Alrighty, other than the fact that this chapter has a lemon scene in it, I have nothing important to tell you. Oh, and the rest of their pasts will be revealed (well, the crap that I've been stalling to explain, I should say). Enjoy the chapter.
Dark Sanctuary
Chapter 16: Secrets Come Out
Nearly an hour had passed since the Survivors had arrived at the safe room, deciding it be best to rest for a few hours. They had all since washed the blood off their skin and out of their hair for the most part. Their clothes were still stained with crimson splatters, but they had done their best to at least get rid of the excess stickiness. Within the two rooms of the building, each contained two couches and a recliner, and there was a small bathroom as well in the room with the vending machines. After they had all eaten a bit of the junk food and reloaded their guns, the only thing on their minds was to sleep.
Tommy, Kouji, and Kouichi stayed in the main room, Kouichi opting to sleep on the recliner, while Takuya and Zoe each took a couch in the next room over. A door could be used to separate the rooms, but it had been decided that it would stay open for safety purposes. Within a storage closet, there had been a few blankets, each one being distributed to the five of them while their damp clothes dried.
Wrapped up tightly in her blanket, Zoe tossed and turned on the couch she was sleeping on, reliving the nightmare she had gone through recently. It was still fresh in her mind as if it had happened only yesterday.
Seven days ago
Zoe stared at her parents' bedroom, her face furrowed into a worried frown. It had been three days since they had been attacked, and they had begun acting strange not even twelve hours later. They hardly left their room, ignoring work and refusing to come out even to eat. Zoe had tried to find out whether or not they were feeling alright, but her parents insisted that they were fine. The blond knew better though, as her parents were growing more and more hostile each time she asked them. She had begun hearing strange noises within the room, most of it sounding like mumbled curses and hisses.
Finally, she woke up on that third night, hearing a crashing noise coming from downstairs. Bolting out of her bed silently, she snuck into the hallway and slowly made her way to the staircase. Craning her neck and squinting through the darkness, she could see two figures slinking around in the living room, growling and knocking several things over. With her heart pounding, she quietly went to her parents' bedroom to alert them. However, she found the door to be locked and she was too afraid to knock, not wanting to alert the intruders.
"Shit," she mumbled to herself. "What should I do?"
After a moment of debating with herself, she went into her father's office and made her way to his gun cabinet. Swallowing with anxiety, she gingerly unlocked it with the key that he kept under a paperweight on his desk. Zoe then unlocked the cabinet and took out the first thing she saw; a pistol. She checked to see if it was loaded, then hurriedly jammed a few bullets into the chamber. Holding her breath, she slowly made her way back into the hallway, cautiously walking down the stairs once again. A loud crash was heard from the living room, causing Zoe to almost scream in surprise. The intruders didn't seem to notice her approaching and they continued to destroy the room, growling and grunting as they did so. With her hand shaking, Zoe quickly flicked on the light switch the illuminate the room and pointed the gun at the two people. Yet the second the light shone onto them, Zoe's heart stopped momentarily.
"M-Mom? D-Dad?" she stammered, her emerald eyes wide with horror.
The two 'intruders' were, in fact, her parents, though they looked like something out of a horror film. Their skin had turned a sickly color that made them look as though they were walking corpses. Their clothes and faces were splattered with what looked like blood, though Zoe had no idea where it had come from. Her parents' eyes seemed to be glowing unnaturally, giving them an eerie appearance.
Zoe felt as though she were going to faint, then noticed bite marks on their skin, undoubtedly a result from their attack. The marks looked to be infected, as they oozed slightly with yellow pus.
"W-What happened to you guys?" Zoe asked, her voice barely audible.
Yet instead of answering, they hissed at her, slowly ambling towards their daughter a second later. The blond backed up cautiously, her hands trembling so much that she couldn't aim the gun straight. She somehow managed to click off the safety, though her skin had paled drastically. Her father bared his teeth, revealing them to be yellowing and stained with red streaks. Her mother's was the same, and her nails were covered in blood as well.
"D-Don't come any closer," Zoe warned, though her voice cracked as the words left her mouth. "I-I'll shoot you."
Her parents did not falter and kept approaching her ominously, a look of bloodthirst in their eyes. Mr. Orimoto let out a guttural growl, as if he were some type of animal. He then clumsily stumbled forward at his daughter, trying to swipe at her with his hands. Zoe jumped back with a scream, just barely missing the attack.
