(A/N: Hey, hey, hey folks. This is draconichero20 and I'm about to bring to you the next chapter of Lagoon of the Dead. Let's kick it off)
Disclaimer: Highschool of the Dead and Black Lagoon copyright their respective owners
3rd Person pov
Finally woken, and with Rock exhausted, Revy strenuously paddled the raft she and the others were in down the river. The group of five finally got to a shallow part where the water level was too low for the raft to float so Rotton and Revy got out of the raft and pushed onto shore where upon Rotton deflated the thing, folded it up and pocketed it. He figured it might come in handy at another point in time.
As the group took in their surroundings they took notice of a small group of people not too far from their location. To make things more interesting, said group had a Humvee. From somewhere in the depths of his trench coat, Rotton pulled out some binoculars.
"What do you see?" Rock asked.
"I see two guys, a tall slim one and a plump one. There are three women and a girl." He observed and then muttered. "Look at the sizes on them." He whistled to himself. "There's also a small dog among them. Save for one of the women most of them look like they should be in high school. The woman looks like she's about ten years older than them. The girl looks like she should be in elementary school."
"So, what we do? Kill them all and take their stuff?" Shenhua asked.
"Hey, this isn't Roanapur anymore. We can't just go killing random people." Rock blurted out.
Revy held him up by his collar. "Listen Rock, the world's gone straight to hell. Japan's been hit by that fucking flu to remember? I swear that if you keep acting charitable to everyone we come across I will fucking kill you! Got it?"
Grabbing Revy right back of her collar- or what there was to grab- Rock sneered back at her:
"This is a god damn apocalypse, Revy. We can't afford to just kill everyone we meet! We all need to stick together, or we're zombie feed! Right now, we're all stranded in a god dam foreign country, we lost more than half our group to god knows where, we're low on supplies and ammo, and we have no idea where to find any GOD-DAMN-KIND-OF-SHELTER! Wanna kill 'em? Fine. Go ahead, you trigger-happy dumbass bitch!"
"It's like they are a real couple already." Sawyer commented, the sarcasm dripping through her mechanical voice.
"They just should get over selves and fuck." Shenhua commented.
Takashi put the flat of his hand over his forehead, trying to block out the sun. There was a group of survivors just down the street, but... all of them looked rather strange. All of them had gotten out of the Humvee, to change clothes and hadn't gotten back in just yet. Rei and Saya were already chatting away, commenting what good luck it was to find more people had survived.
And yes, it was inspiring hope in Takashi too whenever he saw that there were people that had successfully survived "them", but the look of these survivors made him doubtful. They were talking loudly (didn't they know that you had to keep your voice down, or they might come?) in some language that was definitely not Japanese- English, he thought. He had never been all that good at languages.
They looked like the strangest bunch of ragtag misfits, like hoodlums; the leading figure was a tattooed, fierce-looking redheaded woman with an outfit he would have thought belonged in strip club. Next to her, an oddly out of place man- white collar, but arguing fiercely to the red-head.
Behind them stood a relaxed woman in some... Chinese dress, a black-haired girl with a soaked dress that looked way too elegant for a chaotic place like this, and a creepy looking woman with her hair sticking out in every direction, and finally, a quiet, tall man in a trench coat.
Judging from the composure he carried himself with, Takashi decided he was probably the leader.
So what to do? On the one hand, there was safety in numbers, but on the other hand, these people looked like gang bangers. Dangerous, gun-wielding gangers.
Before he could decide, the red-head decided for him, walking up to them with the white collar in tow.
"Yo, you speaky english, chinky? You hear what I'm saying?"
"I... understand." Takashi replied, placing his words with care. He could speak english, but it usually wasn't all that good. "Don't come closer. Who are you?" He readied the shotgun. With Hirano and his rifle next to him, he could handle them. She had two handguns, he saw, but they weren't even drawn. He nodded to Hirano, who nodded back and held his automatic rifle up, ready for conflict.
The red-head just grinned, like she had seen something funny.
"I said, who are you?" He demanded.
"You kiddies are just too adorable." the red-head said, grinning like a cat before a bird with a broken wing. "Look at you, almost all grown up, holding a shotgun like you've got the balls to fire it!" She chuckled. "You won't shoot anybody with the safety on, by the way."
