Danganronpa: Outbreak

by Shawn45

Makoto survived the killing school game with his friends, both hopeful and fearful of what the world would be like once he escaped. Unfortunately, it was far worse than he could ever have imagined. Now with only each other to rely on, Makoto and the survivors of Hope's Peak Academy must make their way through this new world of horror, trying to survive in any way they can.

9. Recovery

Chapter Nine

Recovery

The docks were a complete mess, boats half sunken lay in the water abandoned, and several of the wooden piers were collapsed into the water, the wooden platforms consequently destroying any of the boats that happened to be tied to them. The walkway by the docks was at least clear, and the entire place was mostly devoid of the undead, due to the noise that happened yesterday, but that was hardly any consolation. It was probably safe to assume that most of them wandered back into the town to go towards the library where the evacuation center was located.

Aoi walked along the docks, trying to find any boats that happened to be in working condition, but no matter how much she looked, there just wasn't anything that looked even remotely operation. She mournfully looked at some of the sunken boats, wishing that there was some way to fix them and get them floating, but she knew no one in her group had the knowledge nor the time to do that. After another five minutes of walking along the docks, she finally gave up, and ran down to one end of the dock, where the rest of the group was resting.

They were gathered around a bench, Makoto was sitting down looking absolutely exhausted, his sword sheathed on his back, though they knew he couldn't really make much use of it. That was to be expected perhaps, since his wound was still quite fresh, and he complained about feeling an immense pain in his limb, which was quite obvious by the way he held it so close to his chest and hissed in pain when they had to navigate particularly bumpy terrain. Still, Aoi was just happy that he was ok – that morning when he woke up, she actually started crying and ran over to hug him. Just the thought of that brought a healthy red hue to her cheeks.

Byakuya regained most of his spirit he lost the previous day, and he too was sitting down on the bench, talking quietly to Kyoko who sat on the last available spot on the bench. He had a shotgun wrapped around his back, while Kyoko had her pistol in her pocket, their heads were together, and they again were giving all of their attention to the map in their hands. If Aoi had to guess, she'd say that they were looking for some sort of boating shop or a sports store to try and find fishing poles and other necessary supplies.

Yasuhiro was at the edge of the docks, his arms rested on the railings as he looked out across the ocean, the calmest look Aoi could recall was on his face. It made sense, she supposed, the sound of the ocean was making even her feel relaxed, since the undead weren't around to bother them.

Toko fortunately reverted back to her other personality in the morning, and she was just nervously pacing around, her eyes darting all around the place, as if she were afraid of an attack at any second. While Aoi found herself growing a little annoyed with the girl, she had to concede that it was probably a very smart idea to be that paranoid, since in the world they lived in now, it would inevitably save her life one day. Aoi shook herself out of her thoughts, and walked towards the bench.

"I couldn't find any boats that worked," She told them, "There were a lot of them in the water though, and some looked like they could float, but they looked too wrecked to do anything with." She explained.

"That was to be expected, honestly." Byakuya muttered, "Though it's good to know for sure. Then what's the plan now?"

"This town is right along the ocean, there has to be more boats elsewhere," Kyoko replied, "And we need to get fishing poles too. Even if we don't find a boat, I feel like that will be essential to our continued survival."

"Very well," Byakuya closed the map for now, "Then we'll make our way to the store nearby." He and Kyoko both looked towards the street lining the docks, and they could see various shops lining the street. Most of them looked like shops that used to sell fish, but at the corner, they could see what appeared to be a fishing goods store.

"Wait, it was right there the entire time?" Aoi asked, "Why didn't we go there first?"

"Why go there so soon when we already know the location?" Kyoko asked, "It'll be much more beneficial if we can find a working boat."

"I guess so…" Aoi muttered, letting out a soft sigh, and she heard her stomach growling. With a blush, she averted her eyes away from the group. Honestly, the talk of fish was making her crave it so badly, since the canned food they were eating was just starting to become tasteless due to eating it for so long.

Ignoring Aoi's stomach, Kyoko stood up, and looked towards Makoto, "Are you ok to walk, Makoto?" She asked gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He was sweating, and for a second Aoi was afraid that his fever was coming back, but he nodded, "I'm fine," He replied, "It's just hard to move, I just feel like sleeping…" He got to his feet shakily, and Aoi didn't even think as she rushed to his side when it looked like he was about to fall over. "Thanks…" He mumbled to her, giving her a weak smile.

"It's no problem," Aoi replied sweetly, giving him a much more energetic smile of her own. She could almost not stop smiling when it came to Makoto, since she was afraid that he was going to die a few days ago. Seeing him up and about, was just a miracle as far as she was concerned, especially given what happened to him. "Here, just take it easy." She turned to look at Kyoko and Byakuya, "You guys go ahead – Makoto and I will catch up with you."

Kyoko looked ready to protest, but Byakuya spoke up before her, "It's relatively safe here. Hina, don't let anyone or anything harm him, ok?"

"Got it," She nodded, very serious about this. Makoto meant a lot to her, and she wouldn't let anyone hurt him. She had already been unable to do anything once before, and she was determined not to let that happen again. She looked at Kyoko, who still looked conflicted, and Aoi smiled gently at her, "Would you like to stay with us Kyoko? It's not like we're going anywhere else."

Kyoko looked a bit surprised at the invitation, but she smile and nodded, "Yes. I'd appreciate it."

"Don't let me hold you back," Makoto replied, though his good arm was still around Aoi's shoulder. His right arm – the one with the lost forearm – was still held delicately to his chest.

"Don't be silly Makoto," Aoi replied, "You're not holding us back. You're recovering from your wound, so it makes sense that you're not on your A game."

"Hiro, Toko," Byakuya called, getting their attention, "Come with me, we're going to go to the fishing store." He pointed out the shop to them, and the trio went ahead to the store to secure it in case if there were any undead inside.