"Stop it!" she cried out, tears beginning to run down her face.
However, Mr. Orimoto lunged at her a second time, his teeth ready to sink into her flesh. At that same moment, Zoe squeezed the trigger in a panic. A bullet hole appeared his cheek, leaking a bit of blood. Yet the wound did not seem to stop him completely, and he continued to make his way over to her. Making a heart-breaking decision, Zoe pulled the trigger two more times, hitting her father through his right eye and open mouth. Mrs. Orimoto lunged forward as well, only to be shot by the three remaining bullets in the chamber. She and her husband collapsed onto the floor, a pool of blood soon surrounding each of them.
Zoe dropped the gun, looking at their corpses in horror. It clattered to the floor, the sound echoing through Zoe's ears in the silent house. Falling to her knees, the blond stared at her parents, not believing what she had just done. The tears flowed down her face faster, and she threw herself over their dead bodies, letting out a cry of anguish.
"Zoe? Are you okay? Zoe?"
The sound of someone's voice snapped Zoe awake, and she immediately sat up on the couch, panting heavily. Takuya was beside her, his face filled with confusion as he gazed at her. Zoe had broken out in a cold sweat during the nightmare, and her panicked breathing made the brunette worried.
"What's the matter?" he asked her. "Have a nightmare or something?"
"Yeah," she finally replied, letting out a humorless chuckle. "If you wanna call it that..."
Takuya raised an eyebrow. "Something more than just a nightmare?"
"I don't really wanna talk about it," Zoe told him, refusing to make eye contact with him.
"Alright." The soldier stared at her for several seconds, debating with himself. "If you change your mind, I'll be right over there."
Just as he was about to go back to his couch, Zoe suddenly grabbed hold of his arm. "Wait..."
Takuya sat down so that he was facing her, hoping that she'd finally open up to him. Although he was only in a pair of boxers, he didn't seem to notice. Zoe herself was wearing only a red laced bra and matching panties, though she was covered in her blanket.
The blond looked down at the floor for a moment before she finally spoke. "Have you ever done something that you regretted?"
"Depends. What do you mean?" Takuya asked. "Did you do something that you shouldn't have?"
"I don't know...it was probably the right decision at first...and the only option at the time. But I've regretted it ever since..." Zoe's voice trailed off and Takuya could see her eyes clouding with tears.
"Instead of beating around the bush, why don't you just tell me? I'm not going to make you feel bad about it. If whatever you did was the only choice at the time, then there's really nothing you could've done about it." He shifted slightly in his seat. "Now tell me; what did you do?"
Zoe sighed, keeping her gaze at the floor. "About ten days ago, my parents went out to dinner and came home several hours later. Since my apartment had flooded, I was staying with them temporarily until the damages had been fixed. But anyway, when they finally got home, they told me that they had been attacked. Their clothes were torn and dirty, and they each had a few bite marks on their skin..."
Takuya flinched, knowing where her story was going. "They became infected..."
She nodded solemnly. "Yeah... For the next three days, my parents stayed in their bedroom and refused to come out, even to eat. They kept their door locked, so I was unable to go in and check on them. Each time I called to them to see how they were feeling, they grew angrier as the hours passed. Finally, on that third night, I woke up and heard someone in the living room, destroying things. So I went to my father's office and went though his gun cabinet..."
"And then what happened?" Takuya asked quietly, not wanting to wake the others in the next room over.
"I went downstairs and turned on the lights, only to find out that the room was being wrecked by my parents. By then they had been completely infected with the pandemic and they didn't even recognize me. They must've left the house at some point because they were both smeared with blood," the blond told him, her voice beginning to crack. "They tried to attack me and I did the only thing that I could to stop them."
"You killed them?" He inquired, already knowing the answer.
Zoe buried her face in her hands, letting out a sob. "It was the only thing I could do at the time. It tore me apart to do it, but I had to."
"You did the right thing, Zoe." Takuya pulled her into his arms, allowing her to cry into his chest. "They might've looked like your parents...but they weren't anymore. I would've done the same thing in your position."
"I still don't feel any better about it, though," she replied miserably. "I should've just run out of the house and left them. There was probably another way to-"
"You did what you had to," he interrupted her. "I know that it hurt you to do it, but you would've been killed or infected if you hadn't."
