Chapter Three

Dead Highway

Two days later, they were finally exiting the city limits, though they were still far from being out of danger. Like before, Aoi and Yasuhiro would lead the group through the field of cars with the corpses strewn all about, either under the vehicles, inside them, or crushed between the cars and rubble. The tall skyscrapers were becoming smaller and smaller as they got further away, and for the first time, Makoto started to feel a bit better about their plans. They were away from the gigantic horde that chased them the first day they exited the Academy, and they still had several very powerful weapons unused – Byakuya's three remaining bombs and the pistol he obtained, as well as the gun Kyoko retrieved from the headmaster.

Toko had yet to revert back to her Genocide Jill personality, which was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because Toko was a lot more silent when she was herself, but also a curse in that she was also significantly less helpful without her murderous persona killing all of the zombies in her path. Also, as was becoming more usual now, Kyoko was often leading a blind Toko through the dangerous obstacles in front of them.

The good news about leaving the city was that the amount of cars on the highway wasn't as dense, which also made it easier to navigate. The bad news was that it was also where a bunch of undead would cluster, since they couldn't really move anywhere else very efficiently. Still, it gave Makoto a good workout with his sword at least, and any experience he could get with his weapon was better than nothing, at least, that is what he told himself to try and make himself feel better.

Makoto lifted his hand and blocked the sun out, he knew that he was getting sunburned – everyone was – and he was beginning to sweat again. Everyone had begun to wear less clothing as they traveled on the highway. He took off his sweatshirt, and tied it around his waist, and he knew Yasuhiro did so as well, taking off the layers and tying them around his waist too. Byakuya removed his suit top, leaving his button up shirt on as he followed Makoto's idea and tied the suit around his waist.

Aoi meanwhile had removed her red sweat shirt, and considering she was only wearing a tank top and short shorts, Makoto had to look away from her more often than not. He wasn't sure if she realized just how provocative she looked, though he was glad that Yasuhiro seemed to be just as flustered. Byakuya, as usual was unaffected. Kyoko meanwhile had removed her jacket, but kept her gloves on. Toko was the only one who didn't remove any clothing.

They might have made themselves more vulnerable to being bitten, but Makoto figured that it was a good price to pay, since heat exhaustion was a real threat as they continued to go down the highway, the sun battering down on them the entire way. His throat was always so dry, but he knew he couldn't just drink the water whenever he wanted. They were rationing it, of course, but still, he wished they would somehow come across a river or stream.

He was interrupted from his thoughts as Byakuya called out to them to rest for a bit. He nodded, wiping the sweat away from his brow, and he went over to a camper, and made sure that there were no zombies underneath it. After checking once, and then twice more, he sat down in the shade, just trying to cool off.

Aoi and Yasuhiro joined him seconds later, and Makoto made sure to focus on Yasuhiro. He didn't want Aoi to think that he was a pervert as he watch the outlines of her… Damn it. He shook his head, "How much longer do we need to travel on this road?" He asked, trying to keep his mind off of both Aoi and the heat.

"According to Byakuya, we'll be on this road for a long time. It goes directly towards the town he wants us to go to." Aoi explained, "You saw the map, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I did… but… we seriously can't walk on here day in and day out. Climbing on all these cars and standing in the sun all day is killing me."

"Not as much as we're killing the zombies," Yasuhiro cracked, and he let out a forced laugh as both Aoi and Makoto gave him an unamused glance, "Hey… Just trying to make a joke."

"If that's the quality of your jokes, then maybe you should just keep quiet." Aoi replied, "I'm too tired for that crap." She leaned back on her hands, her bow at her side as she just took a few deep gulps of air.

"Sorry," Yasuhiro sighed, though he too was exhausted. Both of them were leading the group the entire way, so it was only natural that they would be the most tired.

"Maybe I can try taking the lead now?" Makoto suggested, "You two can just stay in the back and rest for a bit."

"Man, if you could convince Byakuya to do that, I'd love you forever." Yasuhiro exclaimed, "I'd even let you borrow my knives."

"Your knives?" Aoi muttered, "You got them from the school, they're hardly yours."

"Hey, no one was using them," Yasuhiro defended himself immediately, "If I didn't take them, then they would have just been unused for the rest of their lives, and isn't that just sad?"

Aoi rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She then turned to look back at Makoto, "But if you're willing to lead, that would be fine with me, though I don't think anyone else is very good with the bow like I am, so I'll probably still have to back you up."

"If it makes you feel better, the sun is going to set in a few hours, so it won't be for much longer." Yasuhiro pointed out, pointing to the sun as it was slowly beginning to dip to the west.

"Just a few hours more, oh joy." Aoi grumbled. She didn't have any more time to talk, as all three of them suddenly heard the moan of one of the zombies nearby. Having been around them long enough, Makoto jumped to his feet, his sword at his side and ready within seconds, Aoi likewise was on her feet, an arrow ready to fire at a second's notice, while Yasuhiro held the survival knife in his hand, looking around for the source of the noise.

"Over here!" Kyoko called, beckoning Makoto over, she pointed to a zombie crawling out from under a car towards them, though it was very slow. One of its arms was completely missing, and both of its legs were broken. It was so decayed looking that Makoto couldn't identify what gender it used to be.

"I've got this," He told his friends, and he jogged over to Kyoko, and with a fluid motion, he jabbed his sword at the monster, killing it with a practiced motion. He briefly wondered if it was a good thing that he was beginning to get used to killing these things, but he pushed that disturbing thought away, not wanting to think on it.