Takashi cursed. He was not very familiar with guns, and Kohta had only just now shown him how to work the shotgun this morning. Struggling, he undid the safety and aimed it at her.
"That's just too cute." She said, seeming completely unimpressed. "When you're face to face with a gunslinger, you better be damn sure you can take 'em, or your ass is grass. You're just a kid and OH MY GOD, IS THAT A ZOMBIE?"
Despite himself, Takashi jerked, looking to his left, out over the street. Empty.
What happened next took less than three seconds, and it shocked Takashi and left Kohta completely in awe. Revy launched herself into the air, going into a spin, rolling over the ground and under the aim of the two high schoolers; closing the distance in a heartbeat, drawing her guns before she had even gotten up. She flipped onto her feet, and rose without slowing down, and had crossed her hands, now pressing the barrels of her cutlasses onto their throats.
"Sayonara."
Click. Click.
…
…
Nothing happened. Revy drew back her guns and looked at them. "What the fuck is wrong with these things?" she cursed. Rock wiped his brow thankful no one had died…yet.
Hirano adjusted his glasses, taking note at Revy's frustration trying to see what was wrong with her guns. He took note of how the redhead and the white collared guy with her seemed as if they had recently been soaked to the bone. "You know seawater is bad for guns. If you don't clean them out when they get wet, they don't work properly."
"And just how would a jelly roll like you know anything about how guns work?" Revy asked with a sneer. She knew what he was saying was true, but she didn't want to admit it. She figured the salt water must've dug itself into her cutlasses from when she had been submerged in the ocean. Growling she got out a cloth and began cleaning her guns. Rock took advantage of this reprieve and spoke to the two young men Revy had nearly killed.
"Don't mind her." Rock spoke in Japanese to Takashi and Kohta. "She's easily riled up."
"Oh, you speak Japanese." Takashi was glad someone could speak his language.
"I'm originally from Japan." Rock replied. "I'm Rock and this is Revy." He pointed over his shoulder towards the rest of his group. "Back there is Rotton, Sawyer and Shenhua. The five of us were originally with a larger group out on a boat to a safe house because the city of Roanapur is under attack by those green flu victims. We got shipwrecked, but the five of us managed to get ashore somehow."
"Well our situation isn't much better." Takashi replied. "Our school got overrun by those…things. I'm Komuro Takashi and his is Hirano Kohta." He pointed at the rest of the group who was using the Humvee as a shield, though Saeko was more or less waiting for a chance to jump in on the action. Takashi pointed to his red-haired Ex-girlfriend. "That's Miyamoto Rei." He pointed to his pink haired and pigtailed childhood friend. "Takagi Saya." He pointed to the tall blue haired girl with the wooden sword. "Busujima Saeko." He pointed to the blonde woman. "Marikawa Shizuka my school's nurse." He pointed to the small girl. "And that's Marisato Alice. We rescued her from 'them' last night." The small dog next to Takashi and Kohta began barking. "Oh and this is Zeke." With the introductions out of the Takashi put on a serious look. "For the record, I seriously doubt all of this is the cause of a virus. We've just been calling those creatures 'them' because we're not using that other word."
Before anyone could say anything else the sound of a gunshot jarred everyone. Revy had fired a single bullet into the ground. "There, fixed." She said. She stood up and grinned, weapons at the ready. "Now where were we?"
"Forget where we were. We should find a safe place we can go." Rock stated. "We should really get going-"
There was a low, lame groan from their right, and from over the side of the street above the slope near them, three zombies had walked out.
"Shit!" Rock cursed. "Somebody, get them!"
Hopping to it, Shenhua swung about her rope knife, expertly lashing out. Three swings, and the fragile necks of the infectees had been cut, their bodies falling limp to the ground.
"Just great, Revy. Nice going. You just HAD to fire that one bullet, and attract more of those things?" Rock snapped, tired and strained from the hardships they had been through.
"Don't be such a dick about it." Revy snapped back. "It's common sense to test a gun when you've cleaned it!"
The two began arguing, their loud voices echoing across the empty street.