Zoe didn't reply, but continued to cry softly. Takuya began to gently stroke her silky locks, all of the blood having been washed away. He felt a cold metal against his skin suddenly, causing him to jump slightly. However, when Zoe moved away, he saw that it was a necklace around her neck.
"What's that?" he asked her.
"A locket that my parents gave me for my sixteenth birthday," she said with a sigh.
Takuya gazed at her for a moment. "You really miss them, huh?"
"Yeah, but there's really nothing I can do about it. There gone and I'll just have to deal with it. I'm sure you miss your family as well." Zoe gave him a brief smile. "Hopefully you'll get to see them again soon."
"I don't know if I will," he told her in a grave voice. "There's a good chance that we won't make it out of here alive. I mean, eventually we'll run out of ammo, bombs, any type of protection. The number of infected humans keeps growing, no matter how many of them we shoot. It's very likely that we'll be overcome soon enough. They might try to infect us if they don't kill us."
Zoe smirked. "I'd rather put a bullet in my head than let that happen. After seeing what it did to my parents, if I have only one bullet left before we get mobbed, it's going right through my temple."
"Can't say I'd disagree with you on that point." The soldier turned a bit red as he finally realized that he was only in his boxers. "Ah, shit..."
Just as he was about to jump up to grab his blanket, Zoe gently grabbed hold of his arm. "Stay with me..."
Takuya gazed into her eyes, feeling his face heat up. She had turned a light shade of pink, slightly embarrassed by what she had just requested. The brunette couldn't stop himself as he leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. Zoe's eyes widened slightly, but then they closed as their kiss deepened, growing more passionate. She gently nibbled on his lower lip for a moment, then felt his tongue invade her mouth. The blond allowed him to do so, vaguely aware of him pushing her down.
Takuya laid her down, gently pulling the blanket away from her body. However, he suddenly pulled away and got off the couch, his face heating up. He then went to the door that separated the two rooms and quietly closed it.
"I know that we agreed to keep it open, but I'd rather that they didn't walk in," Takuya said as he made his way back over to her.
Upon his return to the couch, Zoe reached up and pulled him down on top of her again, kissing his lips sensually. Takuya tugged down one of her bra straps, then lightly bit down on her exposed shoulder. Zoe moaned softly, running her hands up and down his muscular torso. They stopped at his waist, where her fingers began to play with the waistband of his boxers. She could feel his hardness poking at her, throbbing with excitment. Zoe felt him reach underneath her, unclipping her lacy red bra. Takuya then discarded it off to the side, revealing her ample breasts. He cupped them into his hands, gently kneading the twin peaks in his fingers. His thumbs ran over her hardening nipples, causing the blond to shudder slightly.
Zoe tugged his boxers down past his ass, but could reach no further due to the position. Yet seconds later, he had pulled them off the rest of the way, and tugged her panties down as well.
Climbing on top of her, his stiff tip rubbed at her wet core, causing friction between the two. Zoe gripped onto his broad shoulders, biting down into one of them. Takuya gradually slid into her, concentrating on trying not to hurt her. However, Zoe wrapped her legs around his waist, inviting him to go deeper and faster. The soldier leaned down and kissed her again, silencing a moan that had begun to escape. Takuya worked his hips back and forth, thrusting in and out of the girl.
"Oh, god..." Zoe's breathing sped up a bit, feeling as he hit the right spots perfectly.
Takuya's momentums grew faster, his manhood being deliciously engulfed by her tight walls. Soon his tanned skin was glistening, rubbing up against hers as their body temperatures rose. They kept up the pace for several more minutes, not wanting the moment to end. Zoe wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling him as her walls began to clench around him.
The brunette grunted, feeling himself growing closer to his climax. Seconds later her felt himself release his seed deep inside her, letting his fluids mix with her juices. Zoe gasped softly as Takuya emptied himself, feeling the gush of his warm liquid. Finally, the soldier collapsed on top of her, panting. He stared down at Zoe, brushing a damp strand of hair off her forehead. The blond smiled up at him, tired from the ordeal. She kissed him passionately, not wanting his body to leave hers.
"Well, you want to hear some good news?" Takuya asked her after a moment.
"Sure, what is it?" she inquired.
