Chapter Eight

Despair

Makoto felt like he was burning up, sweat poured down his forehead as he gasped for breath, fading in and out of consciousness. He occasionally heard the others talking, and he would try to call out to them, but before too long, he would again fade out of consciousness, and fall back asleep. One of the few times when he was capable of lucid thoughts, he wondered if he was in hell, before he again lost consciousness.

Kyoko glanced over at him, still sitting in the back of the pick-up truck as Yasuhiro drove slowly, making sure not to hit any of the bumps at too high of a speed. Makoto shook his head, and mumbled a few incoherent words, and in response, she patted a wet cloth against his forehead, which was very warm due to his fever. She had already removed his sweatshirt and his shirt under that, and just had him covered with some blankets they managed to find, but even then he didn't look very comfortable as he shivered and gasped for breath, grasping onto that delicate string of life to try and stay alive.

She tried not to let it show, since she didn't want the others to worry, but she was very afraid. If Makoto died, then… She didn't know what she would do. She relied on him more than anyone else in their group, and he was their beacon of hope… With him gone, she knew that the group would end up collapsing. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, and she tried to wipe them away, but it was useless, since more would come.

Yashiro appeared to be lost in thought often, but Kyoko could see his eyes staring blankly ahead, the guilt so plainly obvious in his features. Byakuya seemed to blame himself, cursing to himself every time he saw Makoto – if only he had been quicker in figuring out what was going on… Kyoko felt the same exact way. She knew something was wrong, but she allowed them to stay regardless. Aoi appeared to be almost on auto-pilot now, she never really talked with anyone, and more often than not, she would be in the back of the truck with Kyoko, holding onto Makoto's remaining hand with her own, tears spilling from her eyes. Toko was the only one who didn't seem concerned, though that may have been more due to the fact that she was currently in her serial killer personality, so a potential death really didn't rile her up the way it did the others.

Kyoko resisted the urge to start crying again, and focused on treating him, removing the wet cloth and replacing it with a cleaner one, and adjusting the pillow behind his head when he accidentally pushed it away in his sleep. She also had to check his bandages, occasionally replacing them. The wound was as clean as she could get it, and it stopped bleeding so profusely, but it was still life-threatening.

She looked up from her patient towards the town Yasuhiro was driving towards – it was their destination, and they could see a lot of signs along the road telling them that an evacuation center was just up ahead – to have hope! Something that Kyoko lacked completely right now. However, Yasuhiro had to go slower and slower, avoiding abandoned cars and the undead, not stopping for anything.

"We're close enough," Byakuya finally spoke up after they drove a little further into the town, and the cars blocking the road became far too dense to properly drive through, "We're going to have to walk from here."

"What?" Aoi looked back towards Makoto and Kyoko, "Makoto's too injured to walk, and Toko is still too hurt to do a lot of physical stuff, you know this!"

"What do you suggest we do then?" Byakuya replied with a growl, "We've tried multiple roads, and all of them are blocked off like this, and we're within a few hours of the evacuation center. The best bet is to walk."

"We can't!" Aoi cried, "We have injured with us!"

"I'm not suggesting we all walk, idiot!" He refrained himself from yelling, but just barely, "We're going to split up into two groups: Kyoko, Makoto, and Toko will all stay behind in one of these houses in this neighborhood," He waved his hand to emphasis the area they were in, "And then you, me, and Hiro will all work our way to the evac center. We'll get some help from there, and come pick the rest up!"

Yasuhiro was the one who brought up the point they have all been ignoring, "What if there's no one there, and it's in ruins like everywhere we've been?"

While Aoi appreciated Yasuhiro's caution, she was also a bit put off by how negative he has been for the last day. Ever since yesterday, he just wasn't acting like himself, and he seemed sluggish. Even now, she could see his shoulders slumped in defeat, as if he was already aware that this would be a waste of time.

"There will be people there," Byakuya replied with certainty – or desperation, depending on who you asked.

"Why can't I come with you, darling?!" Toko asked, reaching up from the back seat and touching his shoulder, and he flinched away, sending a glare towards her, "Oh! Did I do something wrong?"

"You're injured. As you are now, you'll just slow us down and potentially die." He explained, "In a worst case scenario, you'll get us all killed. I'm not risking it." He got out, ending all discussion, and he went to the back where Kyoko and Makoto were.

Aoi watched him go, and she too started getting out, but she gave Yasuhiro a concerned look as she left. His head was down, and like before, his eyes looked empty, like all signs of life just up and left him. She exited the vehicle, and then made her way to the back, where she picked up her bow and arrows, feeling a lot more secure with her weapons on her person.

"How's Makoto?" Byakuya asked without preamble, climbing onto the back and grabbing his own supplies – his bag still had two of the bombs in it, and he grabbed the gun that Kyoko got from the headmaster's office, which still had a total of ten bullets left.

"I don't know," Kyoko replied, "He has a fever, and he appears to be stable right now, but I don't know how long it'll last. His condition keeps getting worse, and then it'll slowly get better. I still can't say for sure if he's going to make it through this…"

Aoi didn't even look at Makoto, knowing that if she did, tears would again be filling her eyes. Seeing him so vulnerable and helpless and having there be nothing she could do about it just sent her over the edge… It reminded her of when Sakura died, how she just watched, unable to do anything to stop it… She shook her head, and scouted the area, knowing full well how important of a task it was, and it would help keep her mind off of things.

