CarLost : There 'are' a few chapters left xD
Guest that loves it, OechsnerC, Jose Elias680, Bb34: Thank you
Tonyorobsky,The Commissar 13 : Yes
SabreKai: No rest for the wicked xD. The only thing he will be jumping is fences, for now.
Krieger Techpreist: Understandable, but the real question is. Did he ask the Emperor for a high-five before doing an air guitar solo after signing the contract?
harper909: Well, it is ending soon, and I don't intend to throw everything down the drain xD
Sinfel: Yes.
Bondarant : See above.
ThatDevilSlayer: See above.
El joven Sasuke: Story updates don't just happen xD. Somebody's gotta write em. And I essentially got no time to write any more. You can thank the handful of peeps that actually support me with more than words that I still actually post anything atm xD.
Alphaaa'N'Omegas: Yea I accidentally spoiled some of the game to myself months ago xD. And yea, sadly the game seems to be nowhere near a pc global release
-Click-
And with the push of a button, the big gate next to me starts to close.
"And that's that." I nod to myself as I turn to look behind me towards the garage with the solar bank and breaker switches. Khota standing in front of said breaker switches, staring at me.
I make a thumbs up, and turn to run out of the building as the gates closed shut behind me.
Outside, the Humvee was parked a few meters away from me, while a low-hight fire blazed from the corpse-filled hole the rest of the group had dug.
Walking up to the car, I find Rika in the driver seat, Saya in the passenger, and Saeko in the back seat. The car was almost empty, excluding a medium-sized backpack between Saeko's legs, the backpack's top half open, revealing that it was filled with clips and ammo.
As I start to open the door, the gate behind me begins to open again. Asami walking out of the estate, dragging a chair behind her.
"Good luck!" She shouts as she waves at us, then keeps moving towards the 'pire'
"Should have expected the house would need repairs. Or that it would be missing stuff. So much about kicking my feet up." I sighed under my breath as I enter the car. Sitting next to Saeko, who then slid to the center of the back seats.
"Aww, you don't want to go on a date with us? But we were so excited ~" Rika mumbles as she turns to look at me with a fake sad frown.
"It's returning to the town that I'm not excited about. Not the company I'll have." I respond flatly.
"Smooooth~" Rika chuckles as she turns to look ahead again.
"Will you two hobos take this a bit more seriously? Jeez..." Saya groans as she keeps looking at the map, a small smile on her lips despite her whining.
"Have you set out a path?" I ask as I lean toward the two front seats to look at the map.
Several locations circled out with a red marker, a line connecting the circles into what looked a lot like the overview of a race track with how many twists and turns it had. Several 'X' marks around several streets marked on the map as well.
"Of course I have, what did you think I was doing? Wasting my time?" Saya scoffs.
"Low key the pinkette was trying so hard to make sure you were pleased with her~" Rika chuckles right after.
"N, no I wasn't!" Saya quickly blurts out.
"Saya doesn't give a single fig about me."I shrug as I lean back against my seat.
"I didn't say that!" Saya as quickly yelps as she turns to glare at me.
"Do not worry Naier. You are still the most important person to me." Saeko flatly adds as she leans her shoulder on me, throwing a side glance at the now fuming pinkette...
"Ekhem. We should. Get going..." I 'clear' my throat, then point towards the road ahead through the front windshield.
"Humff. Idiots." Saya narrows her eyes slightly as she returns to her normal posture, then turns to look at the map.
And, as the car starts to move...
"Where are we going first?" I ask as I lean toward Saya. Who turns to glance at me before looking back at the map.
"Here." She points at a circle on the map. A circle that was actually, much further away compared to if we took the 'reverse' track.
"Why not this?" I ask as I point at the closest circle.
"This is the shop with building supplies from what Khota told me. I suspect it will have a lot of big things we will need to haul. Better to go there last. So we don't have to carry around planks and barrels." Saya just shakes her head.
"...Good point. What's the first one?" I ask I sit back in my seat.
"Pharmacy. Then we will go to the public library, after that there is a gas station between the library and a flower store, after that the electronics store, and finally, the building supplies." Saya runs her finger around the map as she responds, then turns to look at me.
"Shame we can't get to the electronics store first, we could use a GPS." I fold my arms, then nod.
"Yes, but sadly the store is not exactly near for us to drive back and forth just for it." Saya glances at the map before nodding as well.
"Hey, what's the worse that can happen? We get lost and get eaten alive~" Rika chuckles.
"Ha-ha. No thanks. "Saya scoffs as she turns to Rika.
"But of course. It's another type of eating you'll probably prefer to get~" Rika smirks slightly, as she glanced at me through the main mirror...
"Huh?..." Saya just tilts her head questionably...
"Rika. Focus on the damn road..." I sigh as I fold my arms.
"Ehehe, I'm not saying, I'm just saying~" Rika just chuckles as she shrugs. Meanwhile, Saya was still staring at Rika with a suspicious frown...
With a slight sigh, I turn to look at the now empty trunk.
"Why have we got only a single ammo bag?" I ask as I tilt my head, glancing at the bag at the footrest next to Saeko.
In response, a metallic thud came from Rika's side.
"We don't. Got the second one with ammo for my gun here. The one back there is for your Scar. Though I'd recommend frugality. We probably won't be getting much more ammo for these bad boys from here on out..." Rika responds.
"Good thing a sword does not need ammo," Saeko adds flatly.
(...Saeko is still throwing jabs at ranged weaponry I see...)
Saya then pulls a handbook from her bag and opens it.
"I don't know if the pharmacy is worth the trouble." She mumbles as she runs her finger over some text.