He smirked. "If our zombie friends try to eat us, at least we know that we don't die as virgins."
"But...I wasn't a virgin," Zoe told him, raising an eyebrow.
"Me neither, but now we have a sense of insurance so that we definitely won't die as virgins," Takuya replied cheekily.
The blond chuckled softly as she shook her head in disbelievement. "Idiot..."
In the next room over, the others had slept right through Takuya and Zoe's little session, undisturbed. Tommy was lying facedown on his designated couch, having a dream of his own. Like Zoe's, it was more than just a mere dream, however.
Two days ago
The entire building was virtually deserted, not a single soul to be seen. Tommy cautiously made his way to the elevator, debating on whether or not he should just leave. Nearly everyone had called out sick for the past few days, leaving only Tommy and a handful of employees during those times. Yet it seemed that now Tommy was completely alone on this particular day, as he hadn't seen a single car in the parking garage. He had resisted the temptation of calling out sick as well, though Eric had threatened to fire him if he pulled such a stunt. Eric himself had been looking worse and worse with each passing day, his complexion sickly and his hair looking stringy.
The nineteen year-old finally approached the elevator, pushing the button to get him to his designated floor. The 'ding' seemed to be louder than normal, especially with the absence of human life within the building. Tommy quickly entered the elevator, feeling a bit paranoid as he waited for the doors to close. It then began to slowly ascend to the third floor, a low humming sound being heard as it made its way up.
"I really don't wanna be here," Tommy murmured to himself as he gently tugged at his tie to loosen it slightly. "I don't wanna deal with Jackass today..."
He finally arrived at his desired floor, briskly walking towards the conference room where Eric had told him to report to. Tommy clutched at his briefcase tightly, letting out a dreaded sigh. He had been ordered to go over several packets of paperwork the night before, though he had only managed to read through half of it before falling asleep.
"Whatever," he muttered to himself. "If he bitches, I'll smack him over the head with my fucking briefcase..."
After a few seconds, he finally got to the conference room, where his boss was aleady waiting for him. However, Eric had his back turned to Tommy, so the brunette was unable to see how he looked from his 'sickness'.
"I...uh...read through most of those packets, sir." Tommy nervously opened his briefcase, worried about his boss bitching him out. "There were only a few that I didn't have time to get to, though. I only got a few hours of sleep last night even after I reviewed them, so if you're mad at me, then I'm sorry."
Eric did not respond, but seemed to be staring out the window vacantly. His hair looked even worse than it had previously, it now looking like a tangled mess. From what Tommy could see, he was still a sickly color, and his suit appeared to be the same one he had worn yesterday, as it was rumpled with wrinkles and a coffee stain.
"Sir?" Tommy paused to stare at the man for several seconds. "Are you okay?"
After what seemed like an eternity, Eric finally turned around in a sluggish manner. His eyes seemed to be filled with madness, and his bared teeth were yellowed with grime.
"Oh, god..." Tommy looked at him, appalled and anxious. "What the fuck happened to you?"
Eric suddenly began to amble over to him, letting out a hiss. Tommy immediately ran away from him, going around the large table in the room. His boss continued to pursue him, circling the table in order to get to the younger man.
"What the hell, Eric? What's gotten into you?" Tommy asked, his voice laced with fear. "If you're not feeling well, I can bring you to the hospital."
Yet the sickly man continued to pursue him, his eyes dark with malice. He then surprised Tommy by jumping on top of the table and walking across to get to his employee.
"Oh, shit..." Tommy sprinted back around the table to grab his briefcase, swinging it just as Eric leapt at him.
The blow sent Eric flying off the table and crashing into a wall. Although slightly disoriented, he seemed relatively uninjured from the hit. Tommy frantically looked around to find something that he could use as a weapon. He then spotted a heavy paperweight on the table, praying that it would do some damage.
Eric slowly rose back up, looking as though he would rip the younger man to shreds. With shaking hands, Tommy gripped the metallic object, noticing that it weighed at least five to seven pounds.
"Sir, I don't want to have to use this," he said shakily, realizing how ridiculous he sounded by threatening his boss with a paperweight.