"Uhm, not to interrupt, but... natives is getting restless!" Shenhua shouted. And indeed, more of the infectees were streaming down the slope near the street by the river's edge. Several more were coming up the river bed where Rock and the others had just come from and more still were coming from under the bridge towards the group.
"Hold your fire!" Rotton shouted. He took a second look, and after looking around him a little, he paled. "Never mind! Open fire, everyone who can!"
"Takashi, get the side street!" Kouhta yelled. He had dropped to his knee, and had begun picking off the horde approaching from the river's northern end, whittling down their numbers.
Takashi nodded, and ran- but he was blocked by the black-haired girl... Sawyer? She put a small device to her neck, and said mechanically:
"Just leave this end to me." Pulling her chainsaw up, starting it- Takashi marvelled he hadn't noticed it before- she just took a stance, readying herself for the coming assault, Shenhua backing her up.
Revy had opened up on the south end of the river with a face like a child on christmas eve. The infectees fell by the dozen, but more still came. Sneering, Revy took a molotov cocktail out of her jacket- especially saved for an occasion like this- lit it, and tossed it at the oncoming horde. Oblivious to the danger the sea of fire presented, most of the infected walked right into it, collapsing after a few steps, Revy picking off the stragglers at the sides. Rotton was doing his best to help, although perhaps one in three bullets he fired would connect.
Still... looking at the scene, Rock knew this would be the end of them. Infected from three ways, more and more coming- and escpae wasn't really an option; they would need clear space for that- this was going to go to hell. Revy was down to two clips, slamming her second to last ones in place. Sawyer, while holding her ground, would eventually be overwhelmed. Shit! SHIT!
Well, now was the only time to see if this would work...
"Everyone, to the car! NOW" Rock roared. Taking Revy by the arm, he dragged her towards it. Reluctantly, she folowed.
Getting out a lighter, Rock took a small object from out his pocker. Lighting the fuse, pressing a button, he the the explosive.
"You know, just one grenade isn't gonna do it." Revy said.
"Just wait."
Sailing through the air, the pipe bomb began to beep loudly. Instantly, the infectees took notice, charging after the sound.
"Three... two... ALL RIGHT, TAKE COVER!" He shouted, huddling by the car. With a loud bang, the pipe bomb exploded, taking out all of the infectees it had drawn to it. Not wasting any time, he got into the driver's seat of the Hummvee. "All right, get the hell in, everyone! Gogogogo!"
Though it was cramped, the little group of survivors managed to get into the vehicle with a speed that only rabid zombies can inspire. Hitting the gas pedal, Rock sped up the slanted slope, onto the street and drove away.
"What the fuck was that, Rock?" Revy asked, sounding impressed.
"A good old dose of C4 in a pipe, with a fuse and a house alarm tied to it." Rock ecxplained. "I had no idea if it would work, and I almost forgot I had it, but the general idea was to mix sound with explosives, and it looks like it works."
"Damn, Rock!" Revy said, patting him on the shoulder. "I guess you're good for more than just yelling at, after all!"
"I don't mean to complain, but it's a little cramped back here and this belongs to my friend. Can you stop and can we get out?" Shizuka requested.
"I have to agree with the pretty woman on this one, Rock." Rotton responded.
Rock stopped the car. The group was several blocks down the road when Rock stopped the car. One by one they got out. Saya, Rei, Alice and Shizuka unwrinkled their clothes.
"I'm going to take a headcount." Takashi volunteered and made sure everyone in his group was accounted for. When they were he took a relaxing sigh. "All right, now that that's over can we get some things squared away?"
"What kind of things?" Rock asked.
"Well, for starters, you asked if there was any safe place for you. As far as we know, there's nothing." Takashi stated.
"However, there is safety in numbers, that's what you want to say right?" Rotton asked in perfect Japanese. Rock looked at him. "I've dedicated a few years of my life to becoming multilingual."
"I think it would be beneficial if—"
Rei cut Takashi off, "Takashi, are you crazy?"
"I'm with Rei on this one." Saya responded. "We can't trust these people. They nearly tried to kill you and Hirano earlier."