"We already got medicine to last us. And it's in a location surrounded by blocked-off roads. So I suspect the place will be a, it's a high target zone." Saya keeps on mumbling.
"It's on the way to the library, so let's just check it anyway," Rika responds.
"I guess..." Saya nods slightly.
"Besides, you can never have enough antibiotics. Or pain killers, or aspirin..." Rika adds with a shrug.
"Well, the main dish in this whole thing is the library. Everything else will granted make life easier. But if we don't know how to plant a damn potato we ain't gonna go very far..." I fold my arms as I tilt my head.
"True." Rika just shrugs back.
"If we are aiming to hole up in that place, gas might be secondary too, since we don't really need the generator and the car won't move too much. As long as the panels don't break down that is." Saya adds.
"Thus we need to know how to fix them. You know. Books." I chuckle.
"I'm not saying otherwise." Saya flatly responds.
And with that, the inside of the humvee turned quiet, the engine's voice being the only thing audible now...
I turn to look out the window to my left, only to find something pressing up against my right shoulder shortly after.
Turning to glance to my right, I find Saeko hugging my arm, eyes closed with her head on my shoulder...
Without speaking, I turn to look out the window again.
"You think a house supply store will have barrels we could use to collect rainwater?" I ask as I keep looking outside.
"Ehh, they will probably have planks. Worse case we make some ourselves, just need some waterproof fabric, like a big plastic bag to keep the water from leaking through the gaps." Rika answers as she keeps driving.
"I'm sure gonna miss bacon and eggs for breakfast though..." She adds with a mumble.
"If the only thing you'll be missing is your morning chow, then you should consider yourself lucky." I chuckle.
"But ma bacooooon..." Rika lowers her head slightly as she shakes it.
"Oi, eyes on the road." Saya blurts out as she glances at the purpled-haired sniper.
"Oi? My, somebody is copying her dear commando~" Rika smirks as she lifts her head.
"I don't see his name on the words." Saya huffs back.
"Ha, most kindergarten response if I ever heard one." Rika laughs back.
"Why youuuuuu..." Saya just kept staring at Rika, her eye slightly twitching.
"Try not to jump on our driver, or this will be one very short trip.." I speak up as I turn my head at Saya.
"I'm not that stupid Nai..." Saya turns to respond. Only to trail off as her eyes turned to stare at the, napping Saeko, the one that was using my shoulder as a pillow.
Saya then just looks back at me with an annoyed frown, before turning to look back at the map.
"Oh look. I'm the idiot with the map again..." She mumbles with a whiny tone...
"You can give me the map if you wanna go back there and have a threesome. Just, don't start jumping too much, it'll make the whole car bounce." Rika casually remarks as she shrugs.
"W,w, what?!" What the only thing Saya replied with as she turned to stare at Rika, deep blush on her face as her eyes went wide open.
"Also try not to tease your map reader too much, lest we end up in the waste dump zone." I continue as I glance at Rika.
"Yes, yes~" Rika just chuckles as she waves her hand at me, before grabbing the wheel again.
"Have we decided who will go and collect the materials we need?" Saeko then asks, her head still on my shoulder.
"Probably me and you. Rika needs to be ready at the wheel, and also make sure the car does not get surrounded. And since we will probably have to be quick about it, means one run will probably not be enough. Saya could organize the stuff we bring in to not waste time." I respond as I turn to look outside.
A few seconds passed on, and nobody responded.
"Guess that's that then." Rika nods.
"Turn left here Rika." And Saya speaks up, pointing at the shallow river part we saw before.
"Oh, shit..." I then mumble as I look at the river.
"What's wrong?" Saeko asks as she lifts her head to look at me.
"We forgot to ask for a fishing store..." I respond. And everybody in the car stayed silent.
"Let's hope we find one on our way?..." Rika makes a slight, defeated laugh as she glances at me.
"Yeaaaa..."I sigh as I push my forehead against the window glass.
"Or a book about fishing in the library. There's bound to be something we can use." Saya adds with a slight shrug.
"By the way, does anybody know how to sew?" I ask as I keep looking outside.
"Why? Hole in your pants?" Rika asks with a chuckle.
"Not, yet. But we won't exactly have the ability to buy new ones. And I'd rather not dress in rags. If you catch my drift." I respond.
"Hmmm, good point. Let's stop by a clothing store too, there's bound to be some on our way, and they are easy to spot since they have giant displays in their front.
"I agree, though you seem to be the last person who will need to worry about that. I saw that you still had plenty of spare clothes left in your bag, though they were all essentially the same..." Saya jerks her shoulders as she lets out a snicker.
"Our base also had clothes we could use. If they fit us that is. I for one know I have more than a few spares in that house I could use." Saeko adds with a calm tone.
"Well, I'll certainly need to get some for Shizuka then. Her clothes are bit, rare~" Rika adds as she smirks.
(In a world where ninety-nine percent of the girls got giant boobs, Shizuka still had trouble finding clothes to match hers. Guess there will always be outliers...)
And so, the car slowly turned silent once more. Saya occasionally pointed at a turning point to Rika, who followed our map reader's instructions.
It must have taken us about half an hour to exit the forest this time around. Since Rika drove a bit faster in parts we passed before and were easily
identifiable, like the path next to the river...
And so, as we reached the end of the forest and could start to make out buildings that replaced the trees in the distance...
"We're about to hit the concrete. I'm also seeing a lot more corpses wandering the woods. Guess we're back in hell." Rika sighs.
"Got used to the half a day of peace and silence in our new home ehh?"I ask with a chuckle.
"You fucking bet I did. First time in a long time I woke up with a smile." Rika answers, her tone sounding rather serious as she glances at the central mirror.
