The two guys walked silently side by side as the noxious and acrid smell of charred flesh and rotting corpses floated above their heads. Oga just looked away as he passed by the lifeless corpse of a young infant, no more than the tender age of three which had been savagely torn apart by unknown creatures.
This sight evoked gruesome and grisly deaths that might have fallen upon Baby Beel but he took comfort in Hilda's note stating that he was safe. Hilda…..was she safe? More importantly,…..was she even alive?
Oga finally broke the silence and tension between them and let out a small cough. Kanzaki glanced at him and gripped him by the shoulders and stared into his eyes.
" Are you ill? Are you infected by those ugly monsters who roam the streets during the night?" Kanzaki growled at me with a look that even startled and perhaps frightened Oga.
" No! Calm down and get your dirty hands off me. Stop acting as if this is some scenario from some kind of zombie movie you fool. All we have here are just some Demon World bastards who are asking for a nice ass kicking," Oga said but Kanzaki just sniffed and released his grip from his shoulders.
" I just want to make sure, that's all. I don't even know what to believe in anymore. After what had happened to our town last month, I'm even too scared to get me some Yogurty from the vending machine outside my house," Kanzaki replied ominously as he watched the circle of crows hovering above the corpses, hoping to find themselves a decent meal.
" Fucking town is nothing but a fucking wasteland after that destruction. Tell me, where the hell were you when the whole God damn town needed you, huh? Don't tell you were busy hiding under the bed like some scared little chicken. Hey, wait a minute…..where the hell is that green haired baby on your back?" Kanzaki stopped yelling and looked curiously at Oga who said nothing but lowered his head in silence.
" Kanzaki…don't try to piss me off more than I already am. I was in a coma after those creatures ambushed my house and tried to kill me. I just woke up this morning so cut me some slack. As for the baby, I hope he's not dead by the time I find him," Oga muttered under his breath.
Kanzaki raised his eyebrows and felt a little bad for shouting at him. After all, Oga had just woken up from a coma this morning and his bride and baby were possibly murdered right in front of his eyes. There wasn't any sense in blaming him for what had happened to the town.
" Where are we going?" Oga asked Kanzaki who was leading the way.
" My place of refuge since my family and house got blown to smithereens when I got back from school one Tuesday morning," Kanzaki said as calmly as he could although Oga could feel his pain and emotions screaming in every word he uttered.
" My condolences for your loss, Kanzaki," Oga murmured and Kanzaki just sniffed and wiped away a tear that rolled down his cheeks.
" Well look at me now. I'm crying. When the hell was the last time I cried, huh? You hear me pops? I don't think you ever saw me cry before so I hope you can laugh your ass off at me from up there!" Kanzaki yelled to the sky as the hot tears stung his face and he kicked a trash can violently down the road causing its contents to spill out.
Oga was shocked. Kanzaki, the tough, rough, crude and arrogant brute who was always beating people up and picking fights with people was shedding tears of grief. What guy wouldn't be devastated after learning that their family was killed before they even had a chance to say goodbye?
The two of them froze in their tracks as they heard a growling sound from the bushes. The two of them exchanged a nervous glance before slowly tiptoeing to the other side of the road.
" Let's make a run for it. That hellhound will chew us up and spit us out for breakfast," Oga whispered to Kanzaki but Kanzaki merely glowered at the rustling bush.
" I think it already had breakfast…..," Kanzaki whispered back as the hellhound, big as a motorcycle with jet black fur and glowing red eyes emerged from behind the bush and snarled at them.
" Easy does it. Don't threaten it. Let's just run into one of the houses until it goes away. Agree?" Oga asked Kanzaki but the other delinquent just rolled his eyes.
" Yeah, and wait until the sun goes down and more of those things are loose on the street? Hell no! I may be mentally weak but I can still make it yelp in pain," he laughed and got up while holding an old baseball bat.
" Go now to the wooden hut. It's just round the corner. I'll deal with it and catch up to you later," Kanzaki called to Oga who was looking disgusted at incredulous at him.
"This isn't some cheesy and cliché movie where the friend sacrifices himself for the greater good. If you want to play ball with it, I'm going to be the cleanup batter," Oga said and cracked his knuckles.
The hellhound charged at the two of them and they rolled out of the way as the hell hound crashed into the side of a bus. Kanzaki swung his baseball bat as hard as he could and it connected with the cheek of the hellhound and he could actually hear the facial bones and teeth cracking.