"Now come on," Aoi began to lead herself and Makoto forward, while Kyoko walked on the other side of Makoto, keeping an eye on him the entire time. If Aoi had to guess, she'd say that Kyoko was similarly amazed at Makoto's quick recovery, and was just as happy to see him up and walking, even if he was injured and a quite sluggish. It would have been better to let him rest for a few more days, but that was a luxury that they could ill afford.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, his gaze dropping, "I'm slowing us down…"

"If you don't stop being so negative, you'll upset me." Kyoko smacked him lightly on the back of the head, "After what you did for us, you deserve a little slack, and I don't think anyone is going to expect you to fight for now. You really ought to be resting," She sighed, "But Byakuya was right, we need to keep moving."

"Alright," Makoto mumbled, "Then let's get moving," With Aoi's support, he took a shaky step forward, and they continued on their way. The path was clear, as expected, and soon enough they reached the entrance of the shop, and they stood there, peering in to make sure the rest of their team was present. Fortunately, Hiro, Byakuya, and Toko were all inside looking around.

The shop was destroyed, which wasn't all that surprising now. The display windows were smashed, again the act of looters perhaps, but most importantly was that a lot of the merchandise was still present, though some of it was broken, and consequently was worthless. Along the walls were all sorts of fishing poles, and Byakuya grabbed one, looking extremely happy, "It appears that the looters didn't target this building."

"If I were to guess, I'd say it's because at the time of the outbreak, money was a bigger priority for the looters – they didn't realize that it would become worthless after a short while. Afterwards, they went for food, hence the lack of any food in many of the stores and houses we stop at. I don't think any of them prioritized shops like this, or if they did, it was too late in this instance, since the town was probably overrun with the monsters."

"Well, I guess there's a silver lining to everything," Yasuhiro replied, picking a fishing pole and looking at it with excited eyes, "The zombie horde is a terrible thing and all that, but at least it made it so we could get these fishing poles without them being damaged."

"We should leave these here for now," Byakuya muttered thoughtfully, "I doubt the undead will have a use for them, and until we get a boat or decide to leave, they will just weigh us down."

"I agree," Kyoko nodded, "Just knowing that they're here is a great burden off of our shoulders. We now have an opportunity to start being self-sufficient."

"Um, if we're trying to become self-sufficient, maybe it would be worth looking into getting some seeds to plant? It would take a lot longer to get results than fishing, but… well, it might be worth looking into."Aoi suggested to the two of them a little hesitantly.

Byakuya looked at her thoughtfully, "Well…I suppose if we do go on without assistance for a while, it wouldn't be a bad idea. We'll make a detour to stop at a garden shop then," Byakuya replied, and he reached back to his pocket and pulled out his so often used map of the city he found.

Toko meanwhile was still wandering around the shop, and as she was behind the counter, she noticed something, "H – hey, over here!" She was near the entrance of the shop, and she kneeled down behind the counter, where the cash register was smashed on the floor, "I've f – found something!"

"What did you find?" Byakuya asked, walking over to her, "Something useful, I hope."

She reached under the counter, where there was a small hidden compartment, and she pulled out what appeared to be some keys on a keychain, "W – What d – do you think this is for?"

Byakuya grabbed the keys out of her grasp, and he examined them. While the keys looked a little bit different than the car keys, what really got him to feel a spark of hope was the keychain itself – it had a small plastic anchor attached to it as an accessory. "I think you may have just found our way out, Toko." He replied.

She looked shocked for a moment, but then a large smile appeared on her face, "R – Really?!"

"Don't get excited yet," Kyoko muttered, "We haven't found any boats in a drivable condition, so we have to keep in mind the possibility that the boat isn't here."

"You're sure those are boat keys?" Aoi asked, though she couldn't help but feel hopeful. Makoto also looked hopefully at the keys, though like Aoi, he too held in his excitement, which wasn't too difficult, because he barely felt functional.

"There's a chance they might be," Yasuhiro muttered, "We might as well keep the keys with us, I really doubt that the previous owner is really going to need them…" He let it hang, and a short silence persisted as they all wondered just what did happen to the owner of the shop.

"Uh – a – anyway," Toko broke their thoughts, "W – What do we do now? We have f – fishing poles…"

"There are still things we need to gather. We need something to cook with, a grill would be good, but we'd need coal or propane, so we'll have to look into that as well. Hopefully it will be the same as with these fishing poles – untouched. We also need to go to the gardening shop and gather seeds and anything else to help us with growing plants." Byakuya explained, "We might also want to get some clothes as well. It's still in the middle of summer, but once winter comes, I don't want us to freeze to death."

"We shouldn't split up either," Kyoko mumbled, "Two of us are too injured to fight, and can't move fast. I suggest moving slow. Hina and Hiro can keep the path clear, and we'll follow behind."

Aoi wasn't too pleased that she would have to stop helping Makoto, but if there was one other person there that she trusted him with, it was Kyoko. She gently helped Makoto wrap his arm around the pink haired girl's shoulder, and then she got her bow off her back, "Alright, I'll lead the way! Byakuya, you just tell me where to go!"

"Alright, give me a second more," He muttered, his eyes scanning the map just a little bit longer before he pocketed it yet again, and the group of six moved as one, never going too far ahead of one another. Due to Makoto's injuries, it meant that they moved pretty slowly, but it was better than the alternative – plus it gave an added psychological effect as well, since they all felt better knowing everyone was alright.

The roads by the docks were unfortunately crowded with cars and trash as well, and it was easy to assume that most of the owners of the cars perhaps fled to the docks in hopes of finding an operational boat just as they were. Yasuhiro led the group through the traffic slowly, and he'd stop them every once in a while to kill a zombie that happened to be pinned down. After that, he would lead them over the cars if necessary, but he would try to weave around them for Makoto's sake.