Toko saw the monster being killed, and for the first time in a while, she fainted. She would have hit her head against the ground of Yasuhiro didn't dart over and catch her, despite the fact that Byakuya was standing right there and was easily capable of catching her.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to welcome Toko's other personality," Byakuya grumbled, looking less than pleased with this development, "I just hope she doesn't shout and alert every one of those monsters within a mile radius of where we are." In the meantime, he looked down at his bag containing the bombs he still held, ready to use them if the need for it came.

As expected, the murderous girl shot to her feet almost instantly, and she looked all around herself to get a grasp of where she was. "Where am I?" She asked the nearest person, who just happened to be Yasuhiro.

"Uh, we're out of the city now, and we're headin towards the evacuation zone." He explained, wanting the attention of the girl off of him.

Genocide Jill eyed him for a moment, before smiling and laughing quite loudly, "Hah! I see! Then somehow my other half was able to survive? Then where's master?"

"Right here you obnoxious idiot!" Byakuya growled, from just beside her, "I've been here the whole time – you even looked at me when you were craning your neck all over the place." He was always close to losing his patience when it came to Toko, and especially when she was like this.

"Ah! Master!" She shouted, causing everyone in the group to cringe. Even Kyoko squinted her eyes a bit, which was more of a reaction than Makoto expected out of her.

"Be quiet you imbecile!" Byakuya shouted back at her, equaling her loudness just as easily. Makoto wanted to point out that he was just adding to the problem, but really, he didn't want his wrath on him, and they had a bigger issue to deal with. All around them they could hear moans of the undead nearing, and Makoto held out his sword in front of him and he backed up towards the group.

"We ought to move," Aoi whispered urgently, seeing movement coming from the cars, "We're just sitting ducks out here!"

"It's too dangerous," Kyoko denied, "We'll need to clear them out. Hopefully Toko and Byakuya didn't attract that many to us, and if they did, we'll just have to clear our way through these monsters like we did the first day."

"B – But it won't be like that, right?" Makoto asked, "We're out of the city, so it shouldn't be that many…"

Yasuhiro looked up and down the six lane highway and grimaced, "Uh, yeah, I don't know about that." He was shaking, but like always, he forced himself to stop and pulled out his knife.

"We don't have time to deal with this," Byakuya exclaimed, pulling out one of his precious bombs, "This will distract them, and then we'll make our get away." He activated it, and threw it carelessly towards the direction they were headed away from. A scant few seconds passed before the explosion occurred, and Makoto watched in fascination as one of the cars near the explosion started to create a huge ruckus, the car alarm going off.

Byakuya smiled briefly, "Good. That will distract them. Toko, lead the way, and kill any in our path!"

"Yes master!" The insane girl exclaimed, pulling out her scissors and she began to shred through the zombies, climbing atop cars and in general leading the group away. The car alarm fortunately attracted almost all of the undead, and for the most part, unless if they were right on top of the undead horde, they were ignored by the undead in favor of the loud noise behind them.

Still, it was very disturbing to be walking so closely among them and be ignored, Makoto had to hold in several gasps and yelps of terror as he walked so close to the rotting dead. Some of them were so badly torn apart that they hardly resembled humans anymore, and more disturbing than that were the smaller ones – they were children once who relied on their parents to rescue them from the chaos around them, and in the end, they died a horrid death… He shook his head violently to the side, wanting such thought to leave his mind, and instead he forced himself to focus on following the rest of the group.

They didn't slow down at all for at least a half hour, not until the wailing of the car alarm was just a distant murmur. The undead around them were still restless, but as long as they stayed quiet, it shouldn't be too bad. Makoto watched Byakuya take Toko aside for a bit so he could explain the situation to her other personality, while everyone else tried to catch their breath from the close call.

"I really hope we don't have to do that again," Makoto mumbled to Kyoko as he sat down on the hood of a car beside her, "I'm still shaking from walking so close to those monsters…"

"I agree," Kyoko replied evenly, still showing no emotion. Makoto knew that she was probably scared, but like always, she chose to hide her emotions. "Hopefully Byakuya can keep Toko's other personality quiet for the time being."

"Yeah…" Makoto gasped, closing his eyes briefly as he looked up to the sun to try and determine how much longer in the day they had.

"Another two hours or so," Kyoko helpfully supplied him when she noticed what he was doing, "After that we're going to get off the highway and try to find some shelter for the night."

"Now that we're out of the city, I wonder if we'll run into some people." Makoto wondered, "We still haven't seen any signs of life at all."

"We've only been out for four days, and there's much we need to learn about this world still." Kyoko said, crossing her arms as she simply watched Byakuya and Toko continue talking.

"That's true," Makoto acknowledged. All of the media they've found was dated to a few months ago, so they still couldn't find many concrete details on where to go or what to do. "I just hope we find someone soon."

"Me too," Kyoko agreed, watching as Byakuya started walking back towards them with Toko in tow, who looked incredibly happy as she usually was.

"We'll proceed moving on from here on out, Toko will lead the group now, Hiro and Hina, you two can rest." He told both of them, "Makoto, I want you up front with Toko just in case, we don't want any of them slipping through and potentially harming us in the back." He adjusted the weight of his backpack quickly, and nodded his head, "Let's move, come on."

A few hours later, they were off the highway, and looking around a smaller town for a safe place to rest. Most of the buildings in the town were roughly four of five stories tall, and it was a lot less densely populated than the city. However, the party of six was still very careful as they wandered through the streets. Unlike the city and highway, the streets here weren't completely wrecked, and they could walk along them with relative ease. Still, Byakuya demanded that they keep their formation up, and none of them were willing to argue, since they knew how important it was.

