Chapter 5

'Gotta get to that house as soon as I can.', Rai thought as he ran as silently as he could. He had opted to run in the direction he saw the group leaving with whom seemed to be Saya's mother.

'Can't really blame her for not helping me. She couldn't do so without endangering her daughter.', Rai concluded. He then proceeded to get on top of a car to better assess the terrain. He was in a residential area it seemed, both sides of the street he was on were lined with two story homes. However the houses were different than the ones on the other side of Onbetsu Bridge. That side had some nice homes, but were strictly middle class. The ones on this side were upper middle class right near the bridge and seemed to go up in rank as he went further inland from the river.

'Guess, I'm on the richer side of town today. Too bad the world ended two days ago, would've been nice to spend some time here when the inhabitants wouldn't try to eat me.', Rai thought sarcastically as he snorted. 'Saya said the big house on the hill, eh?', Rai pondered as he saw that the terrain turned into a slope as it went further inland. The problem was that as the slopes became gently steeper, Their numbers increased dramatically.

'Seems like the direction her home is in is also the source of the noise that lures Them away from the river. Must be used as a refuge considering how many people came to rescue us- minus me.', a small frown appeared on Rai's face at this thought. 'No matter, I did it to buy us some time and it worked. Or else the rescue party would have only found more of Them instead of survivors.' Rai then turned towards the top of the hill. On the top was what seemed to be a private estate. Even from this distance he could see the high walls that surrounded it along with a barricaded gate. It was slightly off to the left of the road he was currently on.

'Hmm, stay on this road and go up the hill and the take a left, all the while avoiding Them? Or travel near the river where there are none of Them, and then go up the hill?', Rai thought. 'He then saw the Horde of Them about 500 meters in front of him. There was no way he would survive that alone.

'The route along the river it is then.', Rai decided as he spun around and began to run parallel to the slope. He didn't take care to make his footfalls silent. There was nothing nearby to hear them.

Z-Day + 2 6:17 p.m.

"Alright, this officially sucks.", Rai said aloud. He was situated behind the counter of a convenience store. He had found the store after a couple kilometers of walking. Which was around the same time that his stomach decided to announce its displeasure with not having fed since that morning. It was now late in the afternoon or early evening. It was also around the same time that he had noticed his stitches were open and he was bleeding once more.

So Rai had decided to raid the store for food, deciding to only use the food in his backpack in the case of an emergency, and to look for medical supplies. After breaking the glass door and making sure he was completely alone inside and with no undead within sight outside, Rai decided to grab some food and look for bandages. He had found rolls of bandages and rubbing alcohol within the pharmaceutical aisle.

Raijin then had to clean his wound. He had taken off his backpack, gloves, elbow pads, weapons, hoodie, and shirt. Since he had no rags, Rai improvised and ripped the sleeves off of his shirt. He then put one rag in his mouth so he wouldn't make any noise as he used the other one to clean the would with alcohol. When the cleaning was said and done, and the grunts of pain had subsided, Rai wrapped his upper chest with bandages to stop any further bleeding.

After having cleaned his wound, Rai then sought out food. Which for him right now meant a can of soda and a bag of chips, party size of course. Rai could only look longingly at the meat in the little deli area the store had.

Rai could cook, he had learnt from his father when he was around 12. Nothing too fancy, just enough to not starve to death. "No shame in a man knowing how to feed himself.", his father had told him. Raijin even cooked for Masaaki and himself when their parents went out on the town. But it didn't matter, there was no stove in the store. Just frozen and refrigerated meat and cutting utensils. Raijin thought about making a fire and cooking a steak over the flame but decided against it.

'Last thing I need to discover is that They have a heightened sense of smell to compensate for their blindness.', he told himself. So Raijin had opted for the easy snack, deciding to instead gorge upon the chips and gulp down soda. So Rai had moved his weapons and gear towards the counter and had begun eating. Whilst he did this, Raijin decided to take a look at the map he had taken from the Mega-Store one day ago. He didn't believe it was only a day ago that he met the group, and two days ago that the world ended.

It was while Raijin was consulting the map that he broke the silence within the store. 'My Japanese is a bit off, but if I'm reading this correctly….then Saya's home is 30 kilometers inland…..', Rai sweat dropped.