The next store they went to was a store that sold things for outdoor usage. There was hiking gear, gardening gear, even some grills that Byakuya was so interested in. Unfortunately, the store was in a much worse condition than the last one, and most of the gear hanging on the racks along the walls or in the middle of the floor were knocked over and even torn in some cases. The gardening section was fortunately almost untouched, and Aoi went over there gleefully, and began to look through the different seeds available.

"Oh! Apple seeds!" She exclaimed excitedly, "That could be fun!"

"Y – You do realize that it would take years before that produces any notable results?" Toko muttered from beside her, "It's not f – feasible."

Aoi let out a displeased groan, but she didn't put it away, "Still, if we're in this for the long term, wouldn't it be smart to take them?"

Toko's faced paled just thinking about what 'long-term' actually meant, and she shrugged, "I – I don't know…"

"Oh! Wheat!" She gasped, pointing them out for Toko. Unlike the apple seeds that were in a small plastic bag the wheat seeds were in a fairly large plastic container, and there had to be thousands of the little things packed in there, "Yes! We can use these to get flour and make our own bread!" She smiled, just imagining eating fresh bread, and she couldn't help but let her mouth water a bit, "Oh… That would be so good…"

Toko at least had no objections to that, and they both continued to look through the fruits and vegetable seeds, as well as the small shovels and other tools. Byakuya and Yasuhiro were wandering around, looking at several of the knocked over grills and setting them upright, and tried to discern if they worked or not. Fortunately, even though people seemed to loot the hiking gear and rations, the grills all had propane tanks still, and as far as Byakuya could tell, they were fully functional as well.

"We should stock up with as many of them as we can possibly get," He muttered, "We should also consider getting some coal as well, for when we inevitably run out of propane, though with the amount here, we could make do for about a year on propane alone, as long as we don't overuse it."

"Cooked food…" Yasuhiro mumbled, "Aw man… It sounds so delicious right now…"

Kyoko was still supporting Makoto, and the two of them looked through the hiking clothes. Unfortunately, unlike the grill and the seeds, they were having much less luck. There were clothes scattered around, but it was a few pieces here and there, it looked like it had been looted completely clean, and there was hardly anything left.

"I guess we'll have to visit a clothing store after this," Kyoko muttered, and then she glanced over at the others, "It looks like the rest are having better than us right now at the very least."

"Good," Makoto replied, "I've thought of something else we might want to look into though," He saw Kyoko give him a curious look.

"What's that?" She wondered aloud, trying to think of necessary things for their survival.

"If we do find a boat, we'll need to do something for fun… It would be fun to ride on a boat for a little while, but I think it would get pretty boring after a while." He explained, "Maybe some books or comics would be good, or some other things…"

"That's a good suggestion," Kyoko praised, and he smiled weakly, "We'll definitely have to tell Byakuya that before we leave here."

"Aoi will probably want to go swimming too," Makoto replied, "If that's the case, then maybe when we're in the clothing store we should get some swimming suits to wear."

"Hm, I wonder why you're bringing that up." Kyoko mumbled, garnering a confused look from Makoto, "Do you just want to see us in a swim suit, I wonder?" She couldn't help but chuckle as his face flared red, and he rapidly shook his head.

"N – No!" He cried, "No, I wasn't think of that!"

"Relax, Makoto," She replied, a smile still on her face, "I was just joking with you."

Makoto let out a soft sigh, "Geez, you're good at stuff like that, you always keep a straight face when you say things, so I don't know if you're being serious or not."

"Well, I learned from a young age to hide my emotions, but I suppose you know that already. Though I will admit, when I'm with you guys, I find it a lot easier to be more honest with how I feel now, especially after what you said…" She turned a bit red, "So thank you for that."

"Ah… It's no problem…" He mumbled, averting his eyes and looking elsewhere.

A few more minutes passed, and Byakuya called the group back together, and they shared their findings. Aoi had nothing but positive things to report, and even Byakuya was positive as he gave his own report. It was only Kyoko who had to give them the bad news that they lacked the proper clothing still, "And Makoto also brought up a good point about bringing things to do while we're on the boat. Stuff to read, or swim suits for us to wear to go swimming with."

Aoi's eyes lit up at the thought, "It's been so long, but if I could go swimming now, that would be amazing!"

"Very well," Byakuya replied, ignoring Aoi's comment, "Then like the fishing supplies, we'll leave the things in this store for now and come back for them once we know for sure that we have a boat. I remember a good clothing shop from the map we can visit that it close to here, and after that we can look into things to entertain ourselves with. Even without a boat, that is a good idea."

After making a neat pile of the loot they intended to take later, they again went out into the streets. The sun was still high in the sky, since they left early to accomplish this, and none of them were worried about the on-coming nightfall just yet. Like before, Aoi and Yasuhiro led the group through the destroyed cars, and Kyoko again helped Makoto, while Toko and Byakuya kept an eye open for any potential attackers.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at their next destination. The clothing store was also in terrible condition, but at least they could still see inside that there were some relatively undamaged clothing in there. Yasuhiro cautiously stepped through the shattered glass doorway, and after looking around inside a bit to make sure it was safe, he waved the rest of the group in, and they again started to look around.

Aoi made her way over to Kyoko and Makoto, giving a short wave, and the three browsed the racks for clothing to wear. All of the clothing that remained was coated in a fine layer of dust, but surprisingly there was a lot of variety despite the fact that the store was so badly damaged. In the back there was a changing room as well, and Aoi got a glint in her eyes as she took some clothes, "I'm gonna go change!"

Kyoko raised her eyebrow, but didn't stop the girl as she ran to the changing room, shutting and locking the door. She couldn't help but wonder that if the world wasn't destroyed, would she have gone shopping like this with Aoi and the rest of her friends? She shook her head, of course not, other than Makoto, she hadn't been particularly close with any of the rest – she had barely even spoken to Aoi at all prior to this, which was a shame.

