Chapter Ten

We moved quietly, ducking behind houses. I was surprised that we hadn't been killed the previous night. The streets were crowded with panicked people and burning cars. The undead were swarming around the few remaining living beings. I wanted to avoid any encounters with the hostile and seemingly bloodthirsty living, as well as the flesh-hungry bastards that were also present. Misuzu made an "oof" noise as she tripped slightly, and I caught her by the collar of her uniform while giving her a questioning look. She blushed bright red and rubbed the back of her head.

Rei peeked out at the street every once in a while, as we smoothly slid from backyard to backyard. Occasionally, we encountered one of Them, but we were able to easily avoid them.

I thought a lot about the previous night and wondered if the two girls with me were doing the same, but it didn't seem like they were. They were focused on moving forward, it was a relief.

"We're close to my house," Misuzu informed us. I nodded. "Can we stop there again?"

"Sure thing." She directed us where to go from there. Thankfully, we crossed the street quietly without encountering any attackers. The sound of gunfire and shouts had been more frightening than the undead. As we approached the apartment Misuzu claimed was her home, the sound of footsteps on pavement caught our attention. To my great surprise, three figures appeared beside the building behind us.

I tightened my hold around my bokken, eyes narrow. They were three heavily armed people. The leader, or rather the man who looked like the leader as he stepped ahead of everyone else, was a bald and relatively attractive looking man in a leather coat and jeans. His bald head was completely covered in tattoos. His face was harsh, and he held a shotgun in his arms; a combat knife sat sheathed on his belt. Another man seeming to be made of muscle, and an attractive tan skinned foreigner with ebony hair in a low ponytail peered at us suspiciously. None of them seemed particularly nice, by their tattoos they were gang members.

"Misuzu?" The bald leader asked in surprise, eyes wide. "It is you Misuzu...you're okay," He mumbled happily, Rei and I looked at each other. What the hell? She knew this punk looking guy? Misuzu apparently knew him really well because the big, bald man was kissing her now.

"Misuzu-san, who is this man?" Rei looked back and forth at everyone present.

"This is my boyfriend, Nato. I knew he'd be waiting for me here." Misuzu responded. The bald delinquent-looking guy grinned widely. I didn't like the way he was looking at her, but there was nothing I could do about it. Misuzu apparently was dating him, but she didn't exactly seem happy or even comfortable when he touched her.

The beautiful, foreigner woman spoke to Misuzu with a familial fondness, her Japanese pretty good, "I was sure a brat like you would be dead, but Nato refused to give up on you. "Figured you were long dead. Nato here swore you were still alive and decided we were gonna stick around in Japan for a little while and look for you. The things a guy will do for his girlfriend…"

Misuzu seemed to trust them, so I would too. Rei reluctantly relaxed as well, but I kept my bokken at hand. Misuzu looked so happy. Apparently, I'd let down my guard too easily.

"Who are these bitches?" The huge man demanded, looking at Rei and me.

I bristled, but I wondered what a wooden sword could do against a machine gun like he had. The bald man gave him a searing glare. "Watch yourself." Misuzu's bald "boyfriend" turned to look at me directly. "How exactly do you know Misuzu?"

Misuzu smiled gently, "Don't worry, they're friends. They helped me escape from school. Saeko-senpai saved me from the undead, and Rei-"

Rei didn't want anything to do with this sort of people, it seemed. Her eyes were pretty cool as she regarded them, smiling weakly, "I'm sorry, but we can't stay long. We have somewhere we need to be by midnight," Rei said. "Misuzu-san... I didn't expect this to be the 'family' you wanted to meet up with. What's your next move?"

"I'm afraid Misuzu will be saying goodbye. Right, babe?" Nato questioned, grinning from ear to ear as he glanced at his tiny girlfriend. The guy was double her age, I couldn't believe she was with a scummy looking person like him. I wasn't sure what to expect.

"Yes. Saeko-senpai, Rei-san, thank you for everything," Misuzu whispered. Her voice quivered, and she was unable to meet our faces.

Rei seemed more upset than I was. Her eyes were sad. I spoke up on her behalf, even though I sensed that whatever Misuzu and we had was over. There was a void between us. "Misuzu-chan, you're really leaving? Your boyfriend and his friends could join us."

The trio of muscular humans glanced at each other, Misuzu was red-faced. She seemed upset, ashamed. Nato chuckled and said, "Come now, we're hardly going to follow around a bunch of kids, are we?"

"Kids," I repeated softly. So that was how he saw us? Well, I wasn't going to take the time to argue about that. If we were kids, Misuzu surely was too, and he was dating her. It was best if someone like him didn't join us anyways, especially with that huge guy staring us down like that.