"I've talked to the rest in the car, and we've come up with a plan. We're going to find somewhere for you, Makoto, and Toko to stay safely while the rest of us go on to find the evacuation center," He explained, "Once we get help, we'll come back for you."

Kyoko looked up from Makoto, and gave Byakuya a long stare, and she finally sighed, "Byakuya… Are you sure we should still proceed like this?"

"I'm certain. There has to be someone there, or at least a radio for us to contact them with, anything." He replied, taking a deep breath as his voice nearly cracked at the end there, "Can we move Makoto without injuring him further?"

"If we could get a stretcher, it would make things a lot easier." She replied, "But given that I doubt we could find one, and since building one would take too much time, we can carry him, but be VERY careful with his injured arm! He reacts to the smallest disturbance with a lot of pain."

"Very well," Byakuya muttered, "Hiro! I need you to…" He paused, noticing that Yasuhiro was still inside of the car, his head pressed flatly against the wheel, "Damn it…" He grumbled, "If he keeps acting like that, he's going to be a burden!"

Kyoko looked towards Yasuhiro, a frown on her face, "He's suffering from PTSD if I had to guess," She sighed, "I wish I could help him, but I've been so busy with Makoto…"

"Is he going to be a detriment to the team if I take him with me?" Byakuya asked, "Would it be worthwhile to leave him with you?"

"I can't say," Kyoko mumbled, "He might be fine, as long as you tell him what to do, but I can't predict his behavior, I'm not psychic."

"Then he'll come with us," Byakuya muttered thoughtfully, "Hina and I wouldn't be able to do much if we got surrounded." With that said, he grabbed his bag, which still contained his two bombs, as well as the pistol. "You'll take the shotgun with you to your place. It's too large and heavy to carry with us."

Kyoko nodded, looking down at the gun and the dozen or so shells pooled around it. They were in a bag just beside her, since she kept all heavy objects away from Makoto if possible. "Very well, let's get moving." She stood up, her legs protesting initially due to how long she had been sitting down. She ignored the brief pain, and slowly picked Makoto up. "I'm going to need someone else to help me carry him."

Byakuya walked over to Yasuhiro's door and slammed his fist against it, catching the attention of the person inside, "Help carry Makoto! He's injured and we can't afford for him to risk anymore injury!"

Yasuhiro looked confused initially, but then he quickly opened the door, nearly hitting Byakuya, much to his annoyance. "Yeah, I'll help with that!" He exclaimed, looking almost happy to have a distraction, "Where is he?"

"In the back," Byakuya replied, "Where else would he be?"

Yasuhiro at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish for asking such a stupid question, and he rushed to the back where Kyoko was holding him. He went to Makoto's other side, and wrapped his arm around Makoto's shoulder, "Wow. We're lucky he's as small as he is." He mumbled as they slowly got off the back of the truck.

Byakuya and Toko meanwhile were picking up the remaining weapons in the back of the truck. The Shotgun and Makoto's sword all had to be carried, since both Kyoko and Makoto were out of commission – Yasuhiro was able to carry his many knives all over his body in his various pockets as he managed Makoto, luckily. Byakuya looked around the neighborhood, and they went to the closest house first.

He didn't know what exactly to expect upon entering the household, but he supposed he should have expected it to be torn apart and in ruins, but it seemed even worse here than anywhere else they've been in the week since leaving the city. Blood was splattered all over the walls, the furniture was absolutely destroyed, and there were a few completely rotten bodies lying around. Byakuya had to resist the urge to gag and throw up, and he noticed off hand that Aoi didn't have that much resistance, and she had to lean over and empty her stomach at the putrid smell.

That house was a no-go due to that fact alone, and they left it and visited the neighboring household, and like the one before it, it was destroyed, and there were corpses strewn about, as well as a few of the zombies wandering around. Fortunately, Aoi finished them off without much trouble at all, and they searched the house – the bedrooms were destroyed, blood splattered everywhere – it looked like a massive battle happened.

"I don't understand!" Byakuya grumbled, "Why are these homes so destroyed?"

"I'd guess that it's due to the evacuation zone being so close nearby – despite being in a much smaller location, it still attracted hordes of people to come here." Kyoko explained, still holding Makoto with Yasuhiro's help, "And when a lot of people gather together, inevitably infection comes as well, and this is the result."

Byakuya was more than aware of the undertone of everything she was saying – the evacuation zone had probably fallen – but he kept his hope alight, and repeated mentally that it wouldn't be gone, there had to be something left… He led the group out of that home, and they again went to the next one, which was still a mess, but fortunately one of the bedrooms wasn't as destroyed or bloodied, so they settled on it purely for that fact.

Yasuhiro and Kyoko slowly lowered Makoto onto the bed, making sure not to aggravate his wound, and once he was flat on the bed, Kyoko went over to his arm to examine it to make sure it wasn't any worse for wear.

"Alright, Kyoko, I'm going to trust you with the safety of Makoto and Toko," Byakuya began, but he caught Aoi glaring at him, "What?"

"We should do a clean sweep of the house before we leave! What if there's some of the undead wandering around?!" Aoi exclaimed, "Don't risk the lives of our friends just so you can get going sooner!"

He wanted to bite back, to tell her how wrong she was, but he knew she was right. With a sigh, he ordered Aoi and Yasuhiro to scout and clean the house of the undead, and to barricade all the entrances. They both left without a single word to do as they were asked, leaving the four of them in the room.