It was a positive sign that there was less of the undead wandering around the streets however, and Genocide Jill was killing any of the undead that so much as looked at them funny. Fortunately she was quiet due to whatever Byakuya said to her, so really, they just left her up to her own devices.

"Here," Kyoko stopped the group in front of what looked to be a motor hotel that was just outside of the town, and relatively close to the highway. The building was long, with only two floors, and there were a few cars parked out front, but no zombies from what they could see. "I'll go explore the main office, you stay out here and look around."

The offices were a completely separate building, where the people renting a room would get a key to go to their room. "Hold on," Makoto rushed over to her, "You shouldn't go in alone, it could be dangerous."

She nodded, "Very well, then let's go together." With that, she set a brisk pace which Makoto had a difficult time keeping up with, but soon they were inside the building, looking around. The entire office was completely wrecked, almost every single window in the room was destroyed, and the furniture was tossed around hap hazardously, if Makoto had to guess, he'd say a huge fight broke out in here. There were a few televisions hanging from the ceiling, but none of them were working, as expected. After looking around a bit longer, he followed Kyoko around the main desk.

Behind the desk on the wall was a stand where keys were supposed to be hanging, but they were scattered all over the floor, and there was a trail of dry blood straining the spot where the keys were supposed to be. The desk itself was no better, all the paperwork was coated in a thick layer of blood, and the source of it, as far as they could tell, was a corpse laying down on the ground, flies buzzing around the decaying corpse.

Makoto couldn't manage to not gag, and he started to cough at the sight of the corpse, and had to back away, "I – I'm sorry," He gasped between breaths, "It's just…"

"I understand," Kyoko replied, "It's a putrid smell. It's good that you're not accustomed to it yet." He noticed that she said 'yet' in that statement, and he was aware that soon, if things continued the way they were, he was eventually going to get used to sight and smell of corpses. He didn't want that day to come, but really, each time he saw a corpse, his reaction was beginning to become less and less.

"What do you think happened here?" He asked, looking around the ruined office, "It looks like a fight."

"The owner, or an employee who worked here must have fled in here to hide." She replied, looking around the scene, "You'll notice that the front door was busted down, so chances are the monsters had to get through the locked door."

"And then all the blood is from…" he left it hanging, and just looking at the corpse confirmed his suspicion. Though it was easy to identify the body as a young woman, that was where his ability to identify it ended. She must have fled in here, trying to hide from the monsters, and then when they came in, they just mutilated her corpse. She must have been trying to find a room to flee to, if he had to guess, due to the bloodstain on the wall where all the keys were supposed to be.

"Yes, she met an unfortunate end." Kyoko whispered. Makoto again noticed an almost unreadable expression on Kyoko's face.

"What's wrong?" He asked. The moment he asked, her mask fell firmly back in place, and she stood up, "Kyoko?"

"Nothing," She replied, shaking her head, "I was expecting to get some room keys from here, but given what we've found, I think it'll be better if we just move on. It's clear that this motor inn isn't safe."

"Yeah," He sighed, following her out the door. He stopped briefly to look at the grisly scene behind him one more time before he went back out. His spirits were lowered each time he saw a scene like that, and even his status as 'The Ultimate Hope' as Kyoko called him before, was not enough to make him feel better. He was also curious about that expression her face – he wanted to know how she was holding up. Out of all of them, she was the only one who was clamming up, and he was beginning to suspect that she was beginning to come undone at the seams.

He sighed, it would do no good to confront her about it though, since he knew from experience that she would just tell him off for it. As long as she kept it together to lead their group along with Byakuya, he supposed there was little else he could do. He'd be patient with her and wait for her to confront him about it, since that was really all he could do when it came to Kyoko.

"Well, what did you find?" Byakuya asked, looking immensely bored as he watched Kyoko and Makoto exit the main office.

"This place isn't safe," Kyoko informed him, "There's another hotel further down the street. I suggest we go there." She pointed down the road to the other one. The other hotel was an average inn, and was four stories tall.

"Very well," Byakuya replied, trusting Kyoko's judgment. "Hina, Hiro, and Toko were busy making sure none of the monsters got close to us." He pointed out his shoulders towards the three, who were busy watching the streets for any sign of movement. Makoto also noticed a few new corpses that weren't there before, probably courtesy of Genocide Jill.

"Good work," Kyoko acknowledged their work, and she approached the trio, informing them of the new destination. "It could be dangerous however, since it's a much larger building, there are places for the undead to hide. Keep your eyes peeled."

"Got it," Aoi replied, sitting up from the hood of the car she was sitting on. She stretched her arms, and then grabbed her bow and an arrows. Yasuhiro was likewise ready to go, and Toko looked immensely pleased that she would be able to kill more of the zombies, so she was all aboard going to a new location.

Like before, they moved as a group to the new hotel, and this time everyone entered. The first floor, like the hotels they've been crashing in for the past few days, had a lounge area for guests to sit and wait, and like the other hotels, the furniture was completely trashed. Immediately upon entering, Byakuya made his way behind the receptionist counter, and looked for some keys, and everyone got into motion.

Makoto and Aoi started to barricade the front door, while Yasuhiro and Toko went around scouting the hotel to make sure that there were no zombies nearby. Kyoko meanwhile went behind the counter as well, much to Byakuya's annoyance, and started snooping around. They did this for a past few hotels, though Toko wasn't in her insane persona prior to this, and she usually helped with the barricade. Now that she was capable of fighting and killing the undead, she was a good asset to use for scouting purposes.