"The sole reason we do this is so we won't have to get back into this hellhole again. Not soon at least." I respond as I turn to look at the corpses that were scattered among the few remaining trees. Before an abrupt end came to the woods, a short grassy upward patch, and we were finally on concrete road.
"I know. That's why we should not cut corners with this." Rika nods.
"Rika, go left, first turn to go right, then two intersections straight, then right again." And Saya points toward the intersection a bit off to our left.
"Wooa there. I lost you on, go left into that road." Rika's eyes go wide open as she glances at Saya, before looking back at the street, then turns left. Saya throws a glance at Rika, before turning to look back at the map.
"Are you anxious?" And a soft whisper in my ear.
Turning my head I find Saeko staring at me, her face close enough to smell the shampoo she used for her hair.
"You have been shaking your leg a lot ever since we left." She adds as she slides her hand to mine.
"Ehh? I always do that when I sit." I shrug as I glance at my leg.
Saeko nods as she puts the side of her head on my shoulder again.
(Though. Spending one day in relative safety shows even more how dangerous our lives have been so far...)
"How far away is the pharmacy from here?" I ask right after as I turn to Saya.
"Under non-apocalyptic events? I'd say five minutes. Now? Considering the number of roads that are blocked? I'd say about thirty." Saya responds as she keeps looking at the map.
"I could cut down that to ten." Rika adds.
"Please don't start driving like a rubberbanding NPC." I chuckle as I turn to look outside again.
"Rubber what?" Saya asks as she turns to me with a confused look.
"Rubberbanding. That's what people call the process when computer-controlled drivers in racing video games catch up to you no matter how well you drive. Also when online players start teleporting all over the place." I answer flatly. Saya just blinks at me a few times, then turns to look back at the map.
(At least she didn't call me a nerd?)
And so, the car kept driving towards its course, zigzagging past the scattered clusters of corpses and totaled or abandoned cars...
-About twenty-five minutes later-
"Turn a left here, then right on the next, the pharmacy should be on our left on that street." Saya finally looks up from the map and turns to glance at Rika, who just nodded as she kept staring at the road.
"How will we decide whether it is worth the risk or not?" Saeko asks right after. Now sitting normally on her seat, mostly because one certain pinkette was low-key whining about being shoved with all the work...
"Corpses outside, if it's barricaded from the inside. If it looks ransacked..." I respond with a slight shrug.
"Speaking of it..." I start to get up and head towards the hatch on the roof as I ready my scar-H.
"Once we get visual, I'll use the scope to get a better look," I add as I lift half my body over the hatch.
"Well, the road sure looks shit around here though," I mumble as we take the first turn.
(Hmm. I shou...)
I didn't even manage to finish mine though. When I felt , something, squeezing my ass?
Turning to look behind and under me, if find Saeko, casually sitting behind me, her hands on her thighs, staring at me with a small smirk...
(...Somebody's being naughty...)
And with that, the car reached the final intersection and took a turn to the right, I then lift my scar to look through the scope...
And instantly lower it, as the car came to a halt...
"Well, that solves the question if we'll go or not..." I chuckle as I enter the car. Looking at the relatively, big horde that was gathered around the pharmacy through the front windshield.
"Bail?" Rika asks.
"Bail," I respond.
"Bail." Saya adds right after. Saeko just nodded.
"Uhh, go back from the road which we came from, I'll have to plan a new path since this road is a no-go." Saya sighs as she looks at the map again.
Rika nods and hits the reverse...
"Library next?" I ask as I lean on my seat.
"Yea." Saya nods.
"Unless we find a clothing store on the way," Rika adds.
"How far?" I ask again.
"Not much, it's essentially a straight line, and the building is rather big. Hope it's not as bad there..." Saya answers, ending her sentence with a mumble.
"Yea, considering we'll have to enter it no matter what." I nod back as I turn to look outside again.
"By the way, you said the building is big. Have you seen it?" I ask as I tilt my head, still looking outside.
"Uhh. No, Khota told me that they told him that the building used to be a villa that belonged to some official that got caught in an exotic car smuggling operation or something. After they jailed him, they turned his villa into a library." Saya shrugs.
"Villa in the middle of the town huh? Wonder how big was his vacation home..." I mumble as I turn to look outside.
"Maybe he had a private island." Rika chuckles
"Also I think I can see a big building down the road, surrounded by a fenced-off park." Rika adds as she leans towards the front windshield.
"Yea, that's the one." Saya nods.
"You think it has survivors inside? Since it's fenced off?" I ask.
"I, don't think so. Even from here, the fence seems to have seen better days I can see parts missing. Plus it's in the middle of a rather populated location, not a good location to set base." Rika shakes her head as I poke at Saeko so I can move to the center of the back seats to look through the front windshield as well.
And sure enough, a couple of intersections later, we came upon a big villa-like building, three stories high. The park surrounding the building made it stick out like a shore thumb in this rather densely build location.
I could also see corpses wandering around the park, and the front gate was wide open.
"Alright. No way we skip this. So, how do we do it?" Rika asks.
"Hmm, the front gate, we can get in and close it behind us, use the car to block it since it seems to open towards the inside. But before that, look around the block, if the fences are busted, we can use one of the holes to bail after we are done, since the front gate will eventually gather a mob outside if we take too long. And, we will take too long. That house is fucking giant." I point towards the open font gate that was a little far off to our left as I speak.
"Hmm, alright. You and Saeko go inside?" Rika asks again.
"Yea, you and Saya will snipe any corpses already in the park that will start heading our way," I respond.
"What about the other holes, won't it let other corpses just waltz in?" Saya asks as she tilts her head.
"We have enough ammo to deal with a horde or three." Rika shrugs as she drives to the end of our road, then turns right, the fence to our left.
