(A/N: Hey guys sorry for the wait. We are back! I've been updating another fic of mine for the longest time so that's what took this chapter so long. Ready? Here we go!)
Disclaimer: High School of the Dead and Black Lagoon copyright their respective owners
Somewhere in Japan
Having survived the night, with a new companion in tow, Takashi and his friends, plus the school nurse Shizuka Marikawa, had taken a Humvee into the river to cross it to the other side of town. With all the bridges blockaded off, it was imperative that they find another means to get across. As Kohta had pointed out, the river was currently low tide, and Shizuka had found a raft button on her friend's Humvee so the group was traversing the shallow river to the other side. However, as they crossed, Kohta, who was sitting on the roof with a pair of binoculars for signs of them, noticed that they were slowly drifting down shore. He looked in the opposite direction, towards the bridge they were drifting away from and saw storm clouds off in the distance.
Takashi climbed out from down below and sat next to his friend and classmate. "What's up Hirano?" he asked.
"See that?" Kohta pointed to the storm clouds as he let Takashi view through one of the lenses.
"Yeah, looks like a storm's brewing." Takashi responded.
"With the way the clouds are formed it probably won't reach us here. It'll stay in the Pacific and disperse up north towards Alaska across the International Date Line." Kohta informed. "However, it's pushing the Humvee down the river."
"Where do you think the storm's originating?" Takashi asked.
"You got me, but I'd say anyone leaving Russia by boat would be in a real jam." Kohta stated.
"Hey!" Saya poked her head out from within the vehicle. "We didn't ask you to keep watch and be Mr. Meteorologist! You're supposed to be watching for 'Them' remember?"
"Right, sorry Takagi-san." Kohta apologized.
"Why don't you take a break?" Takashi offered. "I'll keep a look out for a while and then we'll switch back."
"Sure thing." Kohta said and went back into the vehicle to catch twenty winks as he passed his binoculars to the black haired youth.
Somewhere off the coast of Roanapur
It had gone to all hell only half an hour after Dutch had told everyone to get below deck. The Lagoon was a sturdy boat, and it had endured its fair share of storms, but this was something else. The blasted thing had raged for an entire week before slowly dying down- over several days, of course- and it had nearly capsized god knew how many times.
It pissed Revy off something incredible to feel this helpless, this left out to the whims of nature, to a force so powerful that she was an ant next to a giant, wholly insignificant. She could only wait for it to die down and rely on Dutch's skill. The helplessness made her angry.
When it did die down, they had been thrown so far off course, it was impossible to tell where they were. There was only water, from horizon to horizon. The fuel was running low, and though supplies were not much a problem- the Vysotniki duo had, only hours after the seas had calmed, put long lines out and in short order caught a marlin, soon cut up, gutted and prepared for eating- they were reduced to drifting until they had the slightest idea where to go.
If they turned the engine on without knowing where to go, they might easily end up going deeper out at sea- so drifting it was. Fortunately, the water supplies had survived the storm just fine; they could last weeks.
And weeks it took, too- so long that many of the crew had begun losing hope. But as the situation became more desperate, finally there was the cry of "Land ho!" from Rotton, who had lookout duty at the time. After it was confirmed that it was not some heat-induced hallucination, Dutch finally risked starting up the battered engine, steering towards the barely visible coastline. Where they were, he had no idea- only that they were far from the isolated safehouse Balalaika had prepared. Oh well…
The sky had remained as dark and dreary as Revy's typical attitude and showed signs of getting progressively worse. As the Lagoon sputtered towards its desired destination, a crack of thunder sounded.
"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me." Revy grumbled.
The waters became turbulent fast, and the rain came pouring down like coins out of a lotto machine that had just hit the jackpot. As if that wasn't bad enough, lightning began to flash, and it was rather close; so close that Rock had nearly been blinded by the first bolt. Thankfully, Dutch's thick shades had kept him from being the least bit disturbed by the lightning.
"Dutch, maybe we should stop the boat. If we try to fight the tide we'll get shipwrecked for sure." Rock panicked.
"We have to go for it." Benny responded. "Who knows when we're going to find another spot to land?"