Genocide Jill looked very displeased, and she sat at the end of the bed with her arms crossed – or as crossed as she could get them without moving her injured right arm at all, "Why do I have to stay back? I can still kill em all with one hand!"

"I don't care how many you can kill with one hand, the simple fact of the matter that you only have access to one arm to move around is why you're not coming. We've been climbing a lot in the past, and that would be nigh impossible for you to do if you came with us." Byakuya explained slowly, hoping Toko's insane persona would finally understand. He shouldn't have been so optimistic, since she again looked displeased.

"I could figure out a way," She grumbled.

"I don't care. I order you to stay here. Keep Kyoko and Makoto safe. Do you understand? If I come back and see either of them harmed, I will be very displeased." He recalled that Toko would obey his orders when they were in the Academy a while back, and it seemed to have the same effect out here. Genocide Jill looked positively ecstatic that her master gave her an order.

"Yes! I'll protect them for you master!" She cried, "Nothing will harm them!"

"Good." Byakuya sighed, looking up to see Aoi and Yasuhiro coming back, "Are you two ready to head out then?'

"The house is clear," Aoi looked directly at Kyoko as she said it, completely ignoring Byakuya, "Are you going to be ok here without us?"

"We'll be fine," Kyoko replied, "We're not going to be making much noise at all, so don't worry about us. Just don't forget where we are, and please, don't lose hope." She looked at all three of them, "Be careful."

"As if you needed to say that," Byakuya replied smugly, "It goes without saying that we must be careful."

Yasuhiro nodded, though he still looked a bit perturbed, "We'll be fine…"

Aoi gave Yasuhiro a concerned look again, but she knew that they didn't have much of a choice. She then gave Makoto one last long look, and she wished she could grab his hand and tell him that she would be right back, but she knew that she would start crying if she did that… "We'll be back soon," She said in general, not directing it at any one person.

"Be careful master!" Toko reiterated it, waving wildly at him as they left the room, walked down the hall, and towards the front door, "I'll miss you!"

Byakuya stopped at the front door, and called back, "If we're not back within a day, feel free to move on without us." He didn't wait for them to answer back, and he left the house, leaving most of their food and water supplies behind. They wouldn't need them, since the evacuation zone was just an hour away. Well, that was assuming they ran into no obstacles. With everything added in, he knew it would take up to two, maybe three hours.

The trio walked down the road silently together, Byakuya slightly in the lead, Aoi with her bow looking around with her ears sharp, and Yasuhiro even seemed to be more lucid as he looked around, the knives in his hand ready to attack at a second's notice. They walked pass their own car, and started to go through the traffic, climbing over cars, avoiding the undead, and things they all got particularly good at when they were crossing the highway nearly a week ago.

Yasuhiro led the three of them down the road, killing any of the undead that got too close to their small group, though Byakuya would occasionally stop them to change directions. The path, for the most part, wasn't too dangerous, relative to the situations they've found themselves in the past. The town was completely destroyed though, and was very reminiscent of the city they were in a little while back.

Telephone poles were knocked over, and the wires from those and the electricity lines were scattered across the street, and though power had long ago went away, they made sure to avoid them regardless just in case. All of the roads were cluttered with parks cars, and the ground was covered with trash, most commonly with papers claiming where the evacuation center was and how to get there. In addition to all of that however, there were many dead bodies – some of them were undead, but most were just rotten corpses, decayed by the passage of time.

The buildings also all looked rundown, not having any humans occupying them in months, nature slowly started to reclaim them. Though the town was mostly dominated by two or three story buildings, it was still imposing to look up at the greenery covering them, and wonder just what happened to the occupants who used to live there. Some of the stores they passed by were so destroyed that it was impossible to tell what they used to be – looters long ago raided this town it seemed, since they couldn't see anything worthwhile to take.

Byakuya focused his attention back forward, trying to ignore the destruction, and trying to ignore the fear that this was a waste of time. He knew there was going to be an escape here! They would find help, they would find something to make this not a meaningless waste of time. What would they even do if there was nothing here? This was their only hope…

"Byakuya!" Aoi snapped in his face to get his attention, "Where do we go now?"

Byakuya blinked a few times to clear his thoughts, and looked at the four way intersection they now found themselves at, and he opened up the map he kept in his pocket. He looked up at the signposts (those that were still up and readable, at any rate), and determined where they were quickly. "We need to go left here, assuming the path is safe. We can take a detour otherwise."

The three of them went left, and like before, they mechanically got back into their positions. Aoi would occasionally kill those that were farther away, while Yasuhiro cleared the path in front of him. If things ever got too bad, Byakuya had a gun and the bombs on his person, so for now at least, they were safe.

The closer they got, the more cluttered the roads became, and they had to resort to just climbing atop the cars to bypass them, since even the sidewalks were parked on. People seemed to simply forget their decency when they were panicked, which now translated to a hassle to them, and perhaps to others like them who came before. Still, the three of them were glad to see down the long road was the evacuation center.

It looked like a large public library had been converted into an evacuation center, and there was a very large sign hanging from the side of the building claiming that it was the evacuation zone. In front was a large amount of fencing that was organized into what looked like a line that people had to follow. The fence were at least fifteen feet tall, and were secured to the ground by a few weights here and there. There was even a makeshift tower near the start that had a large search light attached to it up at the top, but it was empty.