"Hey, look," Makoto pointed out as soon as he and Aoi were done pushing the furniture to the front door to create a barricade, "There's a map hanging here!" Where announcements and other random papers and notices would normally be hung up, instead the huge map dominated the wall. He went over, and on the wall was a very large map, with the text 'YOU ARE HERE', planted firmly in one spot. The map, like the one Byakuya was showing them before, showed all the evacuation zones within the region, and it showed exactly where they were heading.

"We've made a good amount of progress," Aoi noted, pointing to the city they were in only a day ago, "Though we've still got a long way to go."

"Yeah," Makoto muttered, reading the map trying to find where his parent's house were in relation to where they were going.

"So where's your home?" Aoi asked, as if she were somehow about to sense exactly what he was thinking about. If he was surprised, he didn't show it, and instead, he pointed a little further ahead on the map, and she smiled, "Oh, it'll only be a few more days at the pace we're going before we get there!"

"If we keep up the pace we're going, then yeah, I'd say another three or four days." He replied, feeling dread building up inside of him as he recalled what Byakuya said the previous days. He wanted to go there but… Chances are they were dead, and he knew that.

"Hey, don't think of what Byakuya said, alright?" Aoi's voice spoke up, snapping him from his thoughts, "I'm sure we'll find something when we get there."

He sighed, "Yeah, maybe." He mumbled, "But… You know, I saw my family in that video." She looked confused, so he elaborated, "The first motivation video," He clarified, "You know that, right? Junko revealed it to you all."

"I remember," She nodded, recalling the video, "They were talking about how proud of you they were, right?"

"Yep, and then the next scene shows the house in ruins, with none of them there." He looked down, "I wonder if Junko got that film recently, or if the house is just already like that."

"I think it's best not to think too much about what Junko showed us," Aoi shrugged, and heaved her backpack back over her shoulder as it slid off a tad, "She was nuts, and I think it's just best that we take everything she says with a grain of salt."

He nodded, "Yeah, you're right." He turned around just as Yasuhiro walked over, "How's the hotel?"

"Some of the rooms are locked, and there were a lot of zombies in some parts, but eh," He looked over at Genocide Jill, a bead of sweat going down his brow, "She seemed pretty happy to take care of it." Toko was currently talking with both Byakuya and Kyoko, so he turned back to them, "The first floor is secure, except for the locked rooms, so don't go trying to open those doors, we can't know for sure what's in there."

Mskoto nodded, and the three made their way over to the others, and the sleeping arrangement was set up for the night. The boys in one room, and the girls in another. Each room had two beds, so two people from each room would have to double up. For the boys, Yasuhiro and Makoto volunteered (Really, it wasn't so much as volunteer as it was avoiding Byakuya's wrath), and in the girl's room Aoi and Kyoko volunteered to double up (again, not really volunteered so much as care about their safety).

Everyone ate their rations in their room, and shortly after went to bed.

Or at least, Makoto would have, but he really needed to go to the bathroom. He let out a groan, and got up from the bed, ignoring Yasuhiro's snoring, and he noticed that Byakuya was still up on his bed, a candle at his side and a book in his hand. Where he got the book, Makoto didn't know, but really, they passed through enough buildings that Byakuya must have picked it up from one of them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Byakuya asked, setting his book aside as he watched Makoto from over the rim of his glasses.

"Sorry, I just need to go to the bathroom." He replied, feeling a bit like a child asking for permission to go.

Byakuya nodded, "Ah, if that's the case, then please go. You smell bad enough already without the added stench of your fecal matter." He focused back on his book, "However, if you're in danger, just yell out. These rooms aren't soundproof like the ones we were in before."

"Got it," Makoto nodded, "Thanks Byakuya." Though Byakuya didn't reply, he did nod slightly, which was enough for Makoto to feel reassured. He grabbed his sword, and left the room. While there was a bathroom in the room, Byakuya had been adamant about not using it, since he didn't want to smell the stench from his room.

So that meant that Makoto was forced to go out into the hall, and slowly make his way to the public restroom, and when he entered he held his sword in front of him, eyes looking all around. It was almost pitch black, and he could barely see a thing, the only light was a little moonlight from a very small window high up on the wall. Fortunately, there weren't any zombies in the bathroom, so he went to the stall to do his business.

He learned relatively early to make sure to check to see if the stalls had toilet paper, and when they did, he'd get to work. He stayed alert the entire time, and once he was done, he quickly hurried back to his room, not wanting to get potentially ambushed by the undead. Plus, he felt at least a little secure in his room know that Byakuya and Yasuhiro were both in there.

However, before he could go into his room, he heard a noise – it wasn't quite a moan that the undead made, and it was so quiet that he almost missed it, so he wasn't sure he heard it in the first place. Taking his sword and slowly unsheathing it, he walked back down the hallway towards the barricaded entrance of the building, where the noise became more and more noticeable. It was still mostly quiet, but now he knew he was actually hearing something.

He shouldn't have worried, since the moment he peeked around the corner into the lounge, he saw a figure hunched over, their arms wrapped around their knees with their face covered by their arms. He put his sword away, and slowly approached, "H – Hello?" He called out quietly. Unfortunately, even when he was trying not to startle them, the person still jumped.

"W – Whose there?!" The voice called out, and Makoto easily identified it as Aoi. "M – Makoto? Is that you?" She wiped her eyes quickly, "What are you doing here?" She asked, trying quickly to recompose herself.

"Were you crying?" He asked instead of answering her question. He got closer, and from moonlight shining in, he could see her eyes were quite watery, "What's wrong?"

"I – I wasn't crying!" She denied, wiping her eyes again, "Nothing's wrong!" Her voice cracked, "I just wanted to be alone for a bit!"