"Well yeah but…" Rock was cut off by a wave crashing against the port side of the torpedo boat, shaking the entire seaworthy vessel.
"Come on, girl," Dutch spoke to the boat, "Don't quit on me now."
In their own shared room Revy and Eda were recovering from the turbulent wave that had hit the boat earlier.
"So Eda, is this everything you signed up for?" Revy joked.
"Yes, I was so looking forward to stormy waters and getting cast off course to the point where we could drown in the Pacific Ocean." Eda returned sarcastically. "I can't believe I said I'd rather take my chances with the storm then get eaten by those fucking flu freaks."
"Well, it's one hell of a party." Revy said, giving one of her best shit-eating grins. "You may pussy out for some good hard action, but I love it because I am a badass motherfucker... bitch."
"Big words for the psycho freak out who had to be held down and talked sweet by her precious Big Sis." Eda shot back. "Some badass pirate you are, miss Revy 'I'll throw up across the rails for several hours' Two-hands!"
"HEY!" Revy exclaimed. "I was not sea-sick and..."
"And what?" Eda said, mocking.
"And SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Revy said, with all the sophistication of a sexually frustrated baboon.
"Oooh, buurn. Gee, that one really stung. Has Watsup been teaching you about razor wit and sharp comebacks?"
Revy sat quiet for half a minute, keeping the rage back. Now is not the time to lose it, she told herself. There's ass to kick and money to be made, even if Eda's a bitch.
"Look," she said at last, "would you really wanna be back in Roanapur? We're all of us alive, we've got guns and supplies, and as soon as we land, fix up the boat, we'll be on our way back. Simple shit."
"...I guess you're right." Eda said somberly. "Still... this is all so fucked up, Revy. Everything…everything's gone to hell. Makes you think God just decided to fuck us all over, and-"
Before she could finish, Revy had slapped her across the face. Not a weak-willed girl's slap, but the kind that shook your head and rocked your thoughts.
"Cheer. The fuck. Up." Revy said, her voice deadpan. "If I hear one more word about imaginary bullshit like 'God' or some shit like that, I'll plaster your brains to the wall, I swear to... well, Mammon. This includes Allah, Buddha, unicorns and the Flying Spaghetti Monster, got it? If you give in to thinking some big daddy in the sky's punishing us, you're giving in to that fire and brimstone bullshit that the fucking zealots are preaching, and that's just fear. You might as well lie down and die if you go that way."
"R-right." Eda said, shocked. Revy was so uncharacteristically serious- had the plague changed her too? "It's just so..."
"Yeah. Yeah, it is. And you gotta decide for yourself if that's something you wanna go lie down and die for, or if you wanna live. It ain't harder than so. Me, I wanna live, and I wouldn't mind if you survived with me."
Surprised, Eda just nodded. This was closer to a declaration of friendship than Revy had ever gotten.
"Good." Revy said. "Now let's get topside. I think they're gonna try and dock the ship.
What Revy didn't know was how heavy of emphasis the word 'try' was on her statement. Dutch was fighting so fiercely against the storm, but he would've had a better chance of trying to singlehandedly stop American anime dubbing companies from screwing over really good anime. As Revy and Eda came up from down below, Rotton was coming down the ladder into the boat, staying on deck was becoming too much of a hazard.
Balalaika was already with the rest of the Lagoon Company watching Dutch's survivalist effort to land the ship. "Do you have any idea where we are?" Balalaika asked.
"Not a clue, I can't run the GPS or any of the high tech systems we got on this thing. That last storm took almost all of the ship's power. If we're going to fight this I have to keep all of the ship's power running on the engine." Dutch responded.
"What are the odds?" Balalaika wanted to know. She was already rather irritated, though she didn't show it, that Mother Nature had decided to be a bitch and throw the boat so far off course and whip it around like a child's bath toy.
"Not a clue, but I'd say they're definitely not in our favor." Benny replied.
"Wonderful." Balalaika was less than thrilled at hearing that one.
"There has to be something we can do though right?" Rock needed to cling to some form of hope.