"This is it," Aoi muttered, looking at her two companions, "No one is here…"

"They must be inside," Byakuya muttered, jumping down from the hood of the car he was on and rushing forward, "Through these fences, they must be inside already!"

Aoi frowned, and followed behind him with Yasuhiro staying silent behind her. There were a lot of corpses along the fences, and Aoi had to breathe through her mouth to try and combat the smell, but even that was futile, since she could almost taste the rot and decay. She tried not to gag, but like before, she couldn't help it, and started to cough and gag, "It smells horrible…" She managed to get out, before she started to dry heave, since she had nothing else to give up in her stomach.

Yasuhiro gave her back a pat, and looked up towards Byakuya, who looked very annoyed. "Just give her a few seconds," Yasuhiro muttered, "She'll be fine."

She finally stopped, and they continued onward again. Yasuhiro also hated the smell, but he was at least able to keep the contents of his stomach inside, and Byakuya oddly enough didn't seem bothered at all. He walked briskly, avoiding stepping on the corpses, and soon they made it to the front doors of the library, which were broken down. Byakuya looked long and hard at the doors, and then walked in.

Sharing a glance at each other, Aoi and Yasuhiro followed right behind him, and they entered the building and looked around. The front lobby had been converted into what looked like a waiting area. There were dozens of chairs all around, and they could even see luggage by the seats as well. The book shelves were pushed aside, and in most cases it looked rushed too, since some of them were knocked over, but it was to make room for all of the people there…

… but they were all corpses. They wandered around the entire building longer, and they found it was completely empty. Not a single sign of any life within. Even behind the librarian's counter, they only found what looked to be military documents, but they were covered in blood, and indecipherable.

"There must be something here," Byakuya growled, "Look around! LOOK!" He cried, and Aoi watched his composure slowly dissolve. His eyes were wild, and she saw him shaking as he threw papers around wildly, and then he started sliding things off of the desk in an attempt to find anything.

"Byakuya…" She mumbled, "Look around you… There's nothing here."

"LOOK AGAIN!" He shouted, his voice cracking, "T – There has to be something! We have to find anything – we – we couldn't have… We needed…" He let out a few quick breaths, trying to recompose himself, but it was no use.

"Don't panic," She mumbled, though she knew it was useless, she was aware just as Kyoko was that Byakuya's hope was attached to this, and finding nothing here was beginning to take its toll on him.

Yasuhiro walked towards them quickly, and Aoi felt hoped that he had some good news, "I didn't find anything," He replied evenly, "The back entrance is open, and there's a lot of the undead around there, but no signs of where these people went."

"This!" Byakuya ignored him completely, and latched onto something, and Aoi went around the counter along with Yasuhiro to see that Byakuya found a notebook, "It – It looks like… Some sort of diary?"

"Not a diary, a log." Yasuhiro corrected, "I think the people from the military must have written this…"

"It's a rudimentary list of how many people have been processed and how many days it has been since the outbreak started." Byakuya mumbled, "There must be a clue in here, anything." He flipped through the pages, ignoring everything until he reached the end where there were a few notes written, and all three of them felt their insides going cold.

'We can't hold them any longer. There's no more order, we've tried to contact HQ, but we haven't gotten any response…' Byakuya read the note, and frowned, "This is written differently than the rest of the log," He muttered.

'We're all going to die… We're doomed. The building is surrounded, those of us in here are barricading the doors, but we don't have the food to feed all of us as well as the families secured in the building… We'll hold them as long as we can, but I fear it won't be enough.'

Aoi frowned, "So they all died in here with no escape possible?" She looked around the room, and again at the chairs and the corpses in them, the luggage suddenly making sense, "Then they came here in hopes of escaping, but it ended up being a giant trap in the end…"

"Shit…" Byakuya muttered under his breath, "Shit… Shit, shit SHIT!" He threw the book as far as he could, and it collided against a bookshelf, knocking a few books down before falling to the ground, "There's nothing here, we – we've wasted our time…" He wandered out into the middle of the room, in front of all of the waiting chairs, and he fell to the floor, "D – Do you think that I'll accept this? IS THIS IT? IS THERE NOTHING ELSE?!" He cried out, "Fuck!" Tears started streaming from his eyes, "I – I can't deal with this! Is there really nothing here?! Fuck! FUCK!"

"Byakuya!" Aoi gasped, and she noticed that Yasuhiro had also fallen where he stood, and he leaned up against the wall behind him, his hands covering his eyes. "Hiro?" She whispered his name, hoping to snap him out of whatever was wrong with him, but he was unresponsive. She looked back and forth between the two of them, and then slowly she started to hear the groaning of the zombies coming towards them, hearing the ruckus Byakuya had been making in what she assumed was a mental break down.

Aoi felt her throat constrict, and she didn't know what to do. Both of her companions were giving in to despair, and hearing the zombies coming, she felt herself wanting to give in just as well.

Back at the household, Toko impatiently paced up and down the hallway, letting out an annoyed huff every other second or so. Occasionally she would walk into the room that Kyoko was treating Makoto in, but then she'd grow bored and begin to pace again, and the cycle just repeated over and over. Though it wasn't like she cared, she was ordered by her master to protect them, and she would do that no matter what! If only it wasn't so freaking boring!

"Time won't go by any quicker doing that, you know." Kyoko spoke up when Toko walked back into the bedroom, "Why don't you just sit still for once?"

"Oh? Am I annoying you?" Toko asked, "Good! Like I give a shit what you think anyway!"