The hellhound drooped to the ground and Kanzaki sniffed in triumph. " I'm not a TKKH member for nothing," he laughed and turned away but as soon as he dropped his baseball bat, the hellhound got up and knocked Kanzaki to the ground.
" Shit!" yelled Oga and ran to assist him. The hellhound opened its jaws and prepared to clamp its mouth on Kanzaki's neck but Oga punched the hellhound's swollen face with great power until its eyes rolled backwards.
Oga walked over to the hellhound and calmly cracked its head to the side, killing it. Oga dusted himself and helped Kanzaki up from the road.
" Umm….thanks but you could have gotten killed and what's the big idea acting like you're better than me, eh?" Kanzaki challenged him but Oga just shook his head.
" I just saved your sorry ass but enough fooling around. Let's get to the wooden hut and plan our next moves," Oga said and the both of them continued walking until they reached the wooden hut.
Kanzaki cautiously opened the door and quickly shut the door behind them once they were inside and he switched on the lights.
" So…..you live here all by yourself? No survivors?" Oga asked him but Kanzaki led him to the kitchen where he saw a very disheveled Himekawa fiddling with his electric baton.
" Ah, Kanzaki you idiot, you thankfully returned or I feared that I would have to die of starvation in this cramp little hut. Oga…you're alive" Himekawa mused and got up from his chair.
"Where were you Oga? We haven't heard from you in months. Don't tell me that you secretly eloped with that blonde bombshell in the Bahamas," Himekawa groaned but Kanzaki kicked him in the shin and Himekawa yelped in pain.
" Hey, who the hell do you think you are kicking me in the shin like that. I wan't joking. I was being serious you asshole. You want to have a go at it again?" Himekawa squared up to Kanzaki who just folded his arms.
" Shut up four-eyes and listen to what Oga has to say," Kanzaki said and nodded at Oga who began explaining everything to the pompadour-haired delinquent starting from the ambush on his house to recent events.
Himekawa nodded and ran a hand through his pompadour while checking his wallet. " All I have left is a few hundred yen and a mobile phone that doesn't even have reception. We're screwed," he sighed and Oga punched him across the jaw.
" No we're not so stop saying that. We're going to find the guy responsible for this whole mess and make him pay real good. I need your guys help too to find Hilda and Baby Beel. They are top of my list," Oga said and Himekawa adjusted his glasses and rubbed his swollen jaw.
" Why the hell should we help you and I think I want to kill you first for punching me in my face," Himekawa said menacingly.
" If you help me to find Hilda and Baby Beel, I guess I'll help kill the guy for you and search for your families respectively," Oga said and Kanzaki looked at Himekawa who was just shaking his head in disbelief.
" You think you can bring down a man who has just wiped out the entire city in a month. It's like three of us against a hundred of those creepy things. You may be the strongest juvenile delinquent in the whole of Japan but he's way out of your league," Himekawa said.
" Well….we have no other choice. I don't like Oga one bit but there's no fucking way that we'll get out of this alive if we don't stick together. So four-eyes, I hope that knocked some sense into that overgrown head of yours," Kanzaki said.
" Himekawa, don't get me wrong. I'm not forcing you. I'm just asking you. If you decline my offer then good luck to you surviving in this hut without food and water. I'm not your friend so I don't give a crap about your personal agendas," Oga said.
" You little runt, watch your mouth before my fist leaves a nice mark there. Exactly, I'm just going to wait here until this whole thing cools off so I'm going to call my personal helicopter to come and rescue me from this barren town," Himekawa laughed.
Kanzaki just followed Oga into the living room to discuss their plans.
" I think we should head to Ishiyama school and look for survivors. We can't accomplish our mission without safety in numbers," Oga suggested but Kanzaki snorted.
" Fat chance of that happening. I'm sure everybody's dead by now. Including Shiroyama and Natsume," he said sadly.
" Whatever it is, we have to try. I don't think just the two of us can even fight five of those hellhounds let alone a group of well-armed demons," Oga persisted.
" Do you know how far is it from here to Ishiyama? An hour's walk. We'll be lucky if we even make it to Ishiyama street without being butchered by those dogs. Hmmph…if you're going to come up with a plan at least use your brains a little," Kanzaki said.
" Do you have a better one? I don't think so…So let me do the talking while you try to absorb what the hell the plan is into that small head of yours," Oga yawned and this remark made Kanzaki turn purple in rage.