"I suppose we all ought to change while we're here," Makoto muttered, standing up straighter and pulling away from Kyoko. She watched worriedly as he shakily stood on his own, but he gave her a curt nod. "I'm fine," He assured her, "But I was serious, our clothes are all really destroyed and gross… I think changing would be a good idea."

"Very well," Kyoko nodded. She did feel a bit naked without her favorite jacket, but she had to destroy it for bandages to help Makoto back when his arm was cut off, so now, standing in only her white blouse and skirt, she wouldn't mind changing at all really. Though she really hoped that there were gloves somewhere so she could continue to keep covering her badly burnt forearms – she didn't like it when people saw them and commented on them.

"How do I look?" Makoto and Kyoko glanced away from the racks of clothes and towards Aoi, who decided to wear some blue jeans (Makoto was a bit disappointed by that, she had some nice legs after all – and then he promptly berated himself for thinking that), and she replaced her tank top with a white T-shirt, and though they couldn't see, they knew that she had also replaced her underwear. Her brown hair was still tied up though, which made sense, she probably didn't want the greasy and sweaty strands to get in her eyes and potentially impair her vision.

"You look good," Makoto replied honestly, "How does it feel to wear clean clothes?"

"Amazing!" She exclaimed, "I wish I could have taken a bath first, but I'll take clean clothes over nothing any day of the week."

"Then I suppose I'll change next." Kyoko replied, gathering a few clothes and leaving both Makoto and Aoi alone. Like Aoi before, she returned a few minutes later sporting her new clothe– her skirt was replaced with a pair of shorts instead, and she got rid of her blouse in favor of a loose T-shirt as well. She also tied a ribbon in her hair, pulling it back into a pony tail. She wore the same dirty gloves, since she couldn't find anything else to replace them with.

"You know," Aoi muttered, "You don't have to wear those gloves… We won't judge you."

Makoto nodded enthusiastically, "I agree, and I doubt the dead will care either way."

Kyoko gave her friends a warm smile, "I know but… I just feel better with them on. It's dumb, but I feel safer." It was foolish – the undead could easily bite through the cloth, but that wasn't her fear. It was irrational, but she still harbored some fear that her friends would judge her – look at her with mixture of disgust and pity.

"Well, if it makes you feel better," Aoi muttered, "So Makoto, now it's your turn!" She gave him a pat on the back, and he nodded. They helped him walk towards the changing room, despite his protests, and they waited outside eagerly.

Inside, Makoto had a bit of difficulty getting his clothes off due to the loss of his arm, but he didn't call them in to help, feeling that he had to prove himself. It took several minutes longer than it normally would have, but he finally got his clothes off, and the new ones on, and he stepped out. His blood and sweat stained sweatshirt was tossed into a corner of the changing room, instead replaced by a T-shirt, and he removed his old jeans just to replace them with a new pair.

It felt odd to be in clothes that actually felt good to wear and wasn't chaffing his skin, but it was nice. He stretched his good arm, and asked, "So, how do I look?"

"You look fine." Kyoko replied, giving him an approving look.

"You look fantastic!" Aoi exclaimed in her usual manner, much to Makoto's embarrassment. He blushed lightly and scratched his cheek.

"Anyway," Kyoko looked down the store at the other three, "We should let them change and then each of us should grab another pair of clothing, maybe another two or three pairs of socks and underwear as well." She muttered, "And we also need to find swimsuits as well."

Makoto, Aoi, and Kyoko went and told the other three about the changing room, and they all leapt at the opportunity to change, especially after seeing the three of them in new clothes. Byakuya ditched his suit completely and instead went for a button up shirt and some khaki pants. While it wasn't anywhere near as formal as his old attire, it was still a bit more 'dressed up' than the rest of them, though that was just Byakuya for you.

Toko also ditched her dress, and instead got into some much more practical clothes like the rest of the girls, opting to just get some jeans and a T-shirt. Yasuhiro was also just as predictable, and went with the same clothes as Makoto did, though he also decided to try and tie his hair back with mixed results. Overall, they all felt much better, and even Byakuya wasn't frowning quite as much.

"Hey, I found swimsuits over here!" Aoi called, and Makoto went over to her, "Look! What do you think of this?" She held up a two piece swimsuit, and Makoto blushed immediately upon imagining Aoi in it – it left very little to the imagination, and words like 'modest' just didn't apply to it at all.

"Um… Maybe get something a little less…" He struggled to say, "A little less revealing, maybe?"

"What's wrong with it?" She asked, honestly confused.

Kyoko walked over to rescue Makoto, and she replied, "Hina, we've gone over this before, remember? You're a very attractive girl, and the boys will all have a hard time looking at you if you wear something like that."

Aoi's blush suddenly matched Makoto's, and she quickly put it away, "Oh… Uh, right."

In the end, Aoi did get a two piece suit, but it was a much more modest one. Kyoko also got a swimsuit, but she wasn't as daring as Aoi, and got a single piece swim suit, as did Toko. Makoto, Byakuya, and Yasuhiro put almost no thought into it, and just got some trunks to wear. When they were done, they all shoved their preferred clothing into a bag that Byakuya found on a shelf, and then he zipped it up.

"We ought to use a few more of those bags to carry the other things we need," Kyoko muttered, "One for the gardening supplies, one for entertainment purposes, and one for anything else we need."

Byakuya nodded, "That's logical. Since Hina and Hiro are busy leading us, and you're busy holding Makoto, that leaves Toko and I to carry the bags." He looked disgruntled, and they were all aware that he wanted to say that it was a task that was beneath him, but when it came to their survival, he held back tongue, and stayed quiet as they walked out of the store to their next destination – a bookstore that was just down the street.

The same procedure as last time occurred – Yasuhiro went into investigate, and then a few minutes later, he called the rest of them in. Unlike any other store, this was the one that was the least damaged. The door was still even intact, and while a few of the shelves were knocked over, the rest were just fine, with the books sitting where they had been months before, prior to the outbreak reaching the town.