If Kyoko was annoyed by that, she gave no indication, and simply went back to watching over Makoto, rubbing his forehead to get rid of the sweat forming, and in general trying to make him comfortable. He was still gasping for breath, and he was sweating badly, but other than that, he didn't appear to be in too much trouble, at least not for now.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Toko cried, and she walked into the room and sat directly across from Kyoko, on the other side of the bed, "Entertain me!"

"Why should I do that?" Kyoko asked, giving the girl a flat stare, "Why should I care what you want when you could hardly care about what I want?"

Toko's hand twitched, and she wished so badly to grab one of the scissors in her worn dress, but she had promised Byakuya that she would protect them, and killing them was probably not a good form of protection. "Argh! Stupid bitch."

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Kyoko muttered, surprising Toko.

"About what, exactly?" She asked, narrowing her eyes dangerously, "I don't like being asked too many questions."

"I just want to know a bit about you, that's all." Kyoko replied, finally glancing up at her, "is that ok with you?"

Genocide Jill briefly thought about, and finally shrugged, "Eh, fine. I'm bored as hell, and I might tell you. Not like you can tell the police about me anyway given how things are." She smiled sadistically, and a soft giggle escaped her lips.

"I was wondering just one thing," Kyoko lifted up one finger, "I want to know when exactly it was that you 'woke up', so to speak."

"Woke up?" She looked genuinely confused, "What do you mean?"

"I want to know when you first took control away from Toko and started to commit murders," Kyoko elaborated, "Now do you understand?"

"Oh! Yes, I do!" She nodded, "I can remember everything. The first kill will always be with me," She sighed nostalgically, causing Kyoko to curl her lips in disgust – the first amount of emotion she was willing to show around the serial killer.

"Why did you come out?" Kyoko asked instead of pursuing the murder topic, since she was more curious about that anyway.

"Hm, well, if I recall, my other self was in middle school when I first appeared – I've always been inside her you know, lurking, just waiting for the day to come out and wreak havoc! I've always wanted to kill, and I remember I first got control in the school – we were in a classroom alone together, and there was a cute boy in front of me, an upperclassman if I recall correctly."

Kyoko frowned, knowing where this was going, "And you killed him?"

"Why wouldn't I? I knew from my other self that I had strong feelings for this boy, and I figured the best way to show my feelings would be to murder him! I grabbed a pair of scissors from the teacher's desk, and I stabbed him good!" She couldn't help but laugh at that, as if it were the most hilarious thing in the world.

"I don't recall any bodies showing up in a school." Kyoko replied evenly, trying her best not to let her disgust show too much.

"Well if it appeared there then it would be obvious that it was a student who did it, right?" She asked, "So I dragged him outta there to an alley near the school, and then I hung him up, and wrote my message on the wall with his own blood!" She let out another pleased sigh, "Oh, what a beautiful sight it was."

"How weren't you discovered?" Kyoko asked, unable to hide her curiosity. She remembered hearing about this case – her family had tried to take it on, and all she could remember was how frustrated they were that they couldn't find the culprit. It shouldn't have been hard she thought, but maybe there was something to it?

"I don't have a clue, honestly." She answered with a shrug, "I'd always make sure to kill with my scissors, and if I had to use my hands, I would make sure to cover them so no finger prints could be detected, I also made sure to always burn my clothes if they got some blood on them, I didn't want there to be any evidence of my involvement, you know?"

"I still find it difficult that you were undetected," She replied, "The only reason I can determine that you got away with it so often is because of your split personality. No one expected a serial killer to just be an average middle school student."

"It worked out, so I don't really care what people think. Since they were so stupid and couldn't find me out, I could keep on doing what I loved!" She let out a pleased sigh, "Oh I wish I could do it again – these monsters we're killing now are no fun at all. They don't beg for their lives, and I can't hear their screams as I rip them open."

"What's your motivation though? Why do you murder people? What caused you to exist inside of Toko?" Kyoko asked, staring at her right in the eyes, "There must have been a catalyst that started this all."

Genocide Jill shrugged, "I don't know, and I don't care either. You'd probably have to ask my other self, she was the one who has control more often than not!"

"Why don't you refer to yourself and Toko as one person?" Kyoko asked, causing Toko's face to harden in anger, "Oh? Did I hit a nerve?"

"She's weak!" Genocide Jill cried, "She is useless, she can't do anything! All she can do is mope around and write about how she wishes her life was in her stupid books!"

"But you even said so earlier that you were always inside of her, doesn't that imply that you are a part of Toko?" Kyoko asked, "Or do you just refer to her as the dominant personality?"

"Dominant?" She laughed out loud at that, "As if! If you didn't notice, we don't control who's in charge! Whenever I sneeze or if one of us goes unconscious, the other takes control." She growled, "I've been fighting for control for years, but she just won't give it up to me! She says how much she hates me, but really she's jealous!"

"Jealous?" Kyoko repeated, "In what way?"

"Because she wishes she could be as strong as me! If she were awake right now, she'd probably be crying or moping around, wondering why she is such a worthless piece of shit!" She exclaimed passionately, "She is the weaker of the two of us, and she knows this! Yet she still tries to get control – she's in denial about it!"

"Interesting," Kyoko muttered, "I wonder if you are a personification of all of the things Toko wishes to say, but she just doesn't have the courage to say. It's disturbing to think though that Toko really does wish to murder people."

"Oh yeah?" Genocide Jill mused aloud, "You think that?"