"How am I supposed to get there! I saw a Horde of Them not a whole kilometer from here!", Rai whisper shouted for fear of attracting Them. Then he consulted the map once more. The square larger from the rest was what he assumed to be Saya's home as it was inland from the river and was surrounded by smaller estates. Then Rai looked and saw Onbetsu bridge on the map, which according to his previous calculations was 50 kilometers down the river and he was 20 twenty kilometers inland.

'That can't be right. Shizuka's zigzag tactics didn't last for even 5 kilometers before we crashed. And there is no way I am that far inland', Rai thought. Then a figurative light bulb went off above his head. He was reading the map scale wrong. 'Then that must mean that Saya's house is 3 kilometers further inland. Well I assume that's her home. Sure would suck to make it there, only for everyone to be somewhere else.', Rai concluded with a thankful sigh. Raijin then turned to look outside from the counter he had situated himself to eat his junk food. He had maybe another 45 minutes of sunlight, an hour at the most, to make the three kilometer trip to safety.

'My time for the mile run was 5:56 last year. I should be able to make the trip with plenty of time to spare even if They get in my way, I'll even resort to walking on walls again if I have to. I just need to get there to Masaaki and the rest of the group.'

With that thought Raijin finished the rest of the chips and gulped down the remainder of soda. He put on his shirt (more like tank top), hoodie, pads, gloves, katana, and backpack.

'These might come in handy.', Rai thought as he grabbed two rolls of bandages and a bottle of rubbing alcohol and placed them in his backpack.

"Wait, I'll need some extra juice.", he said aloud, only to quickly mentally reprimand himself for doing so. He thought the next part to himself, 'I haven't gotten much sleep since this whole thing started. Even though sleeping in Saeko's lap last night was comfortable.', Rai blushed as he admitted that to himself. 'I still need something in case my stamina gives out.', he finished as he reached for a six pack of energy drinks along with a couple of instant energy shots before heading out the door.

The first kilometer was easy. There were next to no undead roaming the streets, Raijin jogged that whole section without having to dodge any of Them. He had left the convenience store about ten minutes ago and his heart was beating at a steady rhythm.

Up ahead, however, was a different scene. Their numbers were increasing at an alarming rate. 'Be there before nightfall? Doesn't seem all that possible anymore.', Rai thought. 'I could go through the houses and backyards but I'd lose even more time and sunlight. Even worse, I'd be in an enclosed space with no one to cover my back. At least out here I have more room.'

Raijin looked around and chuckled as he saw that several homes still had cars outside. 'There's a first time for everything, and it's not like I'm gonna be arrested for grand theft auto.'

Takagi Estate

"There, there. I'm sure Raijin will be alright.", Saeko said trying to reassure Masaaki. Masaaki hadn't left her since the group had arrived at the Takagi Estate.

Everyone else went off to do their own thing right off the bat. Saya had wandered off with her mother further inside the mansion. Kohta, Takashi, and Alice had gone off to eat in the dining room. And Shizuka took Rei to a room where she could properly treat her injured back. Saeko was about to go join the boys and Alice in the dining room when she saw Masaaki looking lost and teary eyed.

"What's wrong?", she had asked, already knowing the answer. Those two words caused Masaaki to spill and speak more in the past hour than he had in the past day. Saeko did what she could, hold him.

"I miss my brother.", "Will he be okay?", "Raijin, come back!", and things of the sort were all that Masaaki said for the first ten minutes after he calmed down enough to speak. When he finally stopped sniffling and shaking, Saeko asked the question.

"Where's the rest of your family?"

"Dead. He and I are the only ones left. Raijin is the only person left to protect me.", was his reply.

"That's where you're wrong.", was Saeko's correction. "All of us will protect you too. Takashi, Rei, Shizuka, Kohta, Saya, Alice, Zeke, and I will protect you."

"Even Alice and Zeke?", Masaaki asked with the awe that only a child can do, eliciting a light laugh from Saeko.

"Yes, even them. Why don't you go play with them and find something to eat? I doubt your brother will be happy if he finds out you didn't eat because you were worried about him.", Saeko teased.

"Alright." and with that Masaaki set off towards the dining room. Saeko was pleased with herself at how she handled the situation and soothed Masaaki's worries. She was about to leave when she looked down and saw a silver locket on the floor.