The magazines were all dated to about four months back, and the hottest selling book was prominently on display, showing off a teenage girl standing beside a vampire. There was a comic section as well, with the wall being dominated primarily by manga, and there was even a section for children's books, several of which were coloring books. The group again dispersed into the store, traveling to their preferred sections.

Makoto was looking at the manga, and he reached out, gently rubbing away the dust on the binding of the books, and he couldn't help but sigh, "I wish I brought my own books along." He muttered, "I wouldn't mind rereading that."

"You mean the comics in your room?" Aoi asked, walking up beside him, causing the boy to jump, "Eh, did I scare you?"

"I'm fine," Makoto replied immediately, taking a quick breath, "And yeah, I mean the comics in my room. I wasn't as into it as someone like Hifumi, but I was following that series ever since I was a kid… I wonder if it ever finished." He mused to himself lightly, a tinge of sadness in his voice, "I suppose not…"

"Maybe it did!" She exclaimed, noting his depressive mood, "Is it here?"

"Yeah," He reached up, and grabbed the latest volume of Naurto, "Volume sixty eight, let's see…" He flipped through the book, going straight to the end, and he shook his head, "Nope, still 'to be continued'."

"Oh…" She let out, feeling a bit deflated, "Well… Maybe there're some other comics we can find?" She reached up picking the first manga she could find, "There's only a few of these ones here, maybe it's done?"

"What's up with vampires?" He mumbled to himself, shaking his head, "Karin? I haven't heard of it, but it looks like it's finished." He grabbed the last volume from the shelf and flipped through it, "Yeah, if you want, you could take this one."

She started to read from the start now, using the sunlight shining in through the window, "Hm… So this girl is a vampire that can go out in daylight?"

He shrugged, "I think there's more to it than that, might as well take it." He grabbed the volumes that Aoi wasn't reading, and dropped them into the bag with his hand, making sure to keep his other arm tucked close to himself. "Let's just grab as many as we can…" He muttered after a little bit, just dropping in anything he thought looked interesting.

Byakuya was busying himself with 'The Wall Street Journal', the last paper to be released by them. He knew it was pointless to look at, but just looking at stocks and the news stories within just made him feel so relaxed. He'd been so busy worrying about the undead and survival, that stuff like this felt almost alien to him now. He slowly folded the paper, and decided to keep it. It would keep him entertained at least.

Toko meanwhile was sitting down with a romance novel in her hands, and she was already fully engrossed in it. Her eyes scanned the pages rapidly, and she was reading so quickly that there was no way she could possibly be retaining any of the information. She suddenly snapped the book shut, and just started to grab as many books from the genre as she could, a genuine smile on her face as she picked them from the shelves.

Kyoko was in the young adult's section of the book store, and she was reading the back of a detective novel, and she smiled lightly. She remembered when she would read them all of the time as a child, and it felt nostalgic to just read a synopsis of one, since they all started to blend together after a while. Like Toko, she started to pick up books from the genre, intent on grabbing as many as possible so she could stay entertained for as long as possible.

Yasuhiro was looking through occult and fantasy books, switching between the two. He loved both genres, and he felt it was his duty to preserve these books for future generations – after all, Lord of the Rings was a fantastic book after all, and there were so many other fantasy trilogies that he felt he had to take with him. He started to pile them in his arms, and along with his occult books, he was full in no time, and went off to find the bag Makoto took.

By the time that the bag was fully loaded with all of the books and comics they wanted to take with them, it could barely zip up, but none of them were willing to leave any of their findings behind, so they forced it to zip up, and Byakuya promptly handed the bag over to Toko, not wanting to carry it himself.

"T – This is pretty heavy," Toko muttered, lifting the bag up, her hands shaking. Who knew that over fifty books, newspapers, and magazines could weigh so much?

"Here, I'll carry it," Aoi offered, taking it without Toko's consent. She easily lifted it up and over her shoulder, and she looked to Yasuhiro, "Make sure the path is clear, got it?"

"Yeah," Yasuhiro replied, his knives out, "It shouldn't be too much trouble, where to next?"

"We need to drop all of this off at the docks and completely our original objective: Find a boat to use." Byakuya explained, "Do you still have the key, Toko?"

She nodded, and pulled it out of her pocket, "R – right here!"

"Then I suggest we don't delay," Kyoko looked out towards the direction of the docks, "The sooner we find a boat, the sooner we can gather everything and get out of here."

"Exactly," Byakuya replied, "Now lead the way, Hiro."

Yasuhiro did just that, leading the group through the streets yet again. Kyoko again lent Makoto her shoulder as he struggled to keep up with the group, and they made pretty good time back towards the docks. Once there, they dropped the bag full of clothes and the bag full of the books by the bench they were at earlier, and they formed a small circle, trying to determine exactly where to look for a boat.

"Hina, you said you didn't see any boats earlier?" Kyoko asked again, "Are you sure you didn't miss any of them?"

"I'm positive that I would've noticed a boat if it was floating – there were a lot of sunk ones though!" She explained as if that were a positive thing.

"We'll double check as a group," Byakuya decided, "If there's indeed no boats on the water, that doesn't mean that we might not find a boat elsewhere – maybe it's on a trailer or in a storage house or something."

"There's a few storage buildings around here," Yasuhiro replied, "Maybe there's a boat in there?" He turned to Toko, "Are there any markings on the key we can use?"

Toko shook her head, "N – Nothing."

"Damn…" He mumbled, crossing his arms, trying to think of what they could do.

"Let's just do what Byakuya said," Makoto spoke up, "We'll look at the docks one more time, and then we can do what Hiro said and look around in the storage units or something." He coughed at the end of his statement, and Kyoko felt him putting more of his weight onto her. She didn't complain though, and accepted it, allowing him to use her as a support however he needed.

"Then let's not waste time," Byakuya replied, "I don't want to stay out after dark."

