"Tsubaki!" Maka gasped, wincing as she forced her body upwards and towards he long lost friend. "Tsubaki, where are we?" Maka asked, looking around at several grimy faces of woman from all ages watching the pair skeptically.
"I was only brought here a few hours ago; they took me when I was-"
"Haper Springs… Or it used to be anyways." A woman who looked in her mid 30's stood up, nearing the two teens, her expression hard and angry, but not necessarily at the two girls before her. "As I was telling your friend before you arrived here, our town wasn't infected nearly as fast as Tsubaki said Death City was. A whole group of us, maybe 30 or so, banned together and put up a barricade, protecting a good portion from the infected, which is the same barrier we're in now. We were like a huge family-"
"But… I was attacked." Maka's brows furrowed and her voice was hostile. "I was kidnapped. That doesn't sound too family friendly to me."
"A few weeks after the city had gone completely haywire outside our barrier, a group of men lead by a man named Katsuo happened to stumble upon us and asked for a few nights shelter; not knowing their true ill intentions, we gladly let them in after inspecting them for wounds." The woman paused and looked to the ground, not meeting Maka's eyes. "The man was extremely kind and grateful at first, but we soon found this to be one big act. After a few days, we realized our supplies were dangerously low, far too low than it should've been. Kaito, the man most of us looked up to and saw as a leader, found out Katsuo's men had secretly been stealing our supplies little by little. When Kaito tried to confront him about the vanishing supplies, Katsuo killed him on the spot, in front of the entire town, ensuring everyone bear witness to what he had just done. He then called for all those who apposed his leadership to speak."
"And did anyone speak up? Surely you put up some sort of fight." Maka questioned.
"Oh, there were several who spoke out," She shook her head, "but unfortunately it was one at a time, and Katsuo's men had apparently been trained in combat, easily taking down all who apposed… They enslaved all the women and children…" She shivered and another woman came to comfort her. "They started bringing in more survivors, giving the men an option to join them or be beaten to death… But the women had not choice…" At that point, tears began to trickle down her face in the darkness.
"I-Don'-caaare!" A voice slurred into laughter and everyone in the room seemed to scatter except for Maka and Tsubaki, who continued to stare at the door, unable to move. "She was kinna cute." The jiggle of the door handle caused the two girls to inch back from their crouched position on the floor. "Therrr' she is…" A man in his mid 40s swung the door open with a partially toothless smile. "I saw them bringin' you in, I did." He hiccupped, moving towards Tsubaki and Maka, who cringed in reply. "Jus' had to have ya, 'ya know? Nature calls and all tha'.." His breath smelt heavily of alcohol as he reached a bony hand out towards Maka. Instinctively, Tsubaki moved in front of the shivering girl, swatting at the older man's hand.
"Leave her alone!" She said threateningly. "Look at what you're doing! She's still so young!" Tsubaki pleaded, hoping to get through to the drunken man, though to no avail.
Outraged, the man slapped the weapon and snatched up Maka before she could do anything about it. "Learn yer place, you bitch!" He growled harshly. The blond tried to squirm away from the man's cold hands, but her body was simply too beaten and too bruised to put up any sort of a fight.
"Assassin's rule, number one. Silence. Dissolve in the darkness and erase your breath." Blackstar muttered, his eyes closed tight as he struggled to maintain absolute focus.
"Keep it down Blackstar! They'll hear you." Soul shushed, watching the drunken men continue to waste away. All this alcohol couldn't be good for the liver… How uncool.
"Assassin's rule, number two. Transpositional Thinking. Analyze your target in order to predict its thoughts and movem- Hey!" Blackstar growled, rubbing the back of his head where Soul had just back handed him. "You don't just hit a god like tha-" Both boys ducked as one semi sober man looked up towards the roof they were perched on. After a moment, he simply shrugged and continued to take a swig from his bottle then a drag from his cigarette.
"You're gonna get us seen!" Soul hissed, hardly loud enough for even the blue haired assassin to hear. "Do you want to save Tsubaki or not?"
Blackstar looked taken back, offended almost, then furrowed his brow, all seriousness returning to his face. "Of course I do. But how do we even know she's here?" He looked around, hardly needing an answer for his question. Of course these were the men that took her; they all seemed to have the same ill intent that glistened in their moral-less eyes. There was just something inside him that hoped and prayed these weren't the people. Something that hoped he hadn't seen her being drug away by vicious looking men. Something that prayed she would simply pop up behind the two of them, saying she was alright and that they could return back to their makeshift camp; but he knew that wasn't the case. Tsubaki had been drug away by theses men. She wouldn't appear out of thin air behind them. He and Soul would have to go in and rescue her.
"These are the good times, boys!" A man's voice roared through out the clearing, earning cheers and woots from his drunken army. Soul grit his teeth, Tsubaki should be the last person in a place like this; she was simply too kind and innocent for such brutal treatment. He looked around for any sign of the dark weapon when he spotted something else. Far on the other side of the clearing, he could just barely make out a bony looking man halfway guiding, halfway dragging a small blonde girl into a small abandon looking cabin. He snorted in utter disgust. The scythe squinted his eyes and shifted slightly to get a better look when Blackstar shook his shoulder, causing him to snap his attention to the young assassin. He seemed to have seen something too, but in the opposite direction somewhere behind them.
The white haired scythe watched as his friend's eyes went from narrow to wide open. "Is that… Soul- It's Kid!"
Sorry, this chapter seemed kind of rushed with the explanation the lady gave and all, but I guess in a way I'm trying to make it seem rushed. Make it seem like everything is happening at once and it's hard to make sense of it all. It just kind of gives off that sense of urgency.
Again, the contest is still open. I plan on reminding you every chapter. This story is definitely running on it's last few chapters… I want to predict it will run around 35, maybe less; so don't procrastinate!
Replies~!
Wow, biggest response I've gotten from a chapter yet! Though I guess it's only expected from the contents of said chapter.
Art n' Music- Unexpected is always a plus. It means I'm doing my job XD
Checkered Brooke- yes, getting out of this unscathed would be a god-sent wouldn't it? Hmm… The question is, do I want to be a saint or not?
SecretFantacs- Hmmm Older brother Soul is a good idea… I'll take it into consideration, thanks!
Shell-kun- Haha! Yes, there will definitely be some Kidd ass kicking in the near future (next chapter, maybe?) so keep your eyes peeled!
Mikaela- I read so many fanfics that I'm obsessed with and have to check daily, so I know exactly how it feels, I'm just glad I can give back :)
Awesomex- Good. Huge reactions are always fun :D
RosesInTheShade- Oh yes. Kidd will be pissed. And yes, those three are, in fact, found.
ShyBandGirl- Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Hawkllama- Not for long! *grins and pulls out a bazooka* just kidding!
Guest- Yep. They are alive!
Courage-Earthworm'8- Really? You think its like a show series? Cool!
juvieyumi2500- Wait, I think you misunderstood me. I didn't take the ideas from the movie, the movie just got me thinking about zombies. The plot and all is entirely original XD And yes, I do have a few other fanfics, they are all KiMa. I will also be writing more after this one.