'Must be Masaaki's.', she thought as she knelt down to pick it up. "I wonder.", She said aloud, as she opened it and her eyes widened and then soothed at the picture inside.

In the locket was a picture of whom she assumed to be the Snyder family.

In the left was a brown haired American man with whom Raijin shared a sharp chin, nose, and eye color. He wore a black trench coat with a white dress shirt underneath. The man had a strong build noticeable even underneath those clothes. A confident smile showcased his white teeth.

On the right was a Japanese woman who shared Masaaki's eyes, nose and had the brothers' jet black hair. Her straight black hair reached down to her mid back from the angle she was facing the camera when the picture was taken. A gentle smile caressed her features. The woman wore a dark blue strapless dress and had her right hand on a boy who looked like Masaaki.

The boy was Masaaki. He was wearing a black formal suit and tie. There was no doubt about it, but the happiness Masaaki had in this picture was gone. He didn't have the twinkle in his eyes, nor the same smile anymore. On Masaaki's other shoulder was another hand.

The owner of the hand was Raijin. He was wearing a black vest with a white dress shirt underneath. He had on a confident smile, more of a smirk. However, he also had something in this picture that the group had yet to see in real life. The light in his eyes.

'This picture can't be more than a couple months old. Six at the most. I wonder what really happened to their families before the world ended.', Saeko thought as she looked at the locket. After a few more minutes of looking, she closed it and set out to find Masaaki to return it to him.

1.8 kilometers from Takagi Estate

'Okay, never going to try to hotwire a car again.', Rai stated in his mind. When he saw the cars on the street, Raijin thought he could get one going, and tried to hotwire it. He had broken the window and opened the door without attracting Them. However, trying to hotwire it was a total failure.

Raijin, never having even tried to hotwire a vehicle before, didn't know what to do. He didn't know whether to try his luck by using his switchblade as a key, or to dive under the wheel and mess with the wires. Deciding on the latter, Raijin dove under the steering wheel and removed a panel to get at the wires. Not knowing which wire to cut or which ones to connect, Raijin finally cut and connected two random wires….only to have the car's alarm go off. Which in turn led to Them moving towards said car and causing Rai to sneak away in a hurry.

This had occurred about ten minutes ago. Which would've been time enough to advance another kilometer if the streets were clear. However, they were full of Them shuffling towards the car alarm. Raijin had to dodge Those who got too near to him, and the rate at which he had to dodge was bordering on the extreme.

Raijin continued to dodge for another good ten minutes. After which, he decided to stop taking the streest.

'These damn things are everywhere! I still got over a kilometer to go.', Rai thought as he looked at the setting sun. 'And about 20 minutes of sun. There's no way I'll make it in time before nightfall.' He then looked at the undead roaming around the streets. 'Walking in the dark with Them in this many numbers is just asking to be eaten alive.'

Raijin then arrived at a sort of park. There were two areas. The first was a playground with swings, slides, jungle gyms, etc. and, of course, was full of Them. The second area overlooked the first and was separated by two long flights of stairs and greenery, possibly 50 meters higher than the playground at the most. At the top seemed to be a sort of shrine. An ENCLOSED shrine.

'Guess my luck is turning around. Seems like I won't have to sleep on top of the jungle gym with an eye open tonight.', Rai thought with a smile as he made his way up the stairs, pushing down any of Them he came across.

When he arrived at the top he saw that the shrine was larger than he had first originally thought. He had expected it to be the size of storage shed. Looking at it up close it seemed more akin to a small home. The shrine looked like a cabin in the wilderness, trees and bushes surrounded it on all sides save for the stairs that led up to it.

'The only sign of the world would be the aircraft flying over head and the sounds of traffic. But come to think of it, there haven't been any aircraft since the day It started. And the sounds of traffic have been replaced by silence and Their moans. The world really seems to be near its end.', Rai thought glumly as he stood right outside the entrance and surveyed the building.