"We still have a long time before the sun sets," Aoi complained, "There's no need to rush!"

"Feel free to go as slowly as you like. The sooner we get a boat and leave, the sooner we'll escape this hell hole." He exclaimed, giving the girl a flat stare, "If you wish to prolong our experience here, then be my guest."

Aoi glared at him, but didn't say another word, knowing that he was right, despite how big of an ass he was being. "So we'll just leave these bags here?" She asked, turning to Kyoko.

"For now, yes," Kyoko nodded, "They'll be safe, and if there were other survivors, I think we'd have run into them by now."

"And just in case if we do run into other survivors, they are our enemies. Do not even attempt diplomacy – give them a warning if you must, but we've yet to meet anyone who meant us no harm in this world, so we in turn won't provide anything for others." Byakuya pushed his glasses up his nose as he said that, and he stalked off, forcing Yasuhiro to lead the group. Toko was right behind him, and the remaining three walked in the back.

"I don't agree with that at all…" Makoto muttered, shaking his head, "If we do that, we're just as bad as the people who've hurt us…"

Kyoko didn't say anything – she agreed with Byakuya fully, but she didn't feel like arguing about it with Makoto. Instead she looked to Aoi, "Can you cover the back of our group with your bow? Call out if you see any of the undead around."

"Got it!" Aoi replied, pulling an arrow and staying alert as she walked slowly behind Kyoko and Makoto.

As Aoi said, there weren't any boats in the water that were operational, and after reaching the other end of the dock, the group again formed a small circle, trying to plan where exactly to go next.

"How about the storage building right here?" Yasuhiro pointed to a massive building at the edge of the dock, crates and other various materials scattered all around. It was evident that it was used to store imported goods and supplies, and perhaps other things from the local owners. The two large doors in the front of it were wide open. It was very dark however, due to the lack of natural sunlight coming in, and the windows that were in there were very dusty.

"It's dangerous to look there," Kyoko replied, "We'll have to stay alert," She warned, "There could be undead wandering around in the darkness. If you even start to hear a moan, make your way to the front."

"Wait, why don't we just lure them out like the grocery store that one time?" Aoi asked.

"We're down by two people now," Byakuya shook his head, "It would leave clean up to you and Yasuhiro, and I don't want to risk either of you clumsy fools getting bitten."

"You fought with a knife pretty well if I recall!" Aoi exclaimed, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes at him, "Why don't you help us fight them then so we can do this the easy way instead of risking our lives?"

"She has a point," Kyoko replied, and Byakuya's furious eyes landed on her. However, he forced himself to calm down, and he finally nodded.

"Fine… I suppose we don't have much choice. Be careful Hiro, I'd prefer not to get blood on my new clothes." He accepted the knife that Yasuhiro handed him, and he told Aoi to go to the doors and yell out for the zombies.

"WE'RE OUT HERE!" She yelled into the doors loudly, "COME GET US!" She stepped back quickly, preparing her bow and arrow as the inevitable moan of the undead started to become louder and louder. Due to the choke point, the first few undead that died became an almost insurmountable obstacle for the ones before them, and soon the entrance was cluttered with the corpses of at least a dozen of the undead.

"Wait a little bit," Kyoko replied, "More may still come."

To keep safe, the group waiting for almost a full ten minutes, killing two other undead in that time. After that, it was quiet for quite some time, and Byakuya finally announced, "It's safe, let's go in. The more time we waste out here, the less time we have to prepare."

The inside was just as dark as it looked from the outside, though it did at least get a bit easier as they eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness surrounding them. Still, they walked slow and stayed alert, not wanting to be surprised by any of the undead, "Go in pairs," Kyoko mumbled, "And if you hear any of the undead here, yell out immediately and rush to the entrance, we don't want to fight in the dark."

There were columns of stored supplies, making several dozen rows in the storehouse. There were lights on the ceiling, and Yasuhiro flipped the light switch near the entrance of the place, but it was no use – none of the lights came on. It was expected, but disappointing regardless. Byakuya and Toko went to the right, Yasuhiro and Aoi went to the left, and Kyoko – with Makoto still using her as support – went down the middle of the warehouse.

"I wonder what's in all these crates." Makoto wondered aloud, "If we had a crowbar or something, we could open them up."

"Let's focus on our objective," Kyoko replied calmly, "We need to find a boat first and foremost." She continued scanning the aisle they were in, but it soon because obvious that it was just stacks of cracks, there weren't any boats anywhere.

"I guess," Makoto muttered, and he stayed silent. The only noise accompanying them was the sound of their shoes tapping against the cold floor as they walked, creating a loud echo that neither of them were too fond of. Reaching the end of the aisle, they were pleased to see a few more windows providing them with a bit more lights, but they still couldn't see any boats.

Twenty minutes or so passed, and the group was again meeting at the front. "Well, did any of you find it?" Byakuya asked impatiently, blinking a few times to allow his eyes to adjust to the sunlight.

"Don't you think that we'd be really excited to tell you if we did find it?" Aoi asked, "Though to answer your question, if it wasn't obvious enough, no, we didn't find anything at all."

"Shit," Byakuya muttered, "I don't suppose you had any luck, Kyoko?" He asked, turning to her, and she shook her head. "No matter." He mumbled, "There might be some other docks nearby that we haven't investigated – there has to be a boat."

"Don't get your hopes up – you don't want to make the same mistake as before." Kyoko warned, "We've all known about the possibility of not finding a boat, and we have plans in place if we don't." She looked at all of the group, "It's not the end if we don't find one, so don't lose hope."

"Y – Yeah…" Toko nodded, surprisingly agreeing with Kyoko, "B – Byakuya, don't let t – this get you down."

Byakuya shook his head, though it was clear that he was in an improved mood already, "You're right." He mumbled, and he shook his head, regaining much of his confidence, "Of course. We'll still look for a boat, since it's still our highest priority, and if we don't find one within a few more hours, we'll get the supplies we need and just leave."