"By coming out into the lounge leaning against the wall and crying?" He asked, causing her to give him a half-hearted glare, though that was enough for him to see renewed tears forming, "You can talk to me, can't you? Can I stay with you?" He asked. If she told him to leave this time, then he would do as she asked, not wanting to push his boundaries.

She looked reluctant, and opened her mouth once, before shutting it, and then she opened it again and muttered, "O – Ok… I guess you can stay."

He was glad that she was talking to him, so he walked over and sat right next to her, "So why are you crying?" He asked again.

"I just had a stupid nightmare," She admitted, feeling her cheeks heating up from the admission, "It's really stupid."

"It can't be that bad, it's just a dream." He pointed out, which only caused her to sigh yet again. "Is it really that bad?"

"I was killing the zombies – those monsters out there – and right when I shot one with my bow, it just started screaming, like a normal human scream." She shuddered at the memory, "It scared me so badly that I started looking around, and I realized that all the other zombies were there just looking at me in horror, as if I did something so wrong…"

He frowned, "It just sounds like a normal nightmare… I've gotten a few since we've been out here too…" He told her, hoping to cheer her up, "You just got to forget them and move on."

"I know, and I want to, but this made me think a lot…" she mumbled, "It made me realize how easily I kill them now… I used to be appalled at the thought of killing them, and I would at least try to justify my reasons. I'd say that I was running, or that I had to do it in order to live."

"That sounds reasonable," He said, "But there's more to it I assume?"

"Yes," She nodded, "After a while, I just stopped doing that. I just kill them like it's second nature. I no longer care about who they were or what they did, nor do I even justify it to myself anymore."

He shuddered at that thought, "Yeah… I think we're all starting to do that, now that you mention it."

"But that's just it!" She exclaimed, looking at him with fearful eyes, "Doesn't that make us just as much of monsters as them? Are we any better? What if there's a cure for their condition? What if each one we kill still has the person trapped inside?"

"We read the newspaper, remember? It said that there's no cure for it." He tried to be reasonable, even though what she was saying was beginning to chill him just as much.

"But how can we really know?" She asked, "I don't want to be a monster that can't feel empathy for others! There's something wrong with me, I know it!"

Makoto sighed, trying to think of how Kyoko would handle this, so he let out a short breath, and shook his head, "Hina, listen to yourself."

"What?" She asked, unsure of what he meant by that.

"How in the world can you lack empathy when you're crying about this? To me, that makes me believe that you have more empathy than the rest of us do." He smiled, trying to get her to cheer up a bit, "As for killing them, if that's right or wrong, I can't really say. I want to say it's wrong, but those monsters out there have killed so many others."

"I know that, but still…"

"No," He stopped her before she could even go on, "Look, in our situation, we don't really have a choice, and I think you're just not justifying it anymore because it doesn't need to be said anymore. We know we're doing this in self-defense, every time we kill them we do it only so we can go pass without getting hurt or infected ourselves, right?"

"But remember what you told me? It's easier if you just pretend they're not human? Isn't that in itself trying to lose empathy for them?" She asked, looking startlingly distressed. Makoto bit his lip, wondering just how long she was bottling this up inside.

"No, I don't think so, I think by doing that, we're trying to retain our minds." He admitted, "If I thought of them as humans, then all of those people I killed…" He felt a shiver go through him as he just thought about it, "I've killed dozens of them now… I have to distance them from humans in order to stay sane, we all do."

"Except maybe Genocide Jill…" Aoi chuckled, albeit a little forcefully.

"Heh, yeah, except for her." He chuckled lightly as well, though his heart really wasn't in it.

"So do you think there is a cure for this infection?" She asked at least, coming to the main issue, "Do you think they do still have thoughts in their minds?"

He was silent for a few seconds before shaking his head, "No, I don't think there is a cure, and I don't think they have any thoughts going through their minds."

"Why do you say that?" she asked curiously.

"Their blood is coagulated, that only happens when you're dead. Plus they can't think, Kyoko and I pointed that out time and time again, that's why we can leave doors unlocked without worry, because we know they lack the intelligence to open them. Plus their flesh is rotting, there's no way they can be alive when they're decaying so much."

She looked thoughtful, and a sigh escaped her lips, "I didn't think of that… You're right, they're dead… I know it sounds horrible, but that makes me feel a little relieved."

"I makes me happy too," He admitted, "And one more thing – like I said, I don't think you're losing empathy by killing them. I think it's actually making you more empathetic, if this is anything to go by."

"Wha – What do you mean?" She asked, a blush appearing on her face.

"Well, I mean, day in and day out they've been hunting us and trying to kill us, and you're sitting out here crying about it…" he felt an actual genuine smile work its way to his face, "There's no way that doesn't make you empathic Hina."

"It sounds really stupid when you say it like that," She chuckled a bit, though he could see a bit of color returning to her face, "But yeah, I guess if you think about it like that, it's true."

"Good, I'm glad you feel better," He said truthfully.

"There's also one other reason I was out here," She mumbled, her happy expression clearing way for a sorrowful one, "I've been thinking about it ever since we got out of the Academy."

"What have you been thinking of?" He asked, leaning forward a bit due to how sore his back was getting.

"You know how you said your first motivation was your family? Well… It was mine too." She revealed, "My mom and dad were both saying how proud of me they were, and then the next moment, they're gone and everything is destroyed." Makoto watched her grip her hands tightly.