"Rock there is absolutely nothing we can do." Revy said as coldly as possible. "We are at the mercy of the forces of nature and all we can do is just see if Dutch can land the boat, we get lucky and the storm goes away, or if the boat capsizes and we all drown, die or wash up on shore. It's a waiting game so you might as well grab a seat and enjoy the experience." Revy planted her ass on a crate and pulled out a cigarette. "Hey sis, got a light?" Balalaika tossed Revy a lighter and she lit up her smoke.
"All right everyone, hang on!" Dutch said loud and clear, and started the engine. "I'm going to try and find a city, maybe there's a port-"
"Belay that order." Balalaika said. "If we land in a port, we'll be arriving into the exact same situation we left only much worse off- fewer supplies, more infected."
"Hate to break it to you, but we don't have a choice. We're running out of fuel, and our only other option is crashing on the shores. We could lose all our supplies-"
"That wasn't a suggestion." Balaika's voice was icy cold.
"I'm captain of this ship." Dutch said, holding his ground. "And you're a passenger. We need to risk a port, even if there's a shit ton of zombies waiting."
Revy's cigarette dropped out of her mouth. Had Dutch just committed suicide? She knew he had balls, but standing up to Balalaika...
Without even hesitating, Balalaika pulled up a Magnum from her side, and shot Dutch twice between the eyes. With a gesture, she ordered two Vysotniki to dump his body in the ocean...
Revy shook her head. No, Dutch was still alive- why had that just happened only in her head? It should have happened in real life, too.
With excitement, she watched as seconds passed- what would she do? Shoot him? Stab him in the balls? Torture him for talking back to her?
"...I suppose you are right, Captain." Balalaika said. "But if any of my men are hurt, you are not getting paid."
Revy gaped. Had she just seen what she thought she saw? Had all this been happening in her head, and Dutch getting shot been the real thing? She closed her eyes, opened them again, and no, Dutch was... still driving the ship.
What Revy didn't know was that Balalaika, for all her warhawk tendencies and love for violence was above all a pragmatic- quite unlike Revy, she had her head screwed on tightly, and she knew Dutch had a point. She could kill him, but it would be bad blood for the rest, and tension was already high. She was not in a situation where she could execute people at will; she was not at present in charge of a mafia wing in a functioning city.
So, she let Dutch have his way. There would be loot to find, hopefully, and there was no harm in letting him search for a city for a while. They were still close enough to coast for her to override his plan of action if she changed her mind.
The storm grew progressively worse the closer Dutch got to shore.
"Oh fuck!" Dutch swore.
"Dutch, what is it?" Rock asked.
"Well, either night just fell before sunset or I need a new pair of sunglasses." Dutch responded.
Rock rushed to look outside. A really big shadow was overcast upon the Lagoon's torpedo boat. This was the kind of tidal wave that could give the size of the cascade of Niagara Falls a run for its money. The wave swallowed the small boat like it was a particle of dust being sucked up by a vacuum. The water pressure burst the hulls wide open and everyone was thrown underwater.
Rock had no idea how to respond to the chaos going on around him. Dutch and Balalaika were shouting orders and systems were going haywire, but all Rock could hear was the drumming of his own heart inside his head. He felt something grab his shoulder. He caught a glimpse of Revy before the entire inside of the ship was submerged in the water.
Rock was tossed aside by the waves, and pulled so far underwater that his head started to hurt from the pressure on his skull. He felt something drag him up. He came up above the waves for air. Revy had used all of her strength to pull the helpless Rock to the surface and passed out from lack of oxygen. Rock, to keep Revy from sinking back into the ocean, looped his arms underneath her shoulders and tread water to keep them both above the surface.
"Thanks, Revy." He spoke to the passed out gunslinger. "I owe you one." He looked around. There was no sign of the torpedo boat, Dutch, Benny, Balalaika, the Vysotniki, or Eda. The only thing around was a small yellow life raft floating along the turbulent waters. In it were Rotton, Shenhua and Sawyer.
"You know, this not what I sign up for." Shenhua complained. "Mother Nature being real bitch today, you know?"
Rotton took one look at the unconscious Revy and reached down to Rock to help him and the gunslinger into the raft.
"Thanks." Rock said gratefully.
"You think of everything." Shenhua said to the genre savvy gunman. "I take back what I say all trip about how inflatable raft you blow in our room in the way."