"Well… No. I suppose not." She replied, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, "You're both polar opposites of one another – you're violet and aggressive, while she is shy and passive. You think highly of yourself, and she hates herself. I wonder if you're both just extremes of a single personality that was split – if there were a way to somehow put you back together…"

"What is that mumbo jumbo you're saying?" Toko asked, shifting her good shoulder as she got more comfortable in her chair, "We're extremes?"

"Well, I can't say for sure, I'm not a psychologist, but it's something to keep in mind. I wonder if when your personality split, if it damaged her far more than just creating you, what if it created you and her? The original Toko, the one that was the both of you combined, was lost when you both split."

"That sounds absolutely ridiculous," Toko replied, giving Kyoko a flat stare, "You know, for a detective, you can really come up with some stupid far fetched theories. Maybe you should write some science fiction novels while you're at it."

Kyoko didn't respond to the jab, and instead looked back down at Makoto, who was beginning to shiver again. Toko watched impassively as Kyoko wiped away the sweat on his face, and saw the flash of concern on her face. "It's ok Makoto… I'm here for you…" She whispered to him. Of course it didn't do anything, and Toko almost laughed, but she restrained herself and just continued to watch.

Finally a few minutes later, the shivering passed, and Makoto was just gasping for breath again, something that he'd been doing since Genocide Jill got control of her body back. "Is he going to be all right?" She asked.

"Byakuya asked me the same thing, you were there to hear my answer." Kyoko replied icily. She gave the girl across from her a glare, but then her gaze softened as she looked back at Makoto.

"It's cute to see you so worried about him," Toko stated, glad to see Kyoko get visibly uncomfortable, "Is our little detective in love, perhaps?" Oh there was SO much potential for teasing her, assuming Makoto lived.

Usually Toko didn't care if people lived or died. It was just the way of life, and honestly, she liked to see people die, but in this instance there was an exception. As much as she hated everything, Toko at least had to admit that she appreciated the fact that despite knowing that she killed people for a living, they still allowed her to stay with their group, and they gave her food and sheltered her as well.

Due to that, she would keep her mouth shut when it came to Makoto. She didn't think he would live, and she knew that Kyoko was aware of that, but she didn't have to say it out loud. Who knows, maybe he will get pass this. In any case, Toko found herself almost… hopeful, that he would survive. After all, he wouldn't be a very good source of hope if he were dead, now would he?

Aoi slammed her hand down on the counter in front of her, the groaning of the zombies, Byakuya's screaming, and Yasuhiro's defeated attitude almost caused her to cave in. It was so tempting, but her thoughts focused on Makoto. He wouldn't want her to die like this, and if he were here, she knew he would want them all to escape alive, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

"Byakuya!" She shouted, "What kind of Togami are you? You're giving up? So much for your family name, you worthless coward!" She turned towards Yasuhiro, "And what in the world is your problem? You're sad that you had to kill someone to save one of us?" She saw his eyes widened, and the pain was clearly visible. "It's ok to feel that way, but you can't let it make you give into despair like this! If she were here with you, would she want you to give up?"

"S – She would probably want me to perform some f – fortune telling…" He mumbled quietly.

Aoi knew that it hurt him a lot to bring it up, and what she just did was more akin to slapping a band-aid on a bullet wound that outright treating it, but it would have to do. She saw life returning to his eyes at least. She looked back at Byakuya who stopped panicking, and was instead looking thoughtfully towards the ground. "Byakuya!" She shouted his name again, "Well? Am I going to have to leave you behind or not?!"

He snapped out of his mood, and practically jumped to his feet, his gaze sharpening towards the entrance, where several of the undead were beginning to enter. "How disgraceful. This attitude is unbefitting of an heir of the Togami family! I won't bring shame upon me or my family by giving in here! I have to live! I have to make sure my family line doesn't end with me!"

"What's the plan?" Aoi called out, pulling out her bow and shooting an arrow into the nearest zombie, and then another at the one behind it. She noticed Yasuhiro going around the front counter and he rushed the horde, stabbing one in the face with his survival knife, killing it instantly, and then he stabbed yet another one. With four dead at the entrance, he got a good look outside, and his face paled.

"Shit, there's gotta be at least thirty or forty of them out there!" Yasuhiro called back to them, "And there's more coming!" He looked to Byakuya, "What do we do?" He then got the arrows out of the two zombies Aoi killed, and he went over and handed them to her.

Byakuya took stock of his inventory – two bombs, and a pistol with ten bullets. Not a lot to work with, but it ought to be enough. He reached in for one of his remaining bombs, "I'm going to clear a way through them, once this explodes, we rush through. Yasuhiro, you're in the lead, I'll be in the middle, and Hina, you're in the back. Don't hesitate about shooting your arrows, we need to survive, and if that means losing a few of them, so be it."

"Got it!" She exclaimed, readying another arrow as Byakuya activated one of the bombs and threw it out the front door. At least a dozen zombies were gathered around it, and within a few seconds, it exploded. Those that didn't die immediately to the shrapnel or the explosion were sent flying into the walls, several snapping their necks and cracking their heads open, and a few of them knocking more of the oncoming horde down, giving the trio the time they needed to go.

"GO!" Byakuya shouted, and Yasuhiro rushed out the entrance before the dust could even settle. They all knew they had precious little time to escape, and they had to make every second count. Immediately upon clearing the dust, Yasuhiro was greeted by several zombies, and he was forced to stop and deal with them all. Though it was only a few seconds, with him backing up to make sure the ones he wasn't dealing with were lunging at him, it was still enough time that the zombies started to mass up again.

