Wow, this story has been sitting around collecting dust for about four months now...

Sorry, ademolix for the wait, considering you're currently the sole support of this fic.

Anyways, on to the chapter.

Act I: The World Ended… And Then it Burned

Chapter 2: We Build Our Homes on Hell-brick

...

"… What the hell do you mean by a 'Wild Card'?"

"We'll all talk more about this in the morning" The main wearing an eye-patch cut off the battle-axe wielding teen before he could ask another question, "It's a bit too late for this talk".

Hamuko, and the other teens, couldn't agree fast enough.

"Just follow us, okay?" The archer spoke up and Hamuko simply nodded in response. The boxer and the fencer remained outside and walked back down that small road leading to the rest of the survivors.

(Track 9)

The remaining group entered the remains of the dormitory and, after walking around several felled pillars and collapsed walls, stopped at what little was left of the building's original staircase. The man walked behind the stairs and pulled up a metal hatch, revealing a staircase leading further underground. While they weren't spiral, Hamuko couldn't help but note how simple it would be for a single ranged person to stand at the bottom of the stairs and pick off intruders as they slowly shuffled down in a single-file line. More emergency chemical lights replaced the green moonlight as their light source as they arrived at yet another heavy metal door. The beanie-wearing teen easily pushed the door open and held it for the group to get through.

Hamuko couldn't help but giggle as she passed the glaring teen, "I was right, you are quite the gentleman".

The teen scowled harder and responded with a simple 'tch' before closing it behind the brunette.

"Well," The archer spoke up again, "it's not much, but its home" turning to face Hamuko with a smile she quickly returned.

Hamuko, however, thought they were pretty well off, all things considered. The room they entered opened up to a relatively large size, the nearest part being occupied by a simple desk with what looked like a complex radio system that came down from the ceiling, wires running overhead and back out the door from which they came. Despite it being relatively dark considering the few light sources, it wasn't bad compared to some of the places she'd be forced to slept in; after all, this one was safe. Several cases, some containing weapons, lay in organized chaos from what Hamuko suspected was their reaction to the night's attack. The remainder of the room was sectioned off by several hospital-style curtains.

The eye-patch wearing man placed his pistol back into its case on the desk before turning back to Hamuko, "I hope you don't mind, but you'll need to double up with Yukari tonight. We haven't had a chance to find more bedding with all the Shadow attacks happening lately. Akihiko and Mitsuru agreed to take the first patrol; though don't worry about relieving them, we'll go over that tomorrow"

"Not a problem" Hamuko smiled again before turning to the archer with a small grin, "Well, missy, where are we shacking up tonight?"

Yukari turned quickly but Hamuko caught the splash of red on her cheeks before she was led to one curtained off area. Entering it, the brunette looked over the small space. A simple futon was folded up against a wall and aside from a few small photos and what looked to be an envelope, the area was bare.

Hamuko slid her rut sack off her back and placed it on the floor along with her naginata; her sore shoulders finally finding relief from the burden. Yukari followed suit, relieving herself of her bow and quiver, retiring them to the floor. Hamuko noted that Yukari was wearing a light Kevlar vest underneath a thin jacket. The archer also took off a pair of military-style boots not unlike Hamuko's own. They'd both stripped down into tank tops and jeans before Yukari unfolded the futon.

"I'm surprised you've got something like this" Hamuko couldn't help but question when Yukari grabbed a blanket from under the futon.

"I used to live in this area" Yukari responded, finishing setting up the futon before giving her full attention to the brunette, "After the first wave of Shadows left, me and my mom made it back to what was left of my house. We survived there for a while before Mitsuru found us on a patrol. We've been here ever since".

"Where's your mom?" Hamuko nearly slapped herself for how blunt she was being.

"She's alive" Yukari quickly responded, "She stays with rest of the civilians"

"Gottcha" A small silence filled the air, "Soo… how are we doing this? We should be able to share, but it's going to be a bit tight".

Sleeping on the floor was out; the concrete bunker they were in offered no comfort to that option.

"Uh…"

Hamuko sighed as Yukari didn't move, "Oh, come on".

The brunette undid the covers before she pulled the archer down with her. Yukari let out a quick squeak before she found herself pressed against Hamuko. The two shifted in place, finding some semblance of comfort before the exhaustion of the night's events finally caught up with them.

22 Days until the Next Full Moon

(Track 2)

The following morning found Hamuko and Yukari in a tangle of limbs, ending with Hamuko falling out of the futon completely and onto her face.

"Ow…" Hamuko couldn't help herself as she rubbed her sore chin. They'd gotten dressed and were walking down that road they'd protected the previous night. She naturally strapped her pole arm to her back, rather happy that Yukari brought her bow and quiver as well.

The sky stretched out above them in a corrupt-like red haze, ominously shifting slightly against the black sun that cast plenty of light upon the ruins of Iwatodai, but didn't provide much heat to its survivors.

The sound of chatter growing in the distance broke the brunette out of her musings and Hamuko almost gasped in surprise at what she saw when the road opened up.

There were people. People! People walking around. People laughing! Children were running around and playing under the supervision of a few women. Several people were checking over a few barricades set up to block off one street, another few carrying material to repair one on the opposite side of the complex they'd created.

"Wow…" Hamuko couldn't keep the wide smile off her face.

"Pretty cool isn't it?" Yukari turned around and smiled back at her, "It's not what it was in the past, but welcome to Iwatodai".