"I see another hole over there." Saeko then points towards the windshield, towards a gap in the far-off fence that ran horizontally towards the back side of the building.
"Hmmm, the roads on that side of the road are a mess further up ahead too." Saya then adds as she runs her finger on the map, passing through multiple 'X' marks
"We can exit from there, then just drive back to this street. The road around the building looks serviceable enough." Rika responds as she slows down the car. Before stopping completely
"Yea, I don't see why not." Saya just nods.
"So, we go in or keep looking?" Rika asks again. As she hits the reverse.
"Yea, let's get this show on the road." I nod as I turn to fiddle with my scar-H. And Rika starts to turn the Humvee around.
"What books should we focus on first?" Saeko then asks as she turns to me.
"Here." Saya then just turns to us and hands us a slip of paper. On it.
1. farming
1. electronics,
2. Fishing,
2. Trapping,
3. cooking,
3. tailoring,
4. carpentry/woodwork,
4. outdoors survival,
4. mechanical/car repairs,
5. medical.
"Uhh. There are multiple same numbers here. And medical is a five?" I ask as I tilt my head. Giving the paper to Saeko.
"Because the same numbers have the same weight. And we got medical books already. At the house we stayed after the mall, remember? Where, you almost got kicked out?" Saya adds as she turns to glance at me.
"Right. Did we manage to hold on to them huh? Then medical is indeed not high on the list." I answer with a small nod.
"And of course, if you find something that sounds as if we would need it later, take it." Saya then adds with a serious expression.
"Alright then..." I take a deep breath and put my hand on the door handle.
"I see corpses near the gate. Some outside some inside." Rika speaks up as we start to close in to the gate.
"Slow down." I tap her seat as I move to go up the hatch.
Before leaning half my body on the roof and taking aim at the corpses inside the estate's premises.
"The ones outside will start heading towards us, so..." And I open fire.
And sure enough. The corpses around the gate turned to shuffle toward the car the moment I started firing.
Though that didn't end very well for them. The closest one soon found out what happens if you try to walk up into a moving, armored military vehicle...
So a few flying corpses later, Rika reached the gate and turned to enter it.
"Alright, Saeko! Gate!" I slap the roof before climbing up completely through the hatch and jumping down next to the car, heading to one of the open gate doors as Saeko exited the car, and ran to the other.
The moment the gate was closed. I motion Rika, who was in the prosses of turning the car around so the trunk was looking towards the open main entrance of the building to drive up against the gate. Which she did.
"Alright, keep an eye for any corpses that walk up to the car, and open the trunk," I say as I knock on Saya's window.
"Ah, Naier wait!" Was Saya's response as she opened the door, and handed me a radio.
I nodded back, then looked at Saeko, who I mentioned to move towards the stairs ahead of us, which led to the big, open main door of the building.
Upon running up the stairs, we stopped by the doorframe and looked inside.
The door itself was made of thick carved wood, yet looked like it was left open, not broken into.
Now the insides...
I don't know if it was the two curved stairs that went to the upper floors on each side of the insanely big main hall that probably run the whole distance of the building, the giant ass chandelier in the center, which was sadly now smashed on the floor, or the several rows of bookshelves. Or the fact that the whole place was a mix of marble and wood.
But this place was sickeningly luxurious...
"And people came in here for free?" I whisper as I tilt my head.
"Focus Naier. We need to find what each bookcase has. Genres and specializations." Saeko nudges me with the edge of her sheath as she whispers back.
"Right. there's a counter straight ahead, between the two staircases, maybe they have a map there." I nod and enter the building.
"Weird how empty this place looks. I can see a few corpses, but. It looks pristine, other than a couple of spots where it seems there was some fighting." I mumble as I stop at the counter, inside it, a corpse, munching on a body. My guess is the librarian must have pissed off the wrong corpse...
More importantly though. A laminated, bloodied piece of paper on the counter that looked like a map with a list.
I instantly take the map from the desk as the corpse kept on with its business...
(The corpses are still munching on her? Though it looks more like the guy is nibbling her bones that actually eating whats left)
With that though, I clean the map with my sleeve and look at it...
(Hmm. All the books are on the first floor. The second floor is labeled as digital, and the third is private. Now, if the second is digital. It means they probably had a lot of books in storage. But, I got no idea if the emp fried the storage devices soo. We stick on first.)
I nod to myself as I raise my head to look around. Saeko is keeping guard next to me. Before I looked at the map again.
(Ok so. From left to right it's.
Literature, history, fiction, novels, informational, and others.
And each has subgenres. But, Informational is where we're at.)
Looking at the map, our target was the second row to our right, from here, it looked fine.
I point at our target destination as I glance at Saeko, then start to move.
Upon entering the corridor labeled 'informational'...
(Hmm, these library's bookshelves are tall, too tall. thankfully I see a couple of ladders that will let us check higher shelves.)
"Which sub-section should we focus on first?" Saeko asks as she casually walks up to a corpse ahead of us, and teaches it how to do the not alive correctly.
"Hmm, good, question..." I mumble as I glance behind me, then take a few steps into the hallway, turning to look at the map again.
(Let's see, informational subgenres. There's, a shiton of them. Animals, geology, sports, weather. But I guess we should focus on the ones we need, like technology, and I guess geology if it has stuff about plants that could help with farming. Survival and evolution seem interesting too)
"Start with the survival sector. I'll go see the geology one, then we will empty the technology one." I turn to show the map to Saeko, pointing to where the survival sector should be. Saeko nods and turns to head deeper into the hallway as I turned to my right since the geology subgenre was right next to me.
(Funny how this place is relatively empty of corpses. Guess people did not bother coming here after the outbreak. Or at least they tried and failed since the fence was already busted.)