Eric hissed at him, then stumbled over as he slashed his nails at the brunette. Tommy ducked away, then slammed the weight down on top of his boss's head. With a splatter of blood, the man collapsed onto the floor, convulsing slightly. However, to Tommy's horror, he was beginning to rise back to his feet, growling as he did so. Making a grueling decision, Tommy rammed the weight down a second time on top of Eric's head. Once his boss had fallen back to the floor, Tommy slammed the weight onto him over and over again, spraying his suit in a crimson shower.
Seconds later, he dropped the weight, letting it fall into a puddle of blood. For several moments, he stared at his boss's unmoving body, the head partially caved in. Tommy swallowed back a bit of bile that had risen to the back of his throat, repulsed by the scene. Yet as disgusted and freaked out as he was, he couldn't help but feel a tiny twinge of satisfaction.
With a groggy groan, Tommy slowly opened his eyes. A tiny smile flickered across his face and as he rolled over to go back to sleep, he only had one thought in mind. That bastard deserved it...
Meanwhile, Kouji was having his own odd dream, though it wasn't exactly a flashback of any sort.
"What the hell?"
Kouji slowly wandered down a hallway, then went through a doorway in the complete darkness. A moment later, he was roughly grabbed by someone and dragged over to an unseen area.
"Hey! What the fuck!" he shouted, trying to break free.
However, he was immediately pushed down onto a chair and the lights were suddenly turned back on. Shielding his face from the bright lights, he could hear cheering and clapping all around him. Once he had grown used to the brightness, he moved his hand away, surprised at what he saw. Kouji was on some type of stage, and an audience of the infected were seated in several rows of chairs. Upon further inspection, the raven-haired man realized that he was on some type of game show.
"What the fuck is going on?" he demanded.
A moment later, a Smoker wandered over to him, wearing a brightly colored suit. The Smoker seemed to be hosting the event, and he approached Kouji with excitement.
"Okay, Kouji. You are the next contestant on our dating show! Would you like to begin?" he inquired.
"What?" Kouji gaped at him, too stupified to move.
"Yup. You are on the dating show 'I Want to Date a Flesh Eater'! And here are your choices of our lovely ladies.
The Smoker then lowered a curtain to reveal three more chairs that were inhabited by other people. Kouji continued to gape at the three women, his eyes bulging out of his head.
"Our first beautiful lady is none other than a Witch! She hates loudness and company, usually preferring to be alone. But she wears only a few articles of clothing, making her quite a catch!" the Smoker said.
"I don't believe this," Kouji mumbled.
The Smoker moved to the next pick. "Our next gorgeous lady is a Spitter. I wouldn't advise kissing her, as her acid will burn away your tongue, mouth, or anything else for that matter. But she is a sucker for jewelry, so you can get on her good side by giving her a ring!"
Kouji's left eye twitched, watching as a bit of acid leaked from the Spitter's eroded mouth.
"And our last lovely contestant is a female Boomer!" the Smoker told him. "She is very bloated, has oozing sores all over her body, and disgusting bile that she may want to spray you with. But she will be smitten with you if you buy her some new clothes to cover her huge rolls of fat. I'd say that's one the easiest ways to win over a woman!"
"You're fucking kidding me..." Kouji grumbled, smacking his forehead.
"So who will the lucky woman be? The Witch? The Spitter? Or the female Boomer? You have thirty seconds on the clock to pick your woman!" The Smoker dramatically pointed to a clock. "Thirty seconds!"
Kouji suddenly bolted awake, his eyes still wide with confusion. He glanced over at Kouichi and Tommy's sleeping forms, before finally lying back down on his couch. Shaking his head in disbelievement, he grumbled one last sentence before letting sleep overtake him again.
"What the fuck are those pills doing to me?"
And that is the end of the chapter. I hope you enjoyed its lemony goodness and Kouji's crazy dream. I couldn't resist putting something stupid just for the hell of it. And by that I mean Kouji's dream, not the lemon. *eye twitches* Although I think that the lemon scene I wrote was mediocre. I didn't want to do TOO much detail, but I also wasn't too into writing it. I dunno, I usually need to be in a certain mood to write decent lemons, so I don't think that this one was great by any means. Anyway, please review and the next chapter will be out whenever I get the chance. Only two chapters left!
Also, if there is anything that you think I forgot to reveal, just ask me and I'll tell you the answers. Sorry, but it's been awhile since I've worked on this story and I'm sure that I forgot to explain one or two things along the way.