"Misuzu-san..." Rei began, sounding worried, but Misuzu cut her off.

"Rei... be safe, okay? And watch senpai's back."

And just like that, three became two. I couldn't shake the feeling that Misuzu had left with her boyfriend because of what I had done to Kaori.

For a long time, there was only silence between Rei and me. It was as silent as it could be with the sounds of people screaming in the distance, helicopters, and other air-born vehicles roaring through the sky. We traveled through backyards, side paths, and alleyways, avoiding as many of Them as possible.

As we walked in silence, I couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt and regret weighing heavily on me. Rei's presence next to me was a comfort, but I could tell she was also lost in her own thoughts. The world around us was chaos, with the undead roaming the streets and gangs of armed men causing havoc. It seemed like there was no end in sight. Eventually, we came across a small convenience store that seemed to be untouched by the chaos. We decided to take a break and rest for a bit, taking turns to keep watch while the other rested. As I sat there, snacking on convenience store hot food, I couldn't help but think about Misuzu and her adult boyfriend. I wondered what their plans were and if they would survive in this dangerous world. Rei must have noticed the worry on my face, because she put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile. It was comforting to know that I wasn't alone in this world. We were in this together, and we would do whatever it took to survive.

After resting for a few minutes, we got up and continued our journey. We had a goal to reach, and nothing was going to stop us it seemed.

Rei was all I had left right now; she'd helped me not break down in the face of what I'd done — given me clarity. She was a good woman. I wanted to kiss her pouting mouth.

Swallowing nervously, I put a hand on the small of her back, offering her comfort through touch. I expected her to lean or jerk away, but the pole-wielding girl merely melted against me. Our curves felt right together. Her smile was surprisingly warm, but she seemed so tired. I let her rest against me as we quietly walked along. She'd just begun to make friends with Misuzu, and now we had no choice but to depend on each other. I decided I'd be as good a friend as I could be, even if when I looked at Rei my thoughts went to indecent places.

"Miyamoto-san... Let's make it back to the others, okay?"

She weakly smiled and nodded. "Yes, Senpai."

We didn't talk much after that, but we depended on each other. Fighting back-to-back with her felt natural. We weren't being held down anymore. We fell into a simple pattern, avoiding contact with others, disposing of the undead like they were garbage... and that was when we heard something familiar.

A bang rang out in the distance. Both of our eyes widened. I recognized that noise.

"A gunshot?" Rei questioned.

"No," I grinned, "that's no ordinary gun. That's a nail gun. And there's only one person I know smart enough to be wielding one of those. Let's go."

"Right!"

I had never felt so happy. Rei and I raced down the paved street, using the sound of nail gun shots as a guide to our destination. I ran as fast as I could, and Rei easily kept up with me. Then, I caught sight of our friends, and I skidded to a stop.

Our little gang was fighting desperately against a relatively large horde of the undead. But we could definitely help them! "Kohta!" I shouted, and all eyes turned to us. I grabbed the gun from Rei's hand and threw it with all my might towards the chubby gun fanatic. I didn't think I'd make it, since the gun was heavy, but apparently, my strength was greater than I had realized.

Kohta fumbled but managed to catch the gun.

"Don't give up, guys. We'll find a way up there somehow!" Rei called out through her hands. I quickly looked around, and so did she. "Over there, Saeko, on the side of the bridge. It's like a ramp. We can climb it," Rei explained. I nodded and took her hand, squeezing it. We made our way towards the stone sides of the bridge.

Scaling it was relatively easy, but I accidentally scraped my knuckles on the way up. It didn't really bother me, though. I've had worse wounds than that. Finally, we reached the top. I grunted as I leapt over the rails of the bridge. Then, I turned to help Rei up on the other side. We raced to meet the rest of our group.

"Saeko," Yuuki exclaimed, fighting off a zombie with a pipe. I grinned at her as I dashed into the fray, holding my bokken tightly. I never thought I'd be happy to see her again.

I glanced at the hoard approaching. This would be great for releasing the tension that had started to grow in me. I swept my blade out to smash into the skull of one of the zombies. Blood exploded along the slender wooden blade, and I swept it out, letting the fresh blood splatter against the pavement. Kohta was rapidly, and accurately killing zombies with the handgun I had thrown to him.

Every bullet hit one of their brains, blasting their skulls into bits. It was a good decision giving him that, clearly.