Keeping an eye around me, I walk up to the books and check the spine names.
(Volcano activity, climate, soil interaction, city and village pollution spectrum, plant life, cave ecosystems, underwater geyser impact to its local ecosystem. Hmm, some of this stuff could go to animal stuff I guess. But a few of these could be interesting, like the plant life.)
I nod, take off my bag, open it, and start throwing books inside, going from small, or soft-cover ones, to bigger, hard-cover ones, since the latter would fill the bag too fast.
A few seconds later, the bag was full.
And as I was about to close the bag...
-THUD-
A loud, blunt impact to my left...
Turning towards the noise, I find Saeko, on the top of the ladder, looking at a body next to the ladder that I was pretty sure was not there before.
Saeko, upon seeing that I was staring at her, points at the top of the bookshelves, then at the corpse.
I nod and point at myself, then outside. She nods back and extends the bag she was holding toward me.
I took a few steps towards her before she let go of it, letting me catch it.
And with that, I run outside. The moment I reached the stairs, I found that corpses had indeed started swarming outside the gate. Thankfully the Humvee seemed more than enough to hold the swaying gate.
Saya was also outside next to the now open trunk with her gun ready, while Rika was with her upper body through the Humvee's hatch.
"How long you can hold out?" I ask as I run down the stairs, and toss Saeko's bag into the trunk, then proceed to open my bag.
"As long as these idiots don't realize there is a hole in the fence a few meters down," Saya responds as she moves to open Saeko's bag and take off the books.
"Hmm? DIY kitchen?" She adds as she tilts her head, before placing the book down and picking another.
"We can check what has what later," I respond as I flatly flip the bag, and haphazardly empty the books next to Saya. Who made a short yelp before turning to stare at me.
Before she could react, I take Saeko's bag and empty it as well, then turn to run up the stairs, only to find Saeko jogging outside with several books in front of her, trying to hold them steady with her chin.
"Here, I'll get these to the car." I take the books from her as I hand her the bag, Saeko just nods before taking the bag and turning to run back inside the building. while I walked back to the Humvee, Saya now trying to separate the books that were scattered in the trunk.
"All the books~." I flatly chime, as I empty the bag inside the trunk, again.
"Did you have to do this again?!" Saya blurts out as she turns to stare at the new pile of books.
"Yes, because 'they' are getting impatient," I respond as I point behind her, through the front windshield. The mass of corpses steadily increasing...
I then turn to run towards the library again.
(If the unwanted guest keeps piling up like that we will have to bail before we can get everything we need...)
With that thought I run back to the same hallway I was in before, Saeko now haphazardly tossing books into the bag after looking at them for a second or so.
"I don't mean to rush you, but the gate is starting a tilt, a bit too much commando..." And my radio speaks up.
"Shit..." I whisper as I look past Saeko, toward the other side of the building.
(I see windows on the other side. Ok)
"Saeko! Start moving towards the other side of the building, we'll go through the back windows!" I shout as I point ahead of her, then turn to run towards the front door. Bringing the radio to my face.
"Drive, get to the back side of the building," I speak up as I reach the door, and upon throwing a last glance at the Humvee. I start to close the library's doors.
"Naier behind you!" That was what my radio responded.
Reflexively I crouch as I turn to look behind me, to find a corpse with its hands right in front of my mask..,
And a second later, the corpse was sent flying backward.
Turning to look at the humvee I see Rika aiming toward me. She then makes a thumbs up and crawls back into the humvee from the roof hatch.
"Be more careful!" The radio crackles as I finally close the front doors.
"Who needs to be careful when you have a team like this covering you." I chuckle as I turn to run towards the hallways Saeko is at.
"Now that's sweet, but don't go off leaning on me all the time." The radio responds as I reach the hallway, Saeko with her sword drawn next to a few 'dead' corpses on the other side of the hallway.
"Tell us when you'll be on the other side." I respond to the radio as I start to toss books into my bag.
"We just took the turn to the side of the building, we'll be past the building in a few." The radio answers.
"Naier! There are more corpses coming from the upper floors! We need to leave!" Saeko then shouts.
"Nobody told me it'll rain corpses today..." I whisper to myself as I toss the last book to my bag, then turn to run toward Saeko.
"Let's go! Out the back!" I shout as I point past Saeko.
The purple-haired samurai nods and turn to run to the window.
By the time I caught up, Saeko had opened the window and was waiting on the other side, while corpses had started to freefall from the upper floors.
Thankfully, none too close to cause any real problems as I also climbed out, and closed the window behind me.
"We could have just taken the door." Saeko casually points at the closed door a few meters away to our left.
"Yes, but it would not feel like we just raided the place that way." I chuckle as I look around me.
There was a rather huge green park ahead of us, corpses scattered all around.
"Where you two a..." And before I could finish speaking to the radio, the car popped up from the right side of the building, while driving in reverse.
"Come on! The exit is back that way! Hurry up!" The radio shouts.
I nod, and glance at Saeko, before breaking into a dead run. Saya opened the doors as we reached the car.
Saeko, who had run past me, jumped on the car, then entered through the roof, because, I dono. Finesse or some shit.
I just entered through the open door like a normal person.
"Go! Go!" I shout as I closed the door shut.
"Don't have to tell me twice dear~" Rika nodded and stepped on the gas, the Humvee's wheels spinning in place before the car started to move.
"Go left through the crashed fence and keep going straight on that road. We can set a path after we are away from, that." Saya points ahead through the windshield. The far end of the path we were on was now full of corpses, meaning that they had already overrun the front yard of the library.
And so, Rika did just that. Climbing over the toppled fence with the Humvee while in the meantime I and Saeko had turned to empty the bags inside the trunk.