Rock realized something. The Lagoon boat didn't have an emergency raft. "Where did you get that, anyway?
"I've been watching the weather reports." Rotton responded. "When I heard we going offshore I thought to grab a portable inflatable raft and stuck it in my jacket. When we hit that first storm patch I thought we might need to abandon ship and well…you know the rest.
"So now what?" Rock asked. His question was answered by another monstrous shadow as another large tidal wave rose up to swallow the puny raft. "Oh fu—"
Rock's mouth was filled with sea water before he could finish his sentence.
Somewhat miraculously, the little raft did no capsize. Rotton had held his balance, and paddled like a maniac. In comparison to the wave that had swetp the Lagoon away, this wave was pretty small- still large enough to send them flying, but not quite careening them.
Rock could hear Rotton shouting over the storm- "HOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHIT!"- paddling, steering. Deciding not to just sit around, Rock grabbed the other oar and started paddling. To himself, he felt amazed at how useful Rotton had been- the man had seemed like a fish out of water in Roanapur- couldn't stand alcohol, pretended to be a badass gunslinger when he was, at best, a wannabe... and here he was, holding them all up.
Suddenly, as soon as it had come, the wave had passed. The sea was still uneasy, waves making the raft go up and down, but they were not in any immediate danger. Looking around him quickly, he looked out for more tidal waves- none.
He saw one more thing- the coast was closer now. The wave had taken them far in; he could see the surges, the waves smashing onto the coastline.
"Everyone, be prepared!" Rotton shouted. "We're gonna crash, so we need to crash properly or we're all fish food!"
What exactly that meant, Rock wasn't sure, but he paddled onwards. Getting off sea would be VERY desirable now. Then he saw what Rotton had meant- reefs. If they didn't manage to find a spot to get through, their raft would rip and they would be smashed to bits. Cursing, he paddled on.
Rotton stopped paddling and looked at the coast through a pair of binoculars he took out of his jacket pocket. "What the hell are you doing?" Rock asked.
"Keep doing what you're doing. Paddling in place is our best option right now." Rotton told him.
"What make you say that?" Shenhua asked.
"There's a river leading into the city and a bridge I can just barely make out off to the Northeast If we can generate enough rotational for when the next wave hits us it'll give us enough spin far away from the reef patch and, if we're lucky we can paddle until we're in the shallows straight through the river." Rotton explained.
"You really know your stuff." Rock was amazed at how useful Rotton was being.
"Survival is a habit. You look at your options and you do your best to make sure that, if you're going to fail, you fail with your life and limbs intact." Rotton declared.
"And what happen if this not go so smoothly?" Shenhua wanted to know.
"Well one of two other things could happen. If we don't get enough spin we'll crash on edge of the reefs and at that point it's sink or swim. The other thing that could happen is that we get too much spin and we the raft will overturn and we'll have to hold onto it while we direct it towards shore. If we're lucky we'll be only about four meters from shore if that happens." Rotton explained.
Rock took a deep breath. With Revy unconscious he wasn't exactly fond of the other two options. Taking a deep breath he began to paddle in a circle.
Time seemed to slow as the waves carried them closer and closer to land. He paddled away, but somehow it didn't seem to matter- the waves were so strong, carrying them inwards no matter what he did, no matter what direction... exhausted and frustrated, he paused.
"All right, stop paddling." Rotton said. Rock looked up. What was- "On my mark, you have to paddle as hard as you can, you got it?" Rotton was dead serious. "Work the water so hard it feels like your arms fall off, got it?" Rock nodded. Whatever he was doing, he was perfectly content to trust Rotton. So far, he had been much better at survival than any one of them.
"All right... easy... not yet, not yet..." Rotton mumbled. The reef came closer, ever closer, as the waves carried them. Rotton steered them best he could with his oar; Rock only held his breath. "Wait for it...wait for it...NOOOOW!" Rotton roared.
Jumping at the command, Rock started paddling to the very best of his ability. Determination and desperation mixed, and his muscles powered the oar into the water over and over, speeding them forward. Rotton had done the same, and just as the reef came upon them... a massive wave came from behind, catching the raft and lifting them over the sharp rock edges.