The building seemed safe enough. The walls seemed strong enough to withstand stragglers bumping into them, it wouldn't survive a Horde but it would have to do. The only problem would be the chimes. There was one big gong that was about a meter in diameter, along with several wind chimes hanging from the overhangs of the roof. 'Those have to go. At least the chimes, wouldn't want them to attract unwanted visitors.', Rai reasoned as he began to cut them down and threw them down the stairs. The chimes clinking as they went down drew the few undead that were gathered in the clearing down towards the stairs. Rai had to choke down a laugh as he saw Them fall down the stairs. He then approached the gong that hung from a rope. 'Now what to do about you big guy?', he surveyed his surroundings. The clearing was devoid of Them, the last one in the vicinity having fallen down the stairs a few seconds earlier. 'It's gonna make noise when it hits the ground. But if I leave it here, One could bump into it and then boom, it's a party. Down you go, and then down the stairs.', Rai decided. He unsheathed his wakizashi and sliced the rope.

The gong made the noise it was named for upon contact. Raijin then quickly stood it on it's thin side and rolled it like a tire towards the stairs. Several undead were already forming at the foot of the stairs and were beginning to slowly but surely make their ascent. Rai pushed the gong down the stairs, aiming it so it would knock down the Ones furthest up back down. The gong knocked two of Them over on its journey down.

Raijin allowed himself a small laugh at Their expense. 'Well time to head inside and check out my chosen sleeping quarters.', with that he spun on his heel and walked towards the shrine.

Z-Day + 2 7:02 p.m.

The shrine was roomier than it seemed from outside. There were two rooms in the shrine, along with the main area in which the altar was located. The other two rooms seemed to be a guest room and a storage room filled with tools and housekeeping equipment. Brooms, mops, dust pans, hammers, saws, screwdrivers, etc. That room had all the tools necessary to make repairs and maintain the shrine. The bedroom was an empty room with a couple of futons in a corner and blankets and extra pillows in a closet.

Raijin decided he would sleep in the main room as it the other two rooms had windows that were too big for his liking. 'Wouldn't want to wake to see Them clawing through a broken window. At least from here I'll know if They do break a window.', Rai reasoned. With that Rai looked through one of the windows and saw the last rays of the sun sink behind the Takagi Estate. 'So much for sleeping in a safe house-well, safer house- tonight', Rai corrected himself.

He then proceeded to garb a futon and unrolled it in the center of the main room. Rai removed his katana, wakizashi, pads, gloves, backpack, and shirt. He made sure his bandages were holding tightly, before finally getting under the covers. Rai quickly remembered to lean on his right side and closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. Sleep wouldn't come so easily that night, not with Them dragging their feet outside and occasionally bumping into the walls. But no matter how much Raijin expected the windows and door to be broken down and to be rushed by Them, it did not occur.

Z-Day + 3 1:41 a.m.

'Damn things won't let me sleep!', Rai cursed in his mind. Despite his body's cries for rest, and his eyes' pleas for closure, Raijin could not fall asleep. Their movement didn't let him sleep, there was no peace. His eye's would slowly flutter closed….only to shoot open when another One bumped into the walls.

'Fuck it, I'm getting ready in case I need to bail.', Rai decided. He put on his gear and weapons and leaned up against the wall. Ready to start running in case They broke through.

Z-Day + 3 4:06 a.m.

'Sleep is out of the question. It's going to be a luxury I can't afford on my own, only if the group were here. We could take turns keeping watch.', Rai thought regretfully. He then got up from the corner of the room he was sitting in and went to the door. He opened it a crack and was greeted by the blissful sight of only a handful of Them wandering the area between the shrine and the trees and shrubs that bordered the park. However it was still dark out, no way he would leave in the dark.

'Just an hour or so before the first rays of sunlight reach over the land and then I'm out of here. It should only be a kilometer and a half before I reach the Estate.', with that Raijin slid the door closed and waited.

Z-Day + 3 5:14 a.m.

The sun was beginning to peek over the trees. Raijin waited inside the shrine. He took an energy drink from the six pack in his backpack and drank a third of it. He then began to stretch out his legs, arms, and back. He popped the kinks in his neck from leaning against the wall for a good portion of the night and consumed another third of the energy drink.