Aoi took what Byakuya said to heart, and she was using the time to kill a few of the zombies ahead – three arrows in total were lost, but three zombies were killed as a result. They would have no time to gather those arrows, and they just ran on by, Aoi mournfully looking back as they passed by. She shook her head – Byakuya was right, they had to deal with surviving first.

"God damn it!" Byakuya cursed, as they ran down the fenced line, and they saw a crowd of the undead blocking their exit. "Hiro, can you cut through this?" He asked, "Give me a knife too! We have to hurry! Aoi, protect us!"

Yasuhiro slammed his knife into the fence, and while it did get through, it was only one small wire he cut, they'd need to do it significantly more to make any sort of progress. "This isn't going to work!" He exclaimed, watching the zombies begin to come towards them. The one leading them dropped as Aoi shot another arrow at them, but even she was beginning to look less than convinced of their survival.

"Damn, I didn't want to waste this, but we don't have a choice." Byakuya pulled out his last bomb, and activated it, throwing it at the entrance of the fenced line, and it exploded, clearing a path for them easily. Yasuhiro again led them through, and now that they were out of the death trap of the library, they got a little bit of room to breathe, though not much, since even with the cars impeding their path, there were more zombies they could count, since both explosions caught their attention.

"We're going to have to lose them!" Byakuya told them as he hopped atop a nearby car, followed quickly by the other two. "We can't go into these buildings though, the back entrances might be barricaded shut, and I refuse to let myself die such an unworthy death!"

"Then what should we do?" Aoi asked.

"One of these cars must have an alarm still in them, right?" He replied, pulling out the pistol, "That can be the distraction we need."

Aoi covered her ears the moment Byakuya shot his gun off through one of the car's nearby, shattering its window, but no alarm went off. Byakuya fired off another bullet into another car, and yet again, there wasn't a single sound. "Are you sure this plan is gonna work?" Yasuhiro asked, backing away from the edge of the car as the zombies neared, "We have to move now!"

Firing one more shot into a car, Byakuya let out a very pleased laugh as it started to ring out loudly, attracting the horde's attention. A genuinely happy smile passed his face before he snuffed it out, and shook his head, "We need to make it back to Kyoko and the others, Hiro, you'll lead us again, kill any of them that get in our way!"

They jumped from car to car due to their density, and once they passed that and were on the ground on the opposite end of the street, the three of them looked back at the evacuation center, which was now being swarmed by the undead. The car in particular was being assaulted by them as well, and they could see that there had to be at least several dozen clustered around the car alone, while there were another several dozen around the library entrance.

"If we didn't have those bombs, we would have been dead…" Aoi muttered, a cold feeling passing through her. It wasn't pleasant to imagine your own death, and she quickly shook it from her head, "Do we just go back now? Maybe we can find some supplies or something?"

"That would be worthless," Byakuya disagreed, "It's like the casino all over again, and this place had tens of thousands of people fleeing to it. Once they realized that it was a lost cause, no doubt they tried to gather their supplies."

"But…" Yasuhiro mumbled, "We only have a couple days left of food on us…"

"I'm aware." Byakuya answered, looking very annoyed, "I'll need to talk to Kyoko about what we should do. Hiro, lead us back, and make sure to be careful, I think all that ruckus woke the undead up from their nap." All around them the undead were still walking towards the noise of the car, and as long as they stayed silent, they should be safe.

The day advanced slowly as the three cautiously made their way back to the house that their companions were resting in. Yasuhiro would occasionally stop the group, and Aoi would use one of her arrows on them, though they definitely made sure to retrieve these ones, since after all of that, Aoi was reduced to a measly seven arrows left. Byakuya likewise would occasionally stop them to rest for a little bit, not wanting their senses to be dulled by exhaustion.

Eventually though they passed by their vehicle again, which was exactly as they left it. Just seeing the car was comforting, since it was the safest thing they've been in for the past few days. However, they didn't stop there, and went a little further along the block to the house that their friends were in, and they entered.

"Kyoko?" Aoi called once they were sure the door was locked and barricaded, "Are you there?"

"Oh! You're back master!" Toko rushed down the hall, and she would have tackled Byakuya in a hug, but he held out his hand to stop her, and then pointed to her injured shoulder.

"Don't do anything that can harm that, you idiot!" He stepped pass her, causing her to pout, though she still looked at him with lust filled eyes, and she was close to drooling. Both Aoi and Yasuhiro side stepped her, not wanting to potentially interrupt her fantasies and get her anger directed towards them.

Byakuya walked into Makoto's room, and glanced down at the boy in question, before his eyes looked towards Kyoko, "Has his condition improved at all?"

"Not in the six or so hours you've been gone, no." Kyoko replied, "He keeps mumbling occasionally, but never anything coherent." Her gaze lingered on Makoto for a bit longer, before it shifted towards Byakuya, "And how was the evacuation center? Is help coming?"

"You know damn well there isn't any help coming!" He snapped. Though Kyoko didn't react at all, Byakuya was aware that he was letting his anger get to him, so he paused briefly, and took a few deep breaths, and that was when the others arrived in the room.

"Is Makoto awake yet?" Aoi asked, trying to keep her positive persona up, not wanting to appear down, "Oh… Guess not…" She mumbled, still seeing him lie asleep.