"But when 'they' attacked we all banded together." Takashi responded. He looked at Rock's group. "They could've just punched a hole through the line and run, but they stuck with us."
"They say that the most unlikely of individuals become allies in times of great crisis." Rotton said. Takashi nodded in agreement.
"Gah, can someone translate!" Revy rubbed her head furiously. "My Japanese isn't all that great you know!"
Rock turned towards Revy. "We're thinking of teaming up and sticking together."
Revy shrugged. "Sure. We'll need something more than that Humvee, though. A truck might do it."
"...weren't you just trying to kill them?" Rock was confused.
"I could try again."
"I'm just saying, you readjusted pretty quickly just now-"
"Yeah, I'm only changing my mind to fuck with your head, Rocky boy. Now let's get the fuck outta here. There's what, a dozen of us now? We'll need food, god knows I need more ammo, we need another car and gas to boot, and fur fuck's sake, I need better clothes!"
Here, she gestured at her hot pants, soaked in water, blood and ichor; her short jacket now torn in several places... it was an outfit that, in normal circumstances, one would just burn. The same was true for all of them, to an extent- Rock's clothes weren't exactly in prime condition, and few of them had the kind of clothing that could resist bites.
Rock simply nodded.
"So... ask the chinks if they know about some decent store for clothes nearby, okay?"
"We're not chinese." Saeko put in coolly, with only a hint of an accent, "and we can understand what you're saying."
"Whatever, chingurishu."
"As for clothes," Saeko continued, "there's a mall a block or two away. If we're lucky, it's not looted too badly. Plenty of Them, though."
"All right, the mall it is then!" Revy said, marching down the street.
"You're going the wrong way." Saeko said smugly.
"Bitch, I'll fuck you up."
"Try it." Saeko had her hand on her boken.
"Look, let's just go to the store and chop each other up later, okay?" Rock said, tired with all the raging hostility. "None of the zombies are around, so let's just quietly walk there and see what we can find."
"Oh, a mall. How original." Sawyer said, and Rock was again amazed at the amount of sarcasm she could put into the mechanical voice.
"Look, cliche or not, it might have something useful. Who's coming?"
"Takagi," Takashi spoke to his friend, "Your house is at 2-choome at Higashi Hill right?"
"That's right." The pigtailed girl replied.
"Well then that's where our group should head, but since there's plenty of us to fight, I guess we can make a detour." Takashi replied. There was a mumbling of "yes" and an occasional "no", but eventually, the group walked off towards the mall.
The mall turned out to be one of those lengthy strip malls with different kind of stores. The doors were locked so Saeko, Revy, Sawyer and Shenhua just smashed in the windows. While the high school refugees gathered food and supplies, Rock and the others raided the clothing store.
A short while later, Revy had found a gruesomely expensive pair of black leather pants- two sizes too large, but she had claimed it would only make it easier to move in- and to complement it, a quality cotton shirt, and a black leather jacket that, given the brand name- Rock could see it plainly- would have cost him half a year's pay.
"You know, this 'apocalypse' ain't half bad." Revy mused. "I get to kill as many of these fuckers as I want, there's no cops to worry about, and now I have a brand new quality outfit."
"Never figured you for a fashionista, Revy." Rock said, grinning. He had, after getting a new pair of pants and shirts, and after smoking a cigarette, begun to ease up a little. The mall was fairly empty, and what few infectees were around had been dispatched quickly and efficiently.
"Fashion? Who gives a fuck? This is good shit, Rock. These clothes are built to last for decades, and it's quality leather. I'm gonna be god damn biteproof! If I could get a hot shower on top of this, it would make my day complete."
"Well, why don't you go ahead and change, then?" Rock said, leaning back on a sofa.
"Gotcha." Revy said, pulling her top off. "Hmm... this bra's gotta go. Torn." With that, she removed it as well, now sitting topless before him.
Rock choked on his cigarette. "Revy- uhm, shit- ACK!" He coughed hard, spitting out the now extinguished cigarette butt. "You know there are booths for this. If you want, you know…privacy!"
Revy just chuckled, shamelessly pulling off her hot pants. "If it bothers you, don't look." She grinned, amused at his reaction. "What, can't even look at a woman's body without blushing like a school boy?"