Raijin then took a moment to gather himself and ran over a mental checklist. 'Swords?', he quickly took them out and swung them only to resheath them once more. 'Check. Wound?'. Rai lifted his shirt and saw that the bandages were in okay shape, there was just a thin line of red. Rai pulled down his shirt and put on his hoodie. 'Nothing major. Clothes and shoes?', he zipped up his hoodie, tightened his belt and tied his shoelaces tight. 'Never really did tie my shoelaces before, but that was before when tripping over them didn't mean getting devoured. Supplies?', Rai swung his Backpack to his chest and opened the zipper. 'Let's see. Five energy drinks, couple granola bars, second wakizashi, lighter, map, two rolls of bandages, rubbing alcohol, box of tissue, canned fruit, switchblade, two energy shots, and the rags that used to be my shirt's sleeves. Everything's here. I'm good to go.'

As he slung his backpack to it's original position, Rai took a look around the inside of the shrine. The building had served its purpose well. 'Sturdy walls, big open room for the group to sleep comfortably given the circumstances. Yeah, I have a feeling I'll be back here if things go bad at the Estate.' And with that, Raijin downed the rest of the drink and set foot out the door.

Z-Day + 3 5:59 a.m.

"Almost there, come on Rai.", Rai encouraged himself. The Estate was only a couple hundred meters in front of him. He was close enough to see the individual bricks instead of just a big red wall. He was already past Them. The worst was past, all he needed to do was arrive at the Estate and ask for refuge.

Leaving the park was easy. All Rai did was walk past the few of Them who were wandering the area around the shrine. He had walked past three of Them, leaving those three without their heads. 'Every little bit helps', he had reasoned. But once he walked through the bushes and trees, things got ugly.

'Great. Seems like the streets are as crowded as ever.', Rai thought as he walked out on to the sidewalk. 'How am I supposed to meet up with the rest of the group? Masaaki's gotta be worried sick.' There were easily fifty of Them between Rai and the end of the block, fifty meters away.

'Seems like the closer I get to the Estate, the more of Them there are.', Rai clenched his jaw as he unsheathed his weapons, holding the katana in his right hand and the wakizashi in reverse grip in his left. 'I was originally planning to run on through, cutting Those in my way down, but this is too crowded for me. Wish I had someone to help me out, like Saeko. Deadly fighter and quiet as a mouse if need be.' Rai thought as he decapitated One that got too close. He remembered the noise from the last time he saw the group. Saya constantly shouting, the gunshots ringing in his ears, Shizuka, Alice, and Masaaki whimpering. Everyone made noise, except Saeko. She cut them down with such speed and grace and made next to no noise. It was almost beautiful to watch, Saeko cutting Them apart, without so much as a whisper.

'Yeah, definitely wish she was here right now, we'd get through this in no time.', with that Raijin set about to cut his way through the Horde. Heads and torsos flew and landed on the ground with a wet smack, accompanied by the rest of the body moments later. Blood spattered the ground, leaving a trail. Rai ducked and weaved to avoid Their grasp, Their bites. Getting caught would mean death.

Raijin mutilated anything that got with range. He cut through necks, chests, waists, and arms. It seemed that for everyone he knocked down, two more took its place. 'This isn't going to work. I'm barely at the end of the block. And I'm dead tired. Wait a second.', Rai stopped his train of thought as he saw a convoy of vehicles approaching. At high speed. There were four SUVs in a row. One behind the other, the revving of the engines garnered Their attention. Seeing that the undead that had surrounded him were distracted, Raijin made his way as quietly as he could to the hood of a car that had crashed into a wall and sheathed his swords.

The convoy roared past him, running Them over and clearing a oath straight down the middle of the road. Rai's eyes widened. 'Those vehicles came from the direction of the Estate.', he turned his head towards the Estate and saw that there were barricades being put back in place about five hundred meters away from him. 'Seems that whoever's calling the shots at the Estate had sense enough to have a buffer zone other than the walls. If I can make it there and over the barricades, it'll only be an easy walk to the Estate.', Rai quickly surmised. He then saw an opportunity to get there as fast as he could. 'The convoy ran over a good number of Them. The convoy left a trail of blood and….nothing else. It ran over the undead directly in its path, and knocked down the undead that were close enough to the sides of the SUVs. There's a path about 3-4 meters wide straight to the barricade. I can make it if I hurry!', Rai thought as he took out an energy shot and drank it.

He jumped down from the car and pushed a few of Them down to get to the middle of the road. It was a straight-a-way to the barricade with no obstacles. 'About 500 meters with none of Them to get in the way, and They take a while to get back on their feet so I should make it. Fuck it!', with that last thought, Rai sped off.