"R – Really?" He asked. Of course Junko said that the first motive was related to family, but he never really thought of it that much until now… Surely everyone had a similar motive, and he suddenly felt sick, "I can understand…"

"I think everyone here can understand… Byakuya is a jerk, but I think even he is sad that he won't be seeing his family again." She looked over to him, "I'm glad that you'll be able to have closure though."

He gritted his teeth, and looked down to the floor, and he knew he was being absolutely selfish when it came to his desire to see his family. He rubbed his hand through his dirty and matted hair, and tried to think of anything he could say, but really, what could he say to someone who will likely never get closure with their family? He knew his family was most likely dead, but at least he would see with his own eyes. "I – I'm sorry…" He whispered.

"For what?" She asked, blinking in surprise at what he said, "For going to see your family?"

"Yeah," He mumbled, "I understand why Byakuya was so mad at me now. He even explained it to me, and it still went over my head, I didn't care about the context…"

"Idiot," She sighed, reaching over and smacking him on the back of the head, "Don't you dare feel sorry for me or the rest of us!"

"But I'm being selfish!" he exclaimed, "I should have realized that you guys wanted to see your families too, why is it only me who gets to see them? We could have gone to your homes too…"

"No, we couldn't have. You really weren't listening back then, were you? Don't you remember when I said that my family lives in a completely different city?" She stared at him, watching as he nodded, "And you know that we can't risk going into the cities, not with how things are now."

"Yeah, I know." He mumbled, "But still, it doesn't feel right… Maybe we can just skip over it after all. I'm sure Byakuya will be thrilled."

"Byakuya's a big jerk, he'd be thrilled to know that Toko dropped dead for crying out loud!" She said a bit louder than she wanted to, and they paused briefly to make sure they were overheard by the dead. Seconds passed, and she continued, "What I'm saying is that we want you to go, and we're coming along."

"But why?" He asked, "You'll never receive closure. Why do I deserve it?"

"Aren't we friends?" She asked in a surprisingly hurt tone, causing him to look up at her in shock. "Why wouldn't I want you to do it? Do you think I'm that selfish and awful that I wouldn't want you to go? I'm a little envious, but that's not enough for me to stop you from going."

"But -."

"I don't care what you have to say! If you keep talking like this, I'm going to get really mad!" She growled out, "It's along our path, and it's not a big detour – we're going there whether you like it or not!"

He blinked a few times, and finally a laugh forced its way out of his throat, "You… You know, you're really something else, Hina."

"Good," She nodded approvingly, "I wouldn't want to be someone who holds you back from seeing family, and trust me, I know everyone – even Jerk-kuya – thinks the same way."

"… Jerk-kuya?" He repeated after a moment of silence, "You… Are going to have to work on that a little more."

She chuckled, "yeah, I thought so too, it sounded bad immediately when I said it."

"So…" He looked aside, out the window at the fleeting moonlight, "What was your family like?" He asked, trying to change the subject to something lighter. He really hoped that it wouldn't make her cry again.

Fortunately, Aoi knew that he was trying to be nice, and didn't take it the wrong way, and she looked up towards the ceiling, "My dad was a real workaholic, I barely saw him much even when I was a little girl, and I remember staying up all night waiting for him to come home. During those times mom would take me to the beach, and I guess that's how I started getting into swimming."

"Oh, yeah," His eyes lit up, "You're the Ultimate Swimming Pro, I almost forgot."

"With everything that's been going on, I don't think I'll be swimming for a while yet," She replied, a tinge of regret in her tone, "I'm going to miss them, you know…"

"Yeah, I miss my family too…" Makoto sighed.

"So how was your family?" She asked, turning to look at him, "you had a sister a mom and a dad, right? I've never had a sibling, I bet it was a lot of fun!"

"Not quite," Makoto replied, "When we were little we'd fight a lot, though we did start to get along a lot more before I was accepted to Hope's Peak Academy." He shrugged, "By then we were both so busy with our own work that we never really had time to fight, and we just kind of had a mutual respect for one another."

"Aw, if I had a little sister I'd take her swimming with me all the time! We'd have a blast together!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah," He nodded, "It's funny, but now that they're gone, I kind of wish I did do stuff like that with my sister. I feel bad about all the times we fought over such stupid things…" He shook his head, "Anyway, my dad was kind of like yours, but he was home more often I guess. I remember hanging out a lot with my parents as kids."

"How was your mom?" She asked.

"She was just your typical mom, I guess. She was a bit, uh, angry at times, though I guess I remember that because she would always break up the fights between my sister and me and spank us both a lot." Aoi laughed at that, which caused Makoto to feel better as well. "I miss them a lot…" He sighed, "I'm kind of scared to see what's in my home… What if it was looted, or I find their…" He let it hang, not even wanting to finish the thought.

"Hey, remember what Byakuya said? Chances are you won't find them there at all – I know that's not a very good consolation, but… you know." She sheepishly laughed, hoping she just didn't make him feel worse, "And you also got to consider, maybe they're there right now and they're fine?"

"I'd have to pinch myself, because I'd know it was a dream." He replied dryly, "It's a nice thought though."

"It is… Maybe there could be a home cooked chicken, and a box of donuts too…" She licked her lips, her stomach growling for such a substantial meal.

"You're drooling," Makoto pointed out, causing the girl to blush and wipe it away with her arm, "I'm really in the mood for a cooked meal too, or even just a shower."

"Oh… A shower would be so nice!" She exclaimed, "I've gotten so used to the smell of sweat, blood, and whatever else is out there that I think my poor nose will never recover. I would love some clean clothes too while we're at it."

"Yeah, whenever I can, I'm going to burn my shirt and sweatshirt and replace them, I think these sweat and blood stains are going to be a permanent addition." He grimaced as he looked down at his worn, torn, and disgustingly dirty clothes.