"Keep paddling!" Rotton shouted. "We're not done till we're out of the waves!"
Rock kept paddling and paddling till his muscles burned- and slowly, the waves began to lessen, as the reef behind them broke the worst of the aquatic chaos. It struck Rock that Rotton had not only prepared a raft, but also timed exactly when that wave would help them over the reef. He was a fish out of water in Roanapur, but the man obviously was in his right element here.
"All right, we can relax for now." Rotton said. The coast stretch fell into a river, and the current let them drift quietly into it as the rain started quieting down. Rock lay back, pulled out a half soaked pack of cigarettes, and managed to light one with some effort. Sighing, he relaxed for the time being.
However, he perked right back up and nearly choked on his cigarette when he recognized the bridge the small raft was just about to pass under. "I know where we are."
"Oh this be good. Where are we, Mr. Tour Guide?" Shenhua asked.
"This is…Japan. There's no doubt about it, we're in Japan!" Rock cried out.
Rotton pulled down on his hat. "The storm carried us pretty far south." He commented. Rock was content to agree.
He was alerted to the sound of coughing, which never sounded so pleasant to Rock, despite the fact that it sounded about as soothing as two vultures fighting a fox for a piece of meat. However, the coughing meant that Revy was waking up.
The awoken gun slinger sat up and rubbed her head. "Oh the sleeping bitch awakes." Shenhua teased.
"Ugh, why am I hearing your annoying voice Chinglish?" Revy complained, having not opened her eyes yet, or adjusted to her surroundings.
"Revy, are you ok?" Rock asked her.
"Just fucking peachy, Rock." Revy responded, but truth be told she was glad at hearing his voice; it meant her rescue attempt hadn't failed. She opened her eyes and blinked out the seawater and took in her surroundings. She dipped her hands into the water and splashed her face before shaking off the excess seawater like a dog having come inside from the rain.
"So where'd the giant floating banana come from?" Revy asked.
"Rotton had it on him and ready to go before the boat…before it…" Rock was finding it hard to finish his sentence. Reality was only now hitting him. The Lagoon's boat had been swallowed up by the sea. Dutch, Benny, Balalaika, Eda, and the Vysotniki they were all…gone. Rock had been so caught up in surviving the storm that reality hadn't registered in his brain until now and it was hammering down upon his skull like happy pyromaniac goblins around a fire pit.
"Befo' what?" Revy said, shaking herself awake.
"Look, the Lagoon... it went under. There was this massive tidal wave, and..." His words stuck in his throat as he tried to speak. "Revy, they might be... they, they are probably-"
Revy's hand shot out, and grabbed Rock by the collar. "Don't you fucking say it, Rock. Don't even fucking think it. Sis, Dutch, Benny, the others... they're okay."
"But the storm-"
"They are OKAY." Revy's tone brooked no disagreement whatsoever. "They are fine and dandy, probably roasting another marlin over an open fire, with Sis and her soldiers keeping guard for infectees. They are hardcore, badass sonsabitches, Rock, and some pansy ass storm is NOT gonna be the end of them." She let go of his shirt, pushing him back.
"R-right." Rock said. Yes, why not? They could all be fine, just waiting for them...
The image of the wave swallowing down the lagoon like a speck of dust came back to him. No, best not to think of it... they could know nothing for sure till they had confirmation of either death or survival. Better to focus on the present, try to survive. The last thing they needed was Revy going off the deep end (again), and if she though Balalaika had died... he didn't want to think about the results.
"So this is Japan, huh?" Revy said. "Well, let's dock somewhere, raid the local stores for food and supplies, and get to finding Sis and the others again."
With great care, Rotton steered the raft towards a safe landing site.
(A/N: That's all for now folks. We know Takashi and the others only had a small, rather insignificant part, in this chapter, but hey at least this confirms that this is a crossover. Also Blekmedelninjan and I, as authors, reserve the right not to comment about anything. And that includes whether or not Dutch and the others are alive or dead. So speculate all you want, we will not tell you ANYTHING. With that said: oh wow Rotton is actually useful? The world really has turned on its head lol. Anyway next chapter worlds collide and the series starts to really pick up. Later).