That seemed to be the longest run of his life. Rai saw the barricade getting closer and closer. At about halfway, Those who had been knocked down were starting to get on their feet once more. At 150 meters left, the undead were back on Their feet and starting to wander about. The last 100 meters, Raijin had to dodge Them and started slowing down. At 20 meters, Rai had to take out his swords once more and started cutting Them down again.

'Almost there, Rai.', he encouraged himself as he swung his swords. Rai made it to the barricade and quickly jumped over the meter and a half tall concrete slabs. He landed on his bad side on the other side and felt his wound tear even larger from the hard landing.

"AHHHHHH!", Rai screamed from the pain. He laid on the ground for a few seconds before gathering his weapons and rising with great difficulty, and started walking to the Estate.

Saeko was walking inside the Estate grounds, right alongside the walls. Everyone else from the group was still in bed, indulging in the opportunity to sleep as they had before Z-Day. But not Saeko. For she had a morning ritual that consisted of rising with the sun and practicing katas, something that she hadn't had the chance to do since the world ended. Right now, she would have been doing her katas but the anxiety got to her. She was worried about Rai, and had barely slept at all through the night because of it. So it was because of this that Saeko found herself pacing right by the gate into the Estate, waiting for Raijin. But he didn't come. She turned her head to see who come in through the gates only to see a couple of men walk through.

'He should be here by now. Hell, he should've been here last night.', Saeko worried. Then she heard a scream, a scream that seemed to come from a voice she knew. A voice she knew but hadn't heard that voice scream before. Saeko's eyes widened. "Raijin!", she gasped and started running to the gate.

"What was that?", Saeko heard a guard say.

"Sounds like another person being eaten alive, smart one. I thought you would have gotten used to that by now.", another guard answered.

"Open the gates! My friend is out there!", She commanded as she approached the guards.

"Sorry Miss, we have orders to not waste manpower on search parties.", one guard said.

Saeko's jaw tightened as did her grip on the katana's hilt. The katana Raijin had given her. "I'm not asking for a search party. I'm telling you to open the gates because I hear my friend out there.", Saeko growled. Seeing her knuckles turn white, the guards started opening the gates.

"Yes ma'am.", the talkative guard obliged.

Saeko took off the second the gates were open enough for her to slip through. Saeko was ready to take off in a full-on sprint. But she didn't need to. Not 10 meters from the gate was Raijin, walking towards the gate. A smile appeared on Saeko's face.

'Rai! He's alive!', she thought happily as she ran towards him. "Rai, thank the heavens you're alive!", she shouted into his shoulder as she hugged him tightly. She couldn't hear his reply, as it was muffled by her own shoulder. She didn't care though, and just held on tightly. Until Raijin started to slip from her grasp.

Alarmed, Saeko turned to face Rai and asked, "Rai? What's wro-", the words ended abruptly in her throat. Saeko saw Rai with his eyes closed and heard his breathing turn shallow. She then took a good look at him.

Raijin was in horrible shape. His fair complexion was turning pale. His dark green eyes were bloodshot and had bags under his eyes. His clothes were spattered with blood, most of it drying up. Except for where she had cut him, the blood there was still wet and very much warm. Saeko's eyes widened once more.

'Oh my God, he's bleeding!', Saeko then turned to towards the gate. "Hey, I need help here! He's alive but needs immediate attention!", She shouted at the guards who started running to them.

Saeko then turned towards Rai, who had opened his eyes just a crack. She then took another look at him and realized that he looked alarmingly similar to the boy she had killed. The boy who had been bitten protecting Shizuka from Them in the nurse's office. The shallow breathing, pale skin, and the blood. "No.", she whispered fearfully. Then she asked gravely, "Rai. Have you been bitten?"

"No….", was his reply. Then he coughed and raised his hand to wipe a tear away from her cheek. Saeko hadn't even noticed she had begun to shed tears. "Just dead tired.", he chuckled. "Now come on, cheer up. I told you once before. I don't like seeing beautiful girls so sad.", he said as he caressed her cheek.

And then he lost consciousness.

Alright that was part two of the double whammy. Once again, apologies for not updating in so long. Thanks for the favorites and reviews. Please review, let me know what you guys think of this so far. I think I might update sooner if more reviews appear. Just saying ;P

Deuces