"It's more that the last time I accidentally walked in on you changing, you emptied a clip my direction, you crazy woman."
"Oh yeah. Sorry about that, I guess I overreacted." She said calmly, still all but naked, reviewing her new clothes. "So why are you still averting your eyes? This ain't the time for bashfulness, not for either of us."
Rock turned to look at her, and... despite all their hardships, he couldn't help but feel a little stunned at how good she looked in all her glory. He must have stared a little, because a bit later Revy said:
"Wanna go check if there's any underwear? Mine's not really that fresh."
Happy to comply, Rock hurried off, scouring the store. Eventually finding some boxers, he handed them over to her. Revy changed, completely unembarrassed, and soon she was admiring her image in the mirror.
Meanwhile, Sawyer also outfitted herself in leather, but with a dark mauve jacket, a black shirt and dark blue pants. Both her jacket and her pants were almost impossible to tell that they weren't the same color as her shirt. If the zombies cared for such things they'd be met with a chainsaw to the neck before they could get close enough to tell the difference.
Rotton had not done much, having a sentimental attachment to his coat, but Shenhua had switched to jeans and a leather jacket- harder to move in, she complained, but it was better than risking being bitten.
"Too bad there's not a car dealership anywhere." Revy scratched her head. "We could use some extra transportation."
"Well there's always that." Rotton pointed to a motorist shop where there was whole lineup of motorcycles, mopeds and motorized scooters.
"Now, that's what I'm talking about." Revy said with a humongous grin.
After inspecting the bikes, she decided on three of them- she, Rotton and Takashi would drive on each, taking passengers as needed. It would be a good complement to the Humvee, and would provide a lot of maneuverability. All that remained was to scour for some gas.
A thorough search of the mall had yielded plenty of foods, some of it a little stale, water, and even a few spare gas cans- but to Revy's chagrin, no gun stores meant no extra ammunition.
"All right, everyone," Revy said, gathering them all round in a cafeteria. "you all need to pick up a few tricks, especially you chink kids." She took a few glass bottles out of a now deactivated fridge, pouring out their contents in a sink. Taking up a gas can and a funnel, she began filling them with gas.
"This, kids, is an improvised explosive device, better known as a Molotov Cocktail." She soaked small strips of cloth with benzene, and put a strip into each bottle, putting a cork on top of each bottle, taping the things shut. "You light the strip on fire, toss it, and boom! You've got hellfire in a bottle. Burns zombies pretty well, and it gives you room to breathe. Rock's gonna be making pipe bombs, too. When we leave here, all of us are gonna be as prepared as we can be, because there's no telling when we can resupply again. Each of you will carry one of these, for emergencies. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am!" Kohta saluted without hesitation.
Alice was the only one not carrying one, since both Takashi and Kohta agreed that a little girl shouldn't be playing with dangerous objects. Shizuka stuck hers in her cleavage, much to Revy's annoyance, but she knew that arguing with Shizuka's type would just give her a headache.
With everyone set up and ready to go the group headed off. Takashi knew where he was going so he took the lead with Rei having her arms clutched around his waist. He reminisced of the time they had been separated from the rest of the group for an entire evening only to meet up with them approximately 18 hours later.
The Humvee was behind him. Shizuka was driving with Saya in the passenger's seat. Kohta, Saeko, Alice, Rock and Sawyer rode with them. Alongside the Humvee was Revy, by herself. She had offered Rock to be her passenger, but Rock wasn't about to trust Revy behind the wheel of anything. Also he felt he was a lot safer in the big huge armored car than he would be on a motorbike. Revy poked fun at him asking if he was afraid of a few scrapes, bruises and sharp turns, but Rock said he'd rather ride comfortably than holding on for dear life, not that he would've minded hanging onto Revy from behind.
Rotton and Shenhua brought up the rear. Rotton kept his eyes on the road while Shenhua looked off behind for anything turning down a corner. She had reach and silence, two things that were essential to not getting bitten.
As they came closer to Saya's home, there was a noticeable increase of infectees roaming the area. Several would try and make a grab for the survivors, but the Humvee plowed through them with the effortlessness that only four tons of armored steel can produce, the bikes following close after in its bloody wake. The road was slippery with zombie blood and guts, but they powered through with determination, with the will to survive.