"...Huh, that's a lot of books..." I mumble as I look at the pile we had gathered.
"Hopefully they will all be useful," Saeko responds as she starts to organize the books on the sides of the trunk, placing them next to or on the books Saya had already organized.
"So, where to next?" I ask as I turn to look behind me.
"Uhhhh." Saya looks at the map, running her finger through it.
"There's a gas station not too far from here. Then the flower store. The electronics store is not far off from the flower shop after that. And finally, the building supplies store, which is a supposedly short drive after the flower shop." Saya keeps running her finger on the map as she speaks.
"Gas station it is then." I nod slightly as I pick a random book, and turn to head to my seat.
"Let's see what sort of crap we picked..." I whisper as I look at the cover which was apparently about, hunting. Since the title read as 'Skinning and butchering for small game'.
I then open into a random page and...
"...That's one wrecked rabbit." I chuckle at the image of a, not alive rabbit.
"Hmm? Why are they letting all the blood spill out?" Saeko, who had scuttled up next to me asks as she also looks at the image.
"Apparently blood spoils extremely fast, from what it says here, so this lets the mean last longer I guess?" I respond as I keep reading from the book.
"What the hell are you two reading?" Saya then speaks up as she turns to look at us with a frown.
"This," I respond as I casually turn the book around and show her the image of the not-alive rabbit.
"Eww, did you have to show me 'that'?" Saya grimaces slightly as she leans back, looking back at the map, then at the image again, then back at the map again.
"Ask and ye shall receive." I casually shrug as I turn the book to me and continue reading.
And so, time once again passed, me and Saeko looking at the book, Saya giving Rika directions.
Until, after half an hour or so...
...
..
.
"I see the gas station," Rika speaks up.
"Hmm? Well, time sure passed fast." I lift my head to look toward the front windshield. Saeko had wrapped her arms around me and was essentially half laying on me, her cheek plastered on my shoulder. Until, she was up to a second ago.
"I see a lot of abandoned cars around. Few corpses. Also, where are the fuel canisters?" I ask.
"Under my seat, only two needed refilling, one was inside the estate, and the other we took from the airport." Saya points between her legs as she speaks.
"Alright. Once you close in, stop. I and Saeko will head in." I nod as turn towards the trunk, leaving the book.
As I turned around, Saya was trying to pull the canisters out, which would explain, why she had one leg on the dashboard...
(Huh, was Saya always this flexible?)
"We doing this fast?" Rika asks as she grabs her rifle.
"Yes. The car probably already alerted the nearby corpses. Drop 'em." I nod as I turn to make sure my door is clear of nasty surprises before opening it and exiting the car.
The gas station was straight ahead of us, cars haphazardly left inside and around it.
Saeko then exited as well, holding the two cans. Rika wasted no time to start popping the corpses at the gas station that had turned to shuffle towards us. Though she did ignore the ones that were too close to the actual station fuel pumps. While I and Saeko started to move.
Upon closing on the first abandoned silver sedan, I climb up and look at the surroundings.
"We got three by the pumps. we drop them and fill the canisters, keep an eye out for any other we can take with us." I speak up as I turn to glance to my side. Saeko standing next to me.
"Very well. Would you please hold this for me?" Saeko nods and extends the canisters she was holding to me.
The moment I took them. She giggled and dashed off towards the pumps.
The first corpse she essentially run kicked so hard it got sent flying several meters back, the second one she offed using her blade with a graceful spin, and the third she decapitated by using the momentum of her spin to make a sideways slash.
The third, which was still on the floor, she casually walked up to and stabbed in the head.
"Now I feel like a guy running after his girlfriend while she's on a shopping trip." I chuckle as I run up to Saeko with the canisters.
"Hmm? Would you like me to, reward you for carrying my bags?" Saeko 'asks' as she turns to look at me with a rather, sly smile.
"I'm going to keep that offer in mind," I respond as I leave the canisters and walk up to a pump, pull the fuel nozzle out, and press the handle...
Yet nothing came out.
"Empty?" I ask as I tilt my head.
"This one is not doing anything either," Saeko adds as she tried the other pump...
And then it hit me. The things were off. As in, I could not see the number on the counter...
"These things, need electricity to function..." I mumble before putting the nozzle back in its resting place.
"God I'm fucking retarded." I groan as I turn to look around. My sight stopping at the cars.
"Wait." I narrow my eyes, and after a glance around.
"Hose, we need a hose." My eyes stop at the pump. Or more precisely, the hose that connected the pump to the nozzle.
"Saeko, get your blade ready," I speak up as I grab the nozzle again, and pull it till it stretched out completely.
"Cut it here." I point where the nozzle connected with the hose. Saeko nods, and with a vertical cut, I was left with a nozzle in my hand.
I then toss the nozzle and pick up the severed hose.
"Now cut near the pump," I add as I glance around me. Spotting Rika waving at me as I suddenly feel the tension from the hose disappear.
Turning to look at it, I see it was now severed.
"Ok. Let's check the cars as we head back." I nod and turn to run toward the nearest abandoned car. A pickup truck.
Heading to its fuel intake spot, I flip the cover, open the valve and put the hose in, then lift my mask and balaclava and suck the other end.
And sure enough, shortly after...
"Bleh! How does something that smells so good taste so bad!" I spit some gasoline before spitting a couple more times as I turn to look away, then lower my headgear. In the meantime, Saeko took one of the canisters and moved my hand to put the hose inside the canister since gas has started to spill.
"I see corpses coming from behind our car. We need to hurry." Saeko then speaks up.
"Saya, tell Rika to look behind her." I nod slightly and speak to my radio.