"Yeah!" Aoi nodded enthusiastically.

After that, the two just sat together in a comfortable silence, their worries and fears for the moment off of their minds. They looked outside at the moonlight, thankful that none of the walking dead were out there emitting their creepy moan. It was so silent and peaceful, that for just a while, they could forget that the world had come to an end.

Aoi looked at Makoto who was now leaning against her, and she asked, "Do you think the world will ever go back to how it was? I mean, before we ever went to Hope's Peak Academy?"

He was so quiet that Aoi wondered if he fell asleep, but slowly he shook his head and sat up, "I… I don't know…" He answered honestly. "I don't think it'll ever go back to exactly how it was, but I think that we'll find a way to somehow recover from this."

Aoi nodded, and closed her eyes.

"I was wondering where you were last night." Byakuya's voice drawled out, and Aoi opened her eyes, blinking a few times as the sunlight blinded her for a bit, "But it appears that you were just out here with your girlfriend! How typical!"

"G – Girlfriend?" Aoi muttered, looking over to Makoto who was leaning into her chest, and she blushed a bright red, "No! It's not like that at all!" She stood up so quickly that Makoto was sent sprawling out onto the ground, "Oh crap, I'm sorry Makoto!"

Makoto looked up at the ceiling, briefly wondering where in the world he was, and he slowly sat up, realizing that he was in the lounge of the hotel. "Huh?" He mumbled, and then his memories raced back, "O – Oh! Girlfriend?!" He looked at Aoi, and then towards a strangely amused looking Byakuya, "It's not like that!"

"Oh, I apologize," He replied, "I just thought as much when I saw you two sleeping atop each other is all."

Was…was Byakuya teasing them? No. That couldn't be it, he must be a lot more tired than he thought if he honestly believe that Byakuya could express any other emotion than smug elitism or disgust. He slowly got to his feet, and he couldn't work up the courage to look at Aoi, so he mumbled, "I – I'm gonna go in my room, see you later Hina." He was vaguely aware that Aoi did the same thing, and soon he was in his room, unable to stop his racing heart.

Trust Byakuya to make things awkward, he only hoped that he would be able to look at Aoi later before Kyoko got suspicious and thought that something different occurred last night. He let out a sigh, and saw that Yasuhiro was already there and eating his rationed breakfast, so he went over to join him.

In the girl's room, Aoi stood with her back to the door, a bright red blush visible on her face as she looked to the ground. Toko was out of the room thankfully – she didn't think she could handle the girl's teasing – but Kyoko was there, and she was giving Aoi a very peculiar look.

Though Aoi managed to ignore it for a tad bit, going over to where she left her bag and bow, she looked over again, and notice that Kyoko was still looking at her. "W – What do you want?" Aoi asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

Kyoko blinked a few times, and asked, "Where were you last night? I heard you leave the room, but you never came back."

"Oh," Aoi relaxed, realizing that Kyoko must have been worried, "It's nothing. I just had to go to the bathroom. That's all."

"The bathroom?" Kyoko stated, sounding utterly unconvinced, "You took an unusually long time in the bathroom, considering you never returned." She crossed her gloved hands, watching Aoi pause briefly at her bag, "What were you really doing?"

Aoi looked over at Kyoko, and thought about what she should say to her. While she didn't dislike Kyoko at all, she never really interacted with the girl much, and she didn't really have an impression of her other than that she was really good at solving crimes. They weren't very good friends, not like she was with Makoto. Kyoko was more along the same lines as Yasuhiro, she supposed – she considered them friends, but she didn't necessarily trust them with many details.

"Hina?" Kyoko spoke up, breaking the silence, "Are you going to tell me what you were doing?"

"I was…" Aoi shook her head, "It's not important, ok? I'm fine, after all."

Kyoko observed her a moment longer, and she started to speak, choosing her words very carefully, "I was… Under the impression that you're supposed to trust your friends." She saw Aoi look at her in confusion, "I don't understand what you have to gain by lying to me."

"I…" Aoi felt both shame and anger, "Well, I'm sorry okay? What do you want me to say?" She asked, getting aggressive as she opened up her bag and took out what she'd be eating for breakfast, and a half full water bottle, setting them down at the desk in the room that was at least in halfway decent shape.

"Don't get angry," Kyoko replied, still using the same emotionless face that Aoi was so used to, "I wasn't trying to aggravate you. I was just wondering if you'd tell me the truth. I was worried about you last night, so I went out to investigate, and I saw you crying by yourself."

Aoi paled, "You saw me?" She let out a soft sigh, "I went out there so I wouldn't disturb you guys. I'm sorry."

"I was about to go talk to you, but then I saw Makoto come over, so I stayed out of it, and left shortly after, when I could hear you laughing." She smiled slightly, "He's a good person."

"Yeah," Aoi readily agreed, "He's very dependable when you need him most." She chuckled, "I told him my worries last night, and it really helped." She blushed slightly, "Thinking back to it now, it was really dumb, but he didn't laugh at me at all. He helped put it all into perspective for me, and then we just talked about other things… It was nice. Just for a little while, things felt normal for a little while as we talked…"

Kyoko was silent as she absorbed this, and then she asked, "What exactly is your relationship with Makoto, Hina?"

Aoi blushed bright red again, and nearly choked on the food she was eating, and she looked up at Kyoko, "Wha – not you too! Byakuya was making fun of us this morning too!"

"I'm not making fun of you, I'm quite serious." Kyoko replied, and when Aoi focused a little more on her, she could see that Kyoko did seem a little more attentive. "I'm… interested to know."