Revy drove up next to the Humvee, knocking on its window. Shizuka lowered the window, slowing down a little.
"There's a fuckload of zombies behind us, and even more up ahead." Revy said matter-of-factly. "How much further is it?"
"It's not far now." Saya assured her. "Just a few blocks more, and we'll be there. Daddy can protect us, I know it."
"Then I suggest we speed the fuck up. More are coming, and if we stop, they'll swarm us. Take the lead, and we'll be right behind you."
"I agree." Rock said. "The sooner we get out of this, the better."
Shizuka nodded, pressing down the gas pedal. Behind the speeding Humvee, the bikes followed. For maybe half a kilometre, it worked just fine- the car broke through the straggling infectees with ease, the bikes following- but suddenly, in the middle of the road-
"Look out! Wires!" Kohta shouted. And across the road, a net of thick razor wires had been stretched. Shizuki, trying to avoid a collision, steered to the left, the car skidding to a halt in the guts of the zombies, stressing the wires.
The bikers did better, managing to slow in time, but they were surrounded- infectees everywhere, from all directions. Revy lashed out, taking down two with her machete before the momentum of her slowing motorcycle had stopped.
"We need to hit as many of them as possible before they mass!" Revy shouted. "Chinglish, Psycho, help me chop 'em down!"
Shenhua was already thinning the ranks of the undead, and Saeko, scoffing at the probably intentional mispronunciation of her name, jumped out of the car, beheading a groaning infectee.
"What's going on?" Rock asked Shizuka. "Can you get us out of here?"
"It's stuck!" Shizuka exclaimed, desperate. "The guts are make the wheels skid, there's no hold!"
"Well, we need some breathing room." Rock said, hopping out. The horde was massing, dozens more marching down the street towards them. Pulling out a pipe bomb, he started the alarm, going off at a loud, annoying beep, and tossed it as far as he could down the street. The infectees rushed towards it, and seconds later, guts, bones and blood sprayed through the air, taking dozens down.
"Good timing, Rock." Rotton commented. "Now, let's all hurry under those wires, before they regroup."
"I'm not leaving these bikes behind." Revy said. "We can fit them under the wire... everyone, get what supplies you can. We'll cover you!"
Takashi and Rei had begun to run at top speed, when Rei tripped over her overly long, tied shoelace, and her impact with the ground caused a few zombies to start heading towards her. It took Takashi a few moments to skid to a halt, but those few moments put the gap wide enough between him and Rei for zombies to get in between them. Takashi began firing off his gun to get them away from Rei who sat there like a panicked, helpless child, frustratingly trying to get the sniper off her back so she could use it.
"Like hell you're getting to her!" Takashi shouted as he began firing off round after round.
Takashi's point-blank, though widely inaccurate, shots were backed up by Kohta's long-range sniper rounds.
Sawyer came up alongside the teen, and chainsawed a few that copming at him from behind. Takashi grabbed Rei and lazily threw her over his shoulder. Rei clamped her legs around her Ex-boyfriend and wrapped her arms around her neck.
"Thanks, Takashi." She said."
"Don't worry, I wasn't about to leave you behind." He told her. As he ran for cover the sound of more moaning and groaning could be heard as the group backed themselves into one nice neat little cluster. Zombies were swarming everyone.
"Ah, shit!" Revy cursed, sneering. Zombies were pouring out of every corner nook and cranny. A few burst out from the manhole cover.
"Where did they all come from?" Saya wondered.
"They must've been lured here by Rock's pipe bomb." Kohta rationalized.
"Great, as if we didn't have enough troubles already." Takashi lamented.
Everyone stood huddled together as the horde drew near. In moments they would be blitzing at the formerly alive for the greatest battle of survival they had faced in this so called apocalypse.
"Crawl under those god damn wires." Revy growled. "We'll hold them however fucking long you need!"
To be continued…
(A/N: Let the battle commence. Also Lagoon of the Dead will be taking a break of development for at least two weeks. I am going on vacation and since this is a collab…well you can figure out the rest on your own)