In response, I see Rika turning to look down though the roof hatch, nodding, and turning to look behind the Humvee, aiming at the incoming corpses.
"I can't hear the liquid with the gunshots echoing..." Saeko whispers as she leans towards the canister.
"Or we can just do this," I respond as I lift the hose so we can see the liquid flowing through it.
"As long as you can keep it steady." Saeko nods as she looks behind us.
"Corpses inside the gas station building, they seem to be trying to walk through the front glass panes." She adds as she keeps staring behind us.
"This one is empty. On to the next." I tap Saeko's shoulder as I take the hose and run to the next car on our way, the silver sedan I had climbed on...
By the time the hose was ready to spurt out gas, Saeko was next to me with the canister.
"I don't think we'll have time to do another one." Saeko mumbles.
"Yea. I'm starting to see too much movement..." I add as I nod...
"Hmm? Hey it Is already running dry." Saeko then points at the hose.
"Ah? Ah shit. Yea fuck it. Let's go." I groan as I pull the hose and glance around, then pick up the almost full canister and start to head toward the car.
"Rika! Get ready!" I shout as I reach the door.
"Done already?" Rika asks as she turns to glance at me.
"Ehh, sorta," I mumble as I enter the car, then slide to the center, Saeko entering behind me and closing the door.
"Sorta?" Rika asks back as she climbs down.
"Did you know gas pumps need electricity?" I 'ask' as I look at them.
The whole Humvee turned quiet after a small. 'oh...'
"Well we got almost a full canister from two cars, so that's something," I add as I turn to leave the canister.
"Uhh, we got anything to wipe the thing? It's a bit, moist." I add as I look at the canister. While Rika started to drive away.
"Don't think so. Just leave it by the leg space in front of you. Leave the dry one in the trunk." Saya responds.
"Ohh, by the way. Can somebody refill my mags? I'm running low." Rika then speaks up.
"I'll do it," Saya adds as she leans towards Rika to reach the bullet case. The one by Rika's legs...
And, from where I was, all I could see was Saya's lower half, as the rest disappeared behind Rika's seat...
"Oh my Saya, watch where you're touching~" Rika chuckles.
"S, shut! And quit man spreading!" Saya quickly retorts.
"I like driving like that. Not my fault you shoved your face between my legs." Rika casually answers.
Saya finally gets up with a flustered face and an angry frown. The clips and a couple of bullets were in her hands.
"By the way, where to next?" I ask.
"Flower store. I already told miss pervert which road to take" Saya answers as she turns to look at me, her angry frown disappearing.
"Yaw, don't speak dirty to me Pinky, you'll make me lose control~" Rika chuckles back.
"As in, I'll crash the car." She continues.
"Yeah, don't do that please," I respond as I turn to look out the window.
"So three stops left now," I mumble to myself.
"Yes. And hopefully we will have more time to get what we need from there." Saeko adds.
"I would not count on it. The next set of locations are close to each other, I suspect that means it's a market district. Which means it probably saw a lot of traffic, both before, and after the outbreak." Saya shakes her head as she turns to focus on the map.
"We should honestly pray that the info we got is not outdated by now and that the roads are still clear" She adds as she lets a small sigh.
"Don't jinx it now." Rika glances at Saya for a split second before focusing back on the road.
"So, flower store. Guess that means we are looking for farming-related stuff there?" Rika then speaks up again.
"Yea, a few more shovels would help, fertilizers, seeds, and hopefully a few more in-depth books or, uhh, tutorials for people are that not made of green thumbs," I respond with a small nod.
"If that location is a market district, it should mean it might have other storers near right?" Saeko then asks.
"Yea, like that clothing store we mentioned." I nod again.
"By the way, where are the ropes for the stuff we might tie to the roof?" I ask as I turn to look toward Saya.
"Under Rika's seat. You think I'd forget?" Saya responds by glancing at me with an arched eyebrow.
"Didn't see them, had to make sure," I answer.
"Considering I laid out the path, I had a constant reminder that we're going to need a way to tie materials on the top of the car what with our last destination." Saya shrugs slightly and turns to look back at the map.
"Hoo, hey I'm seeing a lot of wrecks up ahead." And Rika speaks up.
"Yea, turn left on the next intersection. They go straight, then right two intersections after that." Saya nods as she looks at the mess ahead, then looks back at the map...
While I turned to look back outside the window, and...
I saw it...
"Uhh, Rika? Stop the car for a bit..." I speak up flatly as I keep looking out the window.
"What's up?" Rika asks as she slows down the car to a halt.
"You girls want your clothes right?" I ask.
"Ohh, you found a clothes store?~" Rika asks as she turns to me for a smile.
"Yes, and no. I found 'my' clothes store." I respond as I open the Humvee door and get out.
"Hmm? I see no clothing stores here." Saeko, who had popped her head out my door responded.
"I do," I respond flatly as I point at the store a few meters behind us.
"That is a clothing store? It looks, weird." Saeko tilts her head as she also exits.
"Because it's not a clothing store. It's a video game store..." Saya, who was leaning between the two front seats groans.
"Hey, you want your lace panties, I want my video games," I respond with a shrug as I start to walk. Saeko following behind me.
"Hmm? Would you want me to get some lace panties?" Saeko then whispers as she leans closer to me.
"It's a figure of speech. And, don't you already have lace panties?" I ask as I turn to look at the purple-haired samurai.
"You might want me to get something more, exciting." Saeko just giggles in response.
(Sneaky sneak.)
With that, we move to the front of the store...
The front face of the store was a smashed glass window pane, the insides looked, I would not say looted, more like messed up.
I could see game cases open on the floor, controllers, even console parts, yes parts. As in some infidel had gone ahead and smashed them to bits.