"That's acceptable." Kyoko replied with a nod, "So where should we look for the boat next?"

"Well… Maybe some of the houses along the water?" Aoi pointed out to the distance, and they could make out several homes built by the water, having their own piers, "It's hard to see, but maybe they have some boats we can borrow?"

"It's worth a look," Makoto replied, causing Aoi to smile happily at him.

"Yes," Byakuya nodded, "It will take a while to reach there though, are you ok to walk such a distance?" Byakuya asked, looking at Makoto.

Makoto frowned, feeling a flash of annoyance go through him, "Of course I am!" He exclaimed, he held his arm closer to his chest, "I'll be fine." He mumbled at a lower volume, "Trust me."

"Very well." Byakuya muttered, looking at Makoto pensively for a few more seconds, "Then I suppose we ought to get going. Hiro, Hina, lead the way."

The group started moving yet again, going back towards the road that the docks were nearby, and then following it down along the ocean. They passed a beach, and it took all of Aoi's willpower not to ask if they could relax there. They had other things to worry about, but just laying down out in the sun, the sound of the waves crashing along the shore… It sounded so peaceful that she nearly started to tear up as they passed by without a single word.

The roads were a bit sandy due to the wind and the lack of people to keep it clear, and there were even a few piles of it here and there, in addition to the cars. Fortunately, fewer cars packed the roads by the beach, and the group was able to safely pass by with almost no issues whatsoever – not even a zombie was around for them to fight and dispose of.

The road took a turn away from the beach, and they followed it further into a residential area, the houses here were considerably nicer, and a few months back, they must have looked absolutely breathtaking. All of them stood two stories, occasionally three stories tall, and while they were packed in tightly together, the yards were even decorated – though the grass and weeds now overgrown over anything of note. Some of the buildings were in relatively good condition, while others had their windows broken and their doors torn down.

Still, the group ignored them, and took the first left turn the road provided, and they walked down a path again heading towards the water. The houses here were similarly well made, and they lined along the coast, each having their own private piers for their boats. It was difficult to see the piers however from the street, so the group walked through the yard of the nearest house, and went to the back, where they could make out the marina that these houses lined themselves along.

"Wow." Aoi muttered sadly, "This must have looked amazing when it was… not ruined…" She finished lamely, averting her eyes.

"This house doesn't have a boat," Byakuya growled, "Do you see any of these piers with a boat attached to it?" He asked, scanning his eyes out, but they stopped dead on what appeared to be a floating boat a few houses down. "There!" He cried, "Over there, let's go!"

Kyoko was genuinely surprised, and she didn't even think to hide it and she asked, "Wait? There's actually a boat? How?"

"Does it matter?" Makoto asked, unable to hide his smile, "We actually found one!"

The group neared the boat, and they could immediately tell it was a sailboat, and it was safely attached to the pier. It looked like it was in pristine condition, and they noticed why immediately – surrounding the pier, in the water, and surrounding the house itself was a small horde of the undead. Byakuya ducked down a few yards down, hiding behind a fence as he looked at the horde, "I suppose that's why it's still there." He muttered, giving Kyoko a quick look.

"Maybe we can use that shotgun we found…" Aoi muttered, looking at the gun hanging off of Byakuya's backside, "It could be put to use… right?"

"I could," Kyoko muttered, "But…" She tapped her chin, "It can definitely be used as a distraction. Go shoot it off in the road, and I'm positive that it will attract the horde there. Whoever's the bait will just lure them around for a little bit, and then come back and jump on the boat, and we can get out of here."

"There's just one little problem with that," Yasuhiro replied, "Do any of you guys know how to drive a boat? Let alone a sail boat?"

"Y – You could d – drive a car… Can't y – you do this too?" Toko asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What? A boat and a car are two hugely different things!" Yasuhiro exclaimed.

"Shush you two!" Byakuya snapped, "We'll figure it out as we go. The sails can prove useful to us, and the boat is large enough to suitably carry all of us." He stood up, "I'll distract them, and I want you all to get it running. Toko, if the keys don't belong to the damn thing, make sure you try to search the house for a key, or maybe one of the corpses has a key we can use."

"G – got it…" Toko nodded, though she shook just at the mere thought of looking on a dead body for a key.

"Then good luck to you all," Byakuya replied, walking towards the street from the backyard. A good minute passed before they heard a very loud BOOM, and the shattering of glass, and the moans started to sound as the zombies looked towards the direction of the sound and started making their way towards the street.

Kyoko forced them to wait a few minutes, and then they sprang into action. Toko was ahead of the pack, and she ran onto the pier and jumped into the boat before Aoi and Yasuhiro even made it to the pier. Kyoko was going slowly for Makoto's sake, since he was having difficulties moving so quickly. Soon however, with the help of Aoi and Yasuhiro, Makoto got onto the boat, and sat on one of the padded seats lining the back end of the boat as Kyoko ran to help the others start the boat.

The boat was rather large – there was a part where people could sit and fish, the seats were padded, and there were little nooks to put fishing poles. Further on, there was a door leading inside the ship, and beside that was a few steps leading up to the steering wheel in an enclosed area. The mast of the ship was right in-between the door leading below the ship, and the enclosed steering wheel. There was a small path on either side of the ship that led to the front, where one could perhaps lay down, but that was not on any's mind.

Instead, Toko jammed the keys into the slot, and everyone let out a cheer as not only did the keys fit, but when turned, the boat started, and they saw it had a full tank of gas. They'd have to conserve it and use the sails, but for now, it was the salvation that they all were waiting for.

"Byakuya!" Toko screamed at the top of her lungs, "COME ON!" She yelled, "IT'S WORKING!"

Aoi covered her ears and looked at the girl in annoyance, but that soon disappeared into terror as she noticed Byakuya rushing back to them, with what looked like several dozen of the monsters chasing him. "Crap! Who's going to drive?!"