" I think we should head out to Ishiyama now before it gets dark and try to find for survivors," Oga said and Kanzaki reluctantly agreed.
" The only reason I'm agreeing to your stupid plan is because there's no other damn choice so if it fails, it's all your fault," Kanzaki growled but Himekawa tapped him on the back.
" Huh? What the hell do you want four-eyes?"
" I think I would like to accompany you two to on your little journey to our abandoned school as I think I'm scared of dealing with that thing alone," Himekawa meekly pointed to the hellhound roaming the streets.
" Fuck. There is one more patrolling the area. Oga, do you think you can take it down?" Kanzaki asked him but Oga grinned. " I think you're forgetting who I really am," he laughed.
" I think I'm ready to kill one more before this day is over," Kanzaki said and Himekawa just sighed and whipped out his electric baton.
" I don't think you two clowns even stand a chance so I guess I'll lend a hand in dispatching that furry beast," he snickered and the three of them exited the hut and quickly caught the hellhound off guard.
Himekawa paralyzed the beast with his electric baton before Oga and Kanzaki decapitated it with their bare hands.
Oga shot a look at Kanzaki and glanced at the dead animal. " Told you that having extra people to help out isn't such a bad idea," he laughed and the three of them quickly continued to Ishiyama street leading to the school.
" You know something guys? I noticed that no one from outside the city came to help us at all. The destruction of the city wasn't even reported in the news. What the hell right?" Kanzaki said and Himekawa looked strangle at Oga.
" Oga, how long have you been in a coma?" he suddenly asked and Oga winced and tried to recall the duration. " About a month, why?"
" Today's date is the seventh of May 2013. The attack was a month ago right before you were in a coma. When you were ambushed, what was the date?" Himekawa pressed on and Kanzaki looked oddly at him.
" What kind of questions are you asking? Dates will not solve anything," Kanzaki laughed.
Oga thought hard and he remembered that he had seen the calendar. It was the seventh….." but then his voice trailed off and froze in his tracks.
" Hey! What was the date?" Himekawa asked urgently but Oga shook his head in disbelief and pulled out Hilda's letter from his pocket and checked the date.
" I was ambushed on the seventh of May 2013 and this letter is also dated seventh of May 2013. It's impossible…," Oga said softly as Himekawa took a step back as Oga crumpled the note up in his palm.
Kanzaki looked at the shocked expression of Himekawa and the incredulous one on Oga.
" Will somebody explain to me what the hell is going on?" he asked but they were too shocked to answer him.
" It means that all this happened today….the ambush, the destruction but how. What time is it now?" Oga inquired Himekawa who pulled out his mobile phone.
" It's five thirty. But I don't think it explains how all this happened in one day. You were in a coma for a month and during that month, the city was plundered and pillaged," Himekawa said.
" Hold on one second. I just realized that it although the sun set. It was never dark and I don't remember sleeping at all," Kanzaki said and Goosebumps started to form on their skins.
" I don't get what the hell is going on but once we find the guy who did this, we're going to beat the information out of him," Oga said but he was interrupted as they saw a group of demons with spears approaching them.
" Run to the school!," yelled Oga and the three of them dashed through the gates of the school and into the building. They barricaded the doors and peeped out of the windows. The demons had miraculously disappeared but now, they had other problems to worry about- searching the entire school for survivors.
The desolate halls were eerie and even Oga felt a chill down his spine. " If we split up, we can cover more ground but we also might get killed or ambushed," Himekawa said but Oga sighed.
" What choice do we have? We're running out of time and there are too many classrooms to cover. We'll split up and meet back here at the hall in 2 hours. No earlier and no later. If anyone is in trouble, just scream and shout for help and we'll come back," Oga said.
" Who sounds like some cheesy zombie movie now, eh? Don't worry about me. I'll kick anything that doesn't look like human into the ground and kill it," Kanzaki grinned and set off to the first floor.
" For once, I agree with you. Cockroach," Himekawa laughed and set off to the second floor.
Oga took the stairs to the third floor and stared at the row of empty and dark classrooms. " Who knows what things might lurk inside," he thought but as the image of Hilda and Baby Beel inside the burning house popped up again in his head, he grit his teeth and clenched his fists.
" I don't care what is inside there. I'll kicks its ass and come and save you Hilda. So you better not be dead," he muttered and began walking towards the first classroom.
A/N I hope you guys enjoyed the second chapter. Chapter 3 is on the way so keep reading