the radiator and punctured 2 tyres" patting the bonnet he then mumbled "You did us well in the short time we had you old girl" turning round he then saw that Saeko was holding out her hand
"Well let's go in and you can tell me all about it over some tea."
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I had just finished inspecting the Toyota to find that it was busted big time it would need two new tyres and a radiator as some of the buckshot had holed one of the end caps on the core no chance of fixing it out here. But more importantly I was now walking with Saeko to get some tea. the other nagging feeling I was having was the all-round bad news of we are royally fucked.
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Saeko huffed I knew she did not like getting ignored but I was a bit distracted thinking and trying to plan ahead and as selfish as this sounds, the only plan I had was for Saeko and myself, if things went south.
"Arrrgh." Saeko had punched my shoulder giving me that dead arm, feeling she must of got pissed off at my not answering her. "What was that for?"
Looking at me through knitted eye brows and squinting eyes. "You were ignoring me."
"Sorry I'm kind of distracted at the moment, long day with a lot to take in."
"And that is what I want to know. Then I will tell you about my day." she explained as we rounded a corner into the small kitchen and for her to go off to boil some water.
Taking a seat on a stool and leaning my head on my hands, I asked her. "So do you want the bad news, or the fucking bad news?"
Stopping what she was doing and looking at me, her eyes widened. "It's that bad." all I could do was nod slowly. "Ok the terrible first."
"Well in a nut shell no help is coming…" I let that statement sink in, looking for some reaction. But with Saeko being Saeko there was none. Just the same plain expression she always holds. "The last evacuation from the city was 6 days ago and we have about 400 miles to the nearest established safe zone on some island."
"You're right it is fucking bad." Saeko finally said after a long silence.
Smiling a little. "You cursed… I must be rubbing off on you."
"No the situation called for it and I've been known to swear form time to time. Anyway what do you think we should do?"
Thinking to myself for a moment before I tackled that question. The thing is if it was up to me, which it is not. I would of said fuck this shit, packed us both up and got the fuck out of here. But knowing that she would keep her word to Takashi, that was not going to be an option. "At the moment I don't know… I have a small idea if things go south, but I need time to work out the kinks before I can come up with a plan."
"What kind of Plan James?" She had the tone of voice, that said it better not be what I'm thinking, as she slowly placed her hands on her hips.
"Look… all I'm doing is a bit of forward contingency planning. Just a bit of what if, nothing more." It was the truth and a lie at the same time. The contingency being we fucking ditch this lot and go it alone and if things get bad, or if we get split up, not bother looking for the rest. But it was exactly that a contingence for the worst case scenario. "We have to wait until Takashi get his shit together, probably after he has some sleep but don't expect to stay in this city for much longer."
"But what of Sensei's friend, I thought we are going to look for her and Rie's parent's?"
"Well Rei's parents… both of them are a bust. Her father and mother are missing with little or no hope of finding them and that's brings me onto what happened about an hour ago." It was then I explained what happened at the barricade in Rei's street. The gun fight, the shooting without warning and what happened at the police station.
"My god… it's that bad out there now."
"Yep Takashi asked me what our chances are of getting to the safe zone and I lied to him, saying it was good. But to be honest… I recon we will lose one maybe two of us… before we get there and that with minimising our exposure, By keeping off main roads and well out of urban areas."
"So other survivors have finally started to realise, that the old world is gone and laws are only as good as their morals."
"Yes and that makes staying in the city a bad idea. So I reckon we will be here another day or two max and as for Shizuka friend, well we don't even know where to start."
As I finished my story Saeko passed me a cup of tea. Taking a sip of the sweet liquid savouring the warmth as it spread through my body, I broke into a smile and tried to change the mood and conversation. "So how was your day?"
Looking at me Saeko started to blush a bit. "Educational is the best way to put it."
"So Shizuka was a bit graphic then?"
Turning redder by the second she nodded in agreement. "Yes… I think she needs a man as the longest conversation was all about sex and what will happen to me."
"and?"
With a small sigh Saeko answered the question. "No sex after 6 months. But we can do other things."
Stunned for a second at her choice of reply I decided to rephrases the question. "I did not mean that I meant about you what will happen to you."
Hiding her mouth as she nervously laughed struggling to regain her cool. "I… Er ok, I will be ok for the next six weeks. But after that I will need to step down and that will be hard for me to do."
Taking another sip of my tea I then placed the cup down and pulled her into a hug "I know you like fighting, but now we have other things to think about. So we had better tell everyone soon."
"I know and I am tonight at evening meal… by the way its fish stew again."
"Hmmm sounds good, but it depends did you make it."
"Yes…. you don't think I would intrust anyone else to cook for my man now. Do you?"
Laughing at her mock hurt, I replied the only way I knew how, by giving her a kiss. Only to be interrupted by a quiet cough from Rei.
Turning to the noise we both looked at the redhead with the bug antenna hair do.
"Sorry to interrupt…. But Takashi wants to talk to everyone in two hours."
"Yep we will be there." Braking up from the embrace from Saeko I waked over to Rei "How are you doing? You know with today and all?"
Then the unexpected happened. Rei threw herself at me embracing me tightly and with a voice that strained barley holding back the tears she spoke. "Not good James-san."
Seeing the tinge jealousy in Saeko's eyes, I gave Rei a friendly pat on the back. "You are probably best doing this with Takashi than me lass."
Pulling herself away from me she then moved over to Saeko gripping her in a tight hug. "Saeko-san you called me sister once and I'm sorry for that just now, but I just want to be held and Takashi is well he is being Takashi."
Looking at me equally stunned was a shocked set of sapphire eyes, as she fought for the right words. Putting on for all intense purposes' that I could see, a good big sister routine wrapping her arms around the now crying girl. "Rei… my sister you can stay as long as you like."
Looking at the two of them I decided that it was time I was not there. "I'll go talk with Takashi and see what's up how's that?" Saeko looked down at Rei then over to me, nodding her reluctant approval her eyes giving away that she was not happy. All Rei did was nod, as she buried herself more into Saekos chest.
I walked over to Saeko and brushed her cheek. "we will catch up properly tonight." then turned and went looking for Takashi, all the time thinking I hope I don't have to play dad here.
Authors note: Sorry for the delay I started on another project and completely forgot to post this. I completely re wrote this chapter last night adding some action as Im feeling pissed of at the minute but anyway that's enough of my drama's.
Pleases follow and review.