"Hey Kyoko," Yasuhiro gave the girl a short wave, "I'm sorry, but we didn't find anything out there…"

"I figured that would be the case," She replied, not a hint of disappointment marring her features.

"You knew there wouldn't be anything there, didn't you." Byakuya accused her, giving her a glare, "If you were so confident, then why didn't you dispute me in coming here? Why waste our time on this pointless endeavor?"

"Would you have listened to me? You were so hopeful that there would be help here that you ignored all signs pointing to it not being the case." She answered, "You were willing to split the group up over this decision, if I recall correctly, so my hands were tied."

Byakuya gritted his teeth, though he was inwardly seething at himself. He allowed himself to give into a foolish hope, and as a result, he nearly got himself killed. "If that's the case…" He sighed, sitting down at the chair opposite of Kyoko, "What do you suppose we ought to do? I'll be frank, I didn't think much of what to do beyond this point."

"Fortunately for you, Makoto did." She replied, and he looked up in surprise. She smiled down at Makoto for a moment, though her face hardened yet again as she moved her façade in place, "We're in a coastal town, so undoubtedly there must be a boat nearby, yes?"

"Finding a functional one will be difficult though," Byakuya replied, "Who's to say that it's not just another pointless endeavor like the one we just undertook?"

"Do we really have many options at our disposal?" Kyoko asked, "Anyway, we find a boat, and some fishing rods, or if the boat is out of the question, we just need to find some fishing rods. For now I suggest we live by the shore, and we try to stock up on fish."

"That's assuming we can catch anything," Byakuya replied, "It's another hopeful dream, but…" He let out a soft groan, "We don't have a choice, do we?"

"We could drive away from here," Kyoko mumbled, "But I can't say for certain if we'll run into anything worthwhile. Maybe we would eventually run into a military base or something, but we can't say for certain if we ever would. As far as I see it, we're now running purely on luck. We need food, so to get food, I say we try to find some fishing poles and fish for food. We can't rely on canned food forever, so the sooner we become self-sufficient, the sooner we can survive on our own."

"That sounds like a good plan to me," Aoi replied, though she looked particularly happy about being on the water, "If we have a boat, then we'll be safe from the undead!" She exclaimed, "They can't swim, so we just stock up on food, go out on our own, and just survive out on the water!"

"It sounds good to me," Yasuhiro muttered, "I mean, it's better than just wandering around and hoping we get lucky and find food. At the rate we're going though, we're just going to starve…"

Toko didn't say anything, and instead just stood by her master, and they all were aware that she would do what he wanted without any questions asked. Finally Byakuya responded, "Very well… We don't have a choice, so I suppose we ought to do this. Though there's more than just fishing poles we'll need. We'll need something to help cook the fish, and we'll also need fuel for the boat."

"Then it's settled." Kyoko replied, "Tomorrow morning we'll begin. Make sure to eat and get plenty of rest tonight, since tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

The group dispersed after that, wandering around the house, trying to find rooms where the smell of the dead bodies wasn't so prominent. Kyoko was the only one who stayed put – she had to stay by Makoto's side and treat him, and she wouldn't do anything else, even if given the option.

"Please wake up soon…" She mumbled, wiping his forehead yet again with a wet cloth, and to her immense surprise, he let out a soft groan, and his eyes cracked open just a little bit. She nearly jumped in shock, but she kept herself from doing that much, and she instead got a water bottle, "Makoto," She spoke loud and clear, getting his attention, "Drink this."

He noticed the water bottle, and he weakly opened his mouth, allowing the liquid to go down. Letting out a sigh, he managed to mutter, "Th- - Thank… you…"

"Makoto…" She muttered his name again, and tears began to form in her eyes. She wasn't even sure if he would wake up before, so to see him doing that, and hearing him talk just made her feel such an immense amount of relief, and the massive weight on her shoulder lifted – for the first time in nearly two days, she felt like she could breathe.

"H – How long was I o – out?" He croacked.

"Two days just about," She looked out the window, where the sun was setting in the distance, "We were all so scared… You got a fever, and I – I wasn't sure if you were going to make it." Tears were beginning to go down her cheeks, but she couldn't help but smile, "Thank god…"

"Don't cry…" He mumbled, and he lifted up his hand to wipe them away, but there was just a stump there. He looked at it in confusion for a few seconds, before his eyes widened, "M – My hand?"

"It's gone." Kyoko answered, reaching forward and holding his arm, "But you're alive, and that's all that matters."

He was still in shock though, "B – But I can still feel it," He muttered in awe, "It hurts…"

"It's called phantom pains," She explained, "It'll go away eventually." She sniffled, and quickly reached up to wipe her eyes, "I'm so glad you're alive Makoto… If you died, I… I don't know what I would've done…"

"You would have gone on," He stated, his voice growing a bit stronger as he adjusted more and more to his surroundings, "You're strong. I know you would have."

"I'm glad we don't have to test that theory of yours," She replied, and she noticed he was beginning to drift off again, "Don't stay awake on my account."

"But… I've been sleeping enough already…" He mumbled, "I… I need to get up…"

"Sleep just this night," She replied, "Tomorrow we'll all work together, ok?"

He nodded and closed his eyes, his head tilting to the side – he was fast asleep yet again. Kyoko wiped her eyes, a genuine smile on her face, and she felt hopeful for their future. She wouldn't give into despair, since as long as she had Makoto by her side, she could do anything she needed to do.