"We're just friends," Aoi claimed again, "Nothing's going on between us, if that's what you're wondering."

Aoi wasn't sure what she was expecting to hear, but a soft, "Good" wasn't very high on her list, nor was it even on her list in fact. She blinked a few times, and wondered if she misheard her.

"Are you interested in Makoto?" Aoi asked, and to her astonishment, she saw a very faint red hue appear on Kyoko's cheeks, "Y – You are!" She smiled, "I knew it! That is why you two were always together back in the Academy!"

"N – No! We were investigating then," Kyoko stuttered, her mask cracking as she tried to keep her emotions under control, "Seriously, we were! We never did anything together!"

"I'm sure, I'm sure!" She chuckled, though her laughter died down, and she started to think for a bit, "You know, I'm actually kind of jealous… I actually wouldn't mind dating if it were him…" She realized what she just said aloud, and she blushed bright red, "Ah, I mean… Uh…"

Kyoko's eyes narrowed dangerously, "So you're interested in him too?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement, but Aoi shook her head regardless.

"No! Well, I mean, a little, but I'm ok with stepping aside so you can be with him. I doubt he sees me like that anyway, you know? I'm too boyish!" Aoi stuttered out, and the entire time her face was growing hotter and hotter.

Kyoko just watched it unfold, and she just stared at her without saying a word, causing Aoi to wonder if she said something wrong. Finally Kyoko let out a soft sigh and asked, "I can't tell if you're kidding or not, honestly."

"What?" Aoi asked, "What do you mean?"

"Never mind," Kyoko sighed, "Once you're done eating, come out into the lounge. Byakuya and I have agreed to adjust the path a little bit in consideration of a few factors."

"Oh, like what?" Aoi asked curiously.

Kyoko faintly smiled, "You'll see."

With that said, she got up, making sure to adjust her backpack properly, and left the room with Aoi still in it. Aoi shook her head, still unsure about how she felt regarding Kyoko, though she did feel… something when it came to agreeing to step aside for her. She really only thought of Makoto as a friend, but… Maybe she was hopeful it would have blossomed into something more. Still, she agreed to step aside for Kyoko, so she wasn't going to pursue him.

For some reason though, that just made her feel sad.

A few minutes later, Aoi walked out of her room and realized that she was the last one to meet up with the group. They were all at the map, and from the look on Byakuya's face, he was clearly becoming more and more impatient. She blushed lightly, hating the fact that she was the last one there, so she jogged over to them, "Hello!" She called, stopping beside Toko, "I'm sorry I'm late."

Byakuya glared at her, though he shook his head, perhaps deciding that it wasn't worth getting too upset over, or perhaps he was just beginning to get used to his companions habits. Regardless of how he felt, he turned towards the map hanging behind him, and began to speak, "As you can clearly see, we're here on this map," He pointed the spot that was clearly marked, as if his audience were a bunch of idiots. "Kyoko and I have adjusted our route."

"Instead of continuing on the highway as we initially planned, we've decided to head out west," Kyoko continued, drawing a line with her finger, "Since we've already planned to make a detour towards Makoto's home, this is actually the fastest path, and it will also bring us closer to some less densely populated towns. Our hope is that we'll at least find some supplies, or if we're lucky, we may run into some other survivors and gain some new information."

"Yes," Byakuya nodded, "While we all still have a week's supply of food, assuming we only eat and drink twice daily, even if we were to continue on our planned path, we'd run out of food well before we reach the evacuation zone, so in doing this, we'll hopefully find some supplies. We'll also be getting a new wardrobe soon, because honestly, you all smell absolutely wretched. I already have to deal with smelling the undead outside, so I think expecting us all to smell a little bit better than them is an acceptable goal."

Aoi had to agree with that – begrudgingly, since it was Byakuya saying it – all of their clothes were so dirty that she was almost willing to go without them at this point. Not to mention she hadn't washed her hair in days, and she hated touching it, since her hand would get caught in a bunch of knots and dirt.

"Thank you, Byakuya." Makoto spoke up, and actually bowed down to the boy, much to Aoi's chagrin. Makoto was far too nice to be bowing down to some asshole like Byakuya, and she was just about to voice that opinion when he continued, "I know you were opposed to making this detour, but you went along with it anyway."

"Oh please," Byakua rolled his eyes, "I didn't do this in consideration of you. I just did the math and realized that my current projections were far too optimistic considering our group. We had to do this for supplies." He turned back towards the map, "Furthermore, we'll soon be returning to the highway later on, so if all goes according to plan, we shouldn't be losing more than three or four days due to this."

At first Aoi was a bit peeved by Byakuya's dismissive attitude, but she looked at Makoto, who seemed to be smiling… Why was that? She couldn't understand, was this something between them as boys or something? She shook her head, whatever, they were preparing to leave, and she had to get ready to use her bow again.

Like every day since getting out of the Academy, she felt herself beginning to tense up as she thought of her duties, but she calmed down, and began to remove the barricade they placed on the front door. Genocide Jill was happily chatting up a storm with Byakuya, who looked more than a little annoyed (though it served him right!), and Kyoko was looking at the map one last time.

"Are you two ready?" Makoto asked her and Yasuhiro as they removed the last bit of the barricade.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Yasuhiro replied.

Aoi meanwhile, noticed a zombie was very close, so she drew an arrow back and held her breath, and right as the zombie began to turn its head towards them, she let the arrow loose, and it pierced right through its eye, killing it instantly. She nodded towards Makoto, "Yeah, I'm ready."

And so they went, continuing on their journey once more.