And who that infidel was? I'd guess the zombified dudes inside the store, half of them actually looking like your average otaku.
(Hmm, I'd rather have an actual pc. But since they tend to have digital copies more than actual disks, a console is my best bet right now.)
I tap at Saeko's shoulder to get her attention, then point inside, and make a slit-throat motion. She nods, draws her blade, and enters the store.
Me following behind her shortly after.
(Let's see if they have tags for each console section. Two of them, Xbox and ps look almost totaled, so, we're going with, Nintendo? I mean, it does have the most party games if you think about it, could be good if we want to make a group event or something. But most importantly, I don't see the console...oh, they are at the far end of the store, where Saeko is, playing...)
I shake my head and draw my blade, then close into the furthest corpse compared to Saeko.
Just as I was about to raise my blade and bring it down on its head, I notice in its bag, a console carton was sticking out, along with several games.
(Ohh, you picked a ps4 and a bunch of games for me? My thanks ma dude. Hah, I guess even here, a ps5 is hard to find...)
So, instead of bringing my blade down vertically, I take a step back and switch posture, to follow through with a horizontal slash, sending the corpse's head flying.
Before the body could fall, I grab the bag and take it off as the body slumps down.
I then turn to look at Saeko, who was looking around for any more targets.
"Ok, now." I run up to Saeko.
"Saeko, see that carton that says Switch? Grab that, then on that aisle over there that has cases labeled 'Nintendo' on the top, pick as many as you can." I point towards a switch over the counter behind her, then at the still-standing aisle at the corner.
"Very well, what you will do?" Saeko asks back.
"Check for any peripherals, and get some stuff for, this" I respond as I raise my bag.
"Hurry up, corpses are starting to surround us." And the radio speaks up.
"Roger," I respond as I head to the counter, look behind it, then lean to grab a few controllers, both for the switch and the ps4, then throw them in my bag.
I then run to the ruined ps aisle and start to scavenge any case that still looked serviceable. All the while keeping an eye out for the corpses that passed by the store, and towards our ride.
"Naier hurry up!" And the radio speaks up again.
(Faaaack, so much stuff I want here. Can't these corpses take a break?! Ok, ok focus, don't get greedy, we got stuff, let's go.)
"Saeko! Did you get anything?" I ask as I close my bag after filling it up.
"Yes! I, think. I am not exactly versed in video games to know what is good. I just picked everything I found as long as it was not a duplicate." Saeko responds.
"Alright, Bail!" I shout as I turn to run, yet my sight falls on yet another game I wanted...
The moment I grabbed it, I saw another and another...
(Fuck! Just! Go god damn it!)
I throw a quick slap on my head with the case, shake my head and start to run.
The moment I got out. I saw a mass of corpses between me and the Humvee.
"Ahh, shiet, Saeko dear, hold this a bit." I groan as I hand Saeko my sword, and grab my handgun with my free hand.
I run to the other side of the street, aim at the nearest corpse, and pull the trigger. The noise causing the corpses to now turn to head towards me.
"Ok, I see a path from here, I should be able to make it." I nod, glance at Saeko, and motion her to move. She looked at me for a few seconds, nodded, and started to run.
With that, I holstered my handgun and started to run, console bag under my arm, corpses closing in from the left, wall to the right.
(Is this rugby? Argh, what the fuck am I thinking! I know you're hyper because 'ViDO GAMS' But Focus you hyperactive idiot!)
I shake my head and keep running past the corpses.
And just as I was about to reach the end of the path, a single corpse decided to break off from the group. And walk directly on my running path...
(Of course, that would happen!)
Yet, I was already sprinting, too fast. So Instead of trying to avoid it. I essentially run into it, slamming it with my shoulder and sending it tumbling to the side as I reached the car. The door opens with Saeko already inside.
(I did end up playing rugby after all...)
That was the last thing I thought as I got in, and almost fell on the seats.
Well, I did fall, with a controlled motion. Yes, planting my face between Saeko's legs was my exact plan...
"We are in! Go!" I heard Saeko shout as she placed her hand on the back of my head.
"...Ughh, I can't believe we just did that for a bunch of video games..." I hear a moody pinkette groan.
"I'll fucking do it again," I respond as I turn my head towards Saya, still on Saeko's legs mind you, who had started, patting my head?...
"So uhhh, flower store?" I ask as I try to get comfortable.
"Unless you want to stop over at another stupid shop." Saya turns to look at me with narrowed eyes as she responded.
"...Ehh, maybe?" I respond nonchalantly.
"By the way Naier, you should put that back into its rightful place." Saeko then brings my blade to my field of view as she speaks up.
"Right." I blink a couple of times, before taking the blade and trying to sheath it, without moving from my lying spot...
"For god's sake! Are you trying to stab somebody? Get up and sheath that thing normally." Saya hisses as she backs off.
"Too comfy, I ain't moving a dime now. I'm a slug now." I retort as I finally seat the blade. Saya just groans as she focuses back on the map.
"Actually..." I start to get up as I speak, Saeko lifting both her hands as she tilts her head.
"I'll see if we got any farming books back here. Just so I can have a basic understanding of what we might need. Other than shovels and more books." I add as I turn to slide into the trunk.
"Not a bad idea." Saeko nods as she turns to slide between the two back seats so she had a clear view of me and the trunk.
"I think I saw some books whose cover noted farming and greenery. Where did I see it though..." I mumble as I start to look around the trunk.
And sure enough, a few minutes later, I found several books that could fit the bill.
"Well, once we reach our target, tell me." I add as I glance behind me, then turn to focus on the book in my hands...
A special thanks to my supporters, since there's a good chance this would have taken much, much longer without em xD