Rei joined the fight, wielding her broomstick once again. It was clear that we needed to get her a real weapon soon. The next few minutes passed in bliss, with the comforting swish of my bokken swinging through the air as a solid comfort. They stood no chance. One by one, the undead fell before us. Shizuka, Saya, Yuuki, and Taniuchi were kept safe in the center while Takashi, Rei, and I killed them left and right. Panting, I stood on the bridge, exhaling heavily. All three of us were coated in sweat, and Aal around us corpses lay, freed from their thrall-like existence, brains splattered on the floor.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm. My eyes widened as I was spun around and a mouth crashed onto mine, fingers tangling in my hair. A tongue pushed into my mouth and hips ground against mine. I groaned, despite myself, but managed to regain my composure. "Y-Yuuki... what the hell are you doing?" I pushed her away and wiped my mouth.

The ginger licked her lips. "Mmm, Saeko, I've missed you so much. I was thinking about you the entire time!" Somehow, I doubted that. She clasped my uniform jacket and tugged me close, kissing me again.

"Wait a second, don't just kiss me like that." I pushed her away again and panted, wiping my mouth off once more. She playfully pouted, clearly disappointed. I felt guilty about what I was about to say. "Listen, I like you... but I don't want to be in a romantic relationship with you like that." I wasn't going to make the same mistake I made with Kaori.

The gyaru girl seemed shocked, her eyes widening as she moved away from me. Seeing her reaction, I relaxed. Rei beamed at me, while Yuuki gave me one last shocked look before turning away and walking a short distance. Taniuchi patted her on the back and said something that sounded like 'welcome back.' I noticed she was keeping close to Takashi, as if she felt safe with him.

"W…where did you get this!?" Kohta squeaked, his eyes rapidly moving along the gun. There was a huge smile on his face. I laughed as I turned my attention to him.

"Glad you like it, buddy, but it's a long story-"

"Where's Kaori and Misuzu?" Saya asked softly. I froze, my eyes going wide. I hadn't thought it through. What was I going to say? What was I going to do? There was nothing I could say to explain this! My hands shook. I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. I couldn't tell them about Kaori. I couldn't. I didn't want to be kicked out again, and Shizuka's gaze was still so angry.

"Kaori died… she was taken by the undead. There was nothing we could do," Rei said solemnly. My eyes moved to her. She had a feigned expression of sorrow. I trembled. She was an angel. "As for Misuzu," her face became much more serious, "she chose to abandon our group to meet up with her boyfriend. It's okay though. No harm done. She was a weak link anyways. All that matters is that she's safe, and we're safe now."

Rei had me covered: "If we want to stay that way, we need to find our way to safety. Is that agreed?"

"Safety?" Saya scoffed and shook her head. "The entire Earth is brimming with the living dead. We're not safe anywhere we fucking go." She lasered her eyes into Rei's.

Takashi immediately interjected, "She meant temporary safety. But where can we go?" He wiped his hair from his eyes.

"Well," Shizuka smiled, "My friend has a nearby flat. It's not far away. I'm sure we could make it there in about fifteen minutes. What do you say we call it a day and bunk there?" Saya grinned.

"A friend, hmm?" Saya teased and gave the nurse a nudge. Shizuka blinked, then her amber eyes widened as she realized what Saya was implying.

"Not that kind of friend! Well, I guess that kind of friend. My girlfriend lives there. She often travels out of the country, so she has me housesit frequently a-and she gave me a spare key."

"There are some things we need if we're to stay there. It has to be a high-rise, and have a good view of what's below us," Kohta said seriously, his eyes narrow with thought.

"It's a duplex by the river; it has both of those things," the nurse beamed. The prospect of rest was obviously appealing to her. "Not only that, but there's a convenience store nearby and she has a car. But not a car car, one of those military jeeps that run everything down in front of it!" She was obviously pleased with herself.

"That's perfect, almost too good to be true," I laughed. "Let's go! What are we waiting for? Lead the way." The happiness on her face drained away, and her eyes buried themselves into mine.

"Don't order me around," I shivered. I didn't know Shizuka was capable of holding so much anger in her eyes. "Shall we go then?" She asked in a pleasant voice, turning to Takashi, who was wide-eyed like myself.

"Y…Yeah."

And in no time, we were on our way. I couldn't believe what had just happened. She had said that so coldly! She had been somewhat callous to me before when she kicked me off the bus, but now there was nothing but pure dislike for me, it seemed. I looked over when Rei grasped my hand. She smiled, and I momentarily relaxed.

As we made our way to the flat, I couldn't help but wonder what had caused Shizuka's sudden change in demeanor towards me. Had I said something to offend her? Or was it simply that she had grown tired of my presence? Whatever the reason, I couldn't let it affect me too much.

"There it is," Shizuka cried, blond ponytail bouncing and chest as she pointed at it, moving her body with childish excitement.

I marveled at how pristine and untouched it looked from afar, despite the chaos that had enveloped the world. It was as if that place was somehow immune to the horrors that lay beyond its walls, but not truly immune. We weren't there yet. But soon, we would be, all we had to do was carve our way to it.