"Yukari-chan!" The two turned to where a shorter, teal-haired girl was running up to them, "Yukari-chan, are you okay? We could hear the fighting going on last night"

Yukari laughed slightly as the girl checked over her for injuries, "I'm fine, Fuuka-chan. Though that's partially thanks to this crazy woman here"

Hamuko grinned as Fuuka realized she was there, "Hamuko Shirogane, nice to meet you".

"Ah-h" Fuuka sputtered slightly, "I-I'm Fuuka Yamagishi…"

"Alright" Yukari broke the introductions up, "let's continue this over in the mess hall. I'm starving right now".

After a short walk to one of the more whole buildings around, the three girls entered a large room with several other people walking around and eating. Fuuka and Hamuko sat down at an empty table as Yukari grabbed three trays of their modest breakfast: a small amount of rice and some canned beans.

Hamuko greedily dug into her meal, drawing strange looks from people other than Fuuka and Yukari.

"Uh-h" Fuuka was the first to speak back up, "Is the food really that good?"

Hamuko paused and realized that she'd nearly finished her meal al-ready. Putting her fork back down, she responded, "Totally. I spent the last week living off of granola and jerky while I hiked here. Compared to that, a hot meal of any kind is great!"

As Hamuko went back to her meal, Yukari noticed a few of the others in the dining hall stop mid-conversation. They whispered among themselves before one of them got up and left the building.

Yukari just let out a sigh that attracted Hamuko's attention as she finished her meal, "It's nothing. I hope you know, though, that you're going to get a good bit of attention for being an outsider, Hamuko-san".

"That's right" Fuuka turned to Hamuko, "H-How's it like out there?"

(end music)

The brunette noted the small amount of fear in Fuuka's voice. It was understandable; humans without Personae were pretty vulnerable to Shadow attacks. Hamuko thought over her response before speaking, "I won't lie; it's not easy out there. There's plenty of Shadows so I took the old underground train tunnels to avoid most of them. I can take them on pretty easily, but if you get surrounded you're done for; regardless of who you are".

At that point, all conversation in the mess hall stopped. Hamuko grabbed her tray and walked it up to where a drop-off pile was and placed her tray on the top. Turning around, the brunette found herself facing down three other teenage girls.

"May I help you three?" She didn't like the looks the three were giving her, only what little common curtesy she had left that kept Hamuko from pulling her naginata from her back and putting it between them.

(Track 2)

"The hell is going on out here?" The beanie-wearing teen stepped out from a door to where Hamuko guessed the kitchen was, "Meals are done being served for now, so get the hell out and get to work you lazy asses".

The majority of the occupants fled the room under the teen's deep scowl; Hamuko, Yukari, and Fuuka remaining.

"You three… You all deaf or something? Get out; I need to start cleaning up"

"Ah, sorry Shinjiro" Yukari walked up to the teen, "Me and Hamuko-san are taking today's patrol; we'll get out of your hair now"

Yukari grabbed the brunette and dragged her out of the mess hall, Fuuka following behind them.

"I'm going now Yukari-chan" Fuuka bowed slightly, "Stay safe, okay?"

Yukari smiled, "We'll be fine, thanks though"

The teal-haired girl walked away as the archer turned her attention back to Hamuko, who was standing in place with a silly smile on her face.

"Hello?" Yukari waved her hand in front of the brunette's face until she reacted, "Thinking hard there?"

Hamuko waved off the concern, grin getting larger, "Naw, I just didn't know his name was Shinjiro"

(Track 1)

The designated alleyway was predictably empty; news spread fast of whenever one of these meetings were being held and any neutral parties were sure to keep themselves well clear of the area.

Under the quickly darkening red sky, a single dark-hooded figure sat twirling an old and well-worn machete around his palm. They were either lost, or playing a dangerous game by attempting to skip out on his summons. Either way, they were treading on worn patience and it was only the slaughter of several Shadows earlier that day keeping him from reminding the gangs why he had as much pull as he did.

Several footsteps in the distance finally made the dark figure sheath his machete. Moments later, several figures appeared at the head of the alley being led by two men standing in the front. In any other situation, the two groups of men would have gone for each-others necks with teeth barred. But this wasn't any other situation.

The alley was a dead end, as per norm, and the arriving men blocked the one exit of it. He could help but smile at that the thought that the situation would normally be in their advantage.

"What do you want?" One of the leaders finally spoke up, managing to keep an air of control while speaking.

"You've all been busy lately," His voice was low and quiet, thinly veiled threats held in every breath, "Is there a reason why I wasn't informed of what is happening?"

The men all visibly paused at his comment, recovering quickly enough to appear professional but not quickly enough to escape his notice.

"Yes we have" The other leader responded, "I can't speak for them, but me and my boys have been shifting through inventory, making sure we've got enough and when we'll need to start scavenging again".

The figure nodded, the leader's claims matched his observations.

(Track 3)

The first leader took a bit longer to make his statement, "We were checking out barricades, seeing how they're holding, you know? We had a few bad spots that we needed to get some plywood for but other than that they're holding fine"

The figure nodded again, the leader's claims mostly matched his observations. Except for one part, "Do I need to remind anyone about the Rules in place?" The men all froze at that comment, "Iwatodai is off-limits to anyone from either of your groups, got it? You all can scavenge Port Island to your hearts content, but I do not need another incident occurring because someone wandered too far"

"Am. I. Clear?" The veil on the threats was gone now, the lone figure forcing each word out. When all the men nodded, he turned around, "This meeting is over".

(end music)

When the men looked back down the alley, the lone figure was gone.