"I'll do it," Kyoko replied, stepping into the driver's seat, and forcing the others out of the relatively small pilot area, "Make sure none of the undead make it onto the boat! Do you understand me?" She pulled out her pistol, and tossed it to Aoi, "Don't waste your arrows – they're reusable and can serve a purpose elsewhere. We don't want to lose them."

"G – Got it!" Aoi replied, and she, Yasuhiro, and then Byakuya who jumped on board all looked towards the undead slowly shambling towards them. Aoi lifted up her pistol, and took a shot, but she only nailed one in the shoulder, but that was enough, since the force make it fall backward, impeding the rest of them.

The boat started to move backwards out of the pier, and Byakuya lined up one shot with the shotgun, and fired again. Unlike the gun Aoi shot, the force of the shotgun's buck shot made the zombie it hit go flying backwards, hitting the others like a bunch of bowling pins, and he let out a pleased hum. Soon the boat was out of the pier's range, and everyone relaxed as the boat slowly began to make its way out of the marina, and sailed along the shore.

"We did it!" Aoi cried, watching the undead trying to them, but all that happened was that they fell into the water and sunk, or they followed along on the land for as long as they could before getting stuck on something, unable to realize the need to get off of the thing to continue the pursuit. The boat was going very slow, and Kyoko quickly scanned the other buttons and levers, making sure not to mess with anything.

"Now go back to the docks," Byakuya instructed, "We'll get the bags we left there and go get everything else. Makoto, you stay here on the boat with Kyoko and defend it." He instructed, knowing that Makoto would be safe, and he wouldn't be slowing them down due to his injury.

Makoto nodded, "Yeah… I'm not really useful anyway…" He looked down distastefully at his lost limb, and an unreadable look crossed his face. Yasuhiro noticed it however, and he averted his eyes, a ball of guilt forming inside of him.

After Kyoko managed to dock the ship (and they all helped tie it up), the four left to go get everything. The bag filled with their clothing and the bag they filled with the books were both in good condition and were untouched, so they quickly brought those over first and dumped them on the ship, making Makoto and Kyoko put them inside the ship, which while wasn't huge, it was large enough to at least fit all of them, even if it would be cramped.

After that, they left again, and returned nearly an hour later, with one bag full of seeds and other gardening supplies at Aoi's insistence, and Yasuhiro and Byakuya were both carrying the grill, while Toko was carrying a large propane tank, and the poor girl looked ready to pass out from the weight of the damn thing. With that, they only had to go back for the fishing poles, which they did much quicker, due to the distance the store was from the docks.

"Here," Aoi jumped on the boat one final time, and she tossed Kyoko a small bottle, "It's sun tan lotion. I figured it would come in handy."

Kyoko raised her eyebrow, "Thanks, I suppose."

"There's a lot more where that came from," Aoi replied, holding up the fifth bag full of supplies, "I just packed this one with lotion and fishing supplies, since I think we'll all need a bit of help when it comes to fishing."

"Smart," Kyoko replied, giving the girl a smile, "Go put it inside for now, but be mindful, Makoto's sleeping in there."

"Already?" Aoi asked in surprise, "He must have been a lot more tired than we thought…" A frown immediately crossed her face, "He's going to be ok, right?"

"He'll be fine," Kyoko was quick to assure her, "He needed a lot of rest, and today wasn't necessarily good for him, but I don't think it will harm him in the long run." She explained.

"Good." Aoi muttered, a sigh of relief leaving her lips as she entered the ship. There was a small table inside, what appeared to be four beds – two on either side (they all looked kind of uncomfortable to Aoi), and in between the beds were the bags. One for the books, one for their clothes, one for the gardening supplies, and the one she now added to the pile with the sun tan lotion and fishing supplies. She noticed Makoto, and sat on the edge of his bed so she could get a better look.

He really did look worn out, and she felt a pang of guilt go through her – they should have waited another day at least to do this… He only just recovered from his fever, and he was still really hurt from losing his forearm… She sighed, and pushed aside the strands of hair going in his face. "I'm sorry," She mumbled, "Next time I'll try to be more considerate."

Up on the deck of the boat, Kyoko was again getting in the driver's seat, while Yasuhiro and Byakuya were untying the boat. Toko was sitting down on the large seat, and started to relax. "We're untied." Byakuya called out, throwing the rope into the boat, and climbing in along with Yasuhiro, "You can go."

"Got it." Kyoko did what she did before, and backed the boat out of the dock, making sure to go slow so she wouldn't collide with anything. Once she was sure she was a safe distance, she started to turn the boat, and directed it out further into the ocean, occasionally glancing back to watch the town shrink in the distance.

"Make sure to stay close to the shore," Byakuya warned, "Don't go further than half a mile." With that, he relaxed right next to Toko, who immediately blushed. Byakuya just didn't really care, and he closed his eyes, leaning back and allowing the wind to blow through his hair.

Yasuhiro also sat down, looking out at the land go further and further away, and for the first time since he got out of the school, he felt truly safe. His friends were all ok, and they had enough supplies to hopefully live for a while longer… Like Byakuya, he too leaned back, and felt himself beginning to doze off.

XxXxXxX

A/N - I'm sorry for this taking so long to come out. I had this chapter done for months, and I just never got around to editing it. Chapter ten is also done, but I have no ETA for when that will be released. Chapter eleven in the meantime is about halfway finished, and I had an outline of how the story ends, so I'm hopeful that I'll finish this soon.

I also want to note that this chapter really did have a LOT of convenient things happening for our survivors - finding an operational boat, getting all the supplies, new clothes, and so forth. I know it's all pretty contrived, and even as I was editing the chapter I was thinking of whether I should rewrite it or not to be more natural feeling. In the end, I decided to keep it this way because it's a a fan-fiction and I already have the next chapter written that relies on some things happening as they did in this chapter